[Resolved] Improve spam protection on user forms

[Author]

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[davidS-53]

We have a user registration form on this site (hidden link) and up until the end of 2023 the form would get the occasional spam submission through it, perhaps 1-5 per week. We added Recaptcha to the form near then end of 2023 but since the beginning of 2024 the number of spam submissions has sky-rocketed, averaging 10-20 per day and all following the same pattern: same first and last name, all options ticked.

I have followed the documentation on adding Recaptcha to user forms and this appears to be set up correctly but for some reason isn't preventing these submissions.

I've attached an image of the Standby Users list where you can see all of the user accounts created by the form. I'm not sure if this helps?

Do you have any other tools we can use to prevent spam submissions, such as a honey pot field or similar?

[Minesh]

Hello. Thank you for contacting the Toolset support.

I'm not sure how people can do spam even though the captcha is enabled.

However here is the official Doc that shows how you can protect forms from spam:
- https://toolset.com/course-lesson/protecting-forms-from-spam/

However I see the following "honeypot" plugin that shows that it offers integration with Toolset Forms:
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/honeypot/

[davidS-53]

Thanks for your advice Minesh. I don't know how these spam submissions are getting past the captcha either.

I'll give that Honeypot plugin a shot and see if it has an effect.

[Minesh]

Ok great - please update us here how it goes.