Block spammer on listing contact form

Hi @oxen130

I’m sorry to hear that you ran into issues with this!

This is a common problem on all sites with user-generated content, and we fight with the same issues you do regarding spam. It sounds like you have done the standard things, like requiring registration on BD. Have you also set up the reCAPTCHA settings that come with it? You can add reCAPTCHA support for listing contact messages If not, that’s under?Directory > Settings > General Settings > SPAM and is described in detail?here:??https://businessdirectoryplugin.com/knowledge-base/general-tab/#recaptcha.

We also have an article about some general steps you can take to help cut down on the issue: https://businessdirectoryplugin.com/knowledge-base/how-to-handle-spammers-with-business-directory-plugin/

Thanks for the reply. I already have reCAPTCHA installed on my forms and read the full article you linked to. Unfortunately, this is a real person submitting requests, so they are able to correctly fill out the reCAPTCHA. I added their name and email to the “Disallowed Comment Keys” (Settings>Discussion) section as stated in your article, but it doesn’t block them since it appears the BD listing contact form isn’t connected to it. Is there any way you can add an option to check the native WordPress comment blacklist before sending inquiries through the form? Or add an area to blacklist certain names and emails under the SPAM tab of the directory?

Hi @oxen130

Thanks for getting back to me on this and for trying those things. I’ll definitely add this for the developer to look into and repair if possible. I’m really sorry this is happening on your site.

Hey @oxen130

Thank you for being so patient on this. I think you can block this user by requiring registration to use the contact form and then deleting/blocking the user from registering on your site.

That setting is under Directory > Settings > Listings > Contact Form and it’s called Require login for using the contact form.

You should then delete that user and then look for a plugin that will block that IP address from registering on your site again or one that will require admin approval of new users.

Can you please try that and see if that works for you?

Requiring everyone to register will greatly reduce the number of people contacting listings on our directory. The goal is to make it easy for potential customers to contact listing owners while manually blocking specific spammers. The “Disallowed Comment Keys” (Settings>Discussion) does just that for comments. Comments are moderated, but unfortunately submissions through BD’s listing contact form are not. Since BD uses WordPress to send emails, it seems it would just be a little code to require contact form listing submissions to check the “Disallowed Comment Keys” section before sending an email. Or you could add an area for site admins to blacklist certain names/emails under the SPAM tab of the directory.

Is this something your developers can do?

WP Forms has a Denylist.
Contact Form 7 has a Disallowed list. You can read about it here: https://contactform7.com/comment-blacklist/

Every other Contact Form Plugin has the capability to block individual spammers from comments AND contact form submissions. I am asking you to add the same functionality to the Business Directory plugin.

Hi @oxen130

Thanks for getting back to me on this and for considering that suggestion.

When I add a full email address to the Disallowed Comment Keys section in WordPress, then try to send an email to a listing on my test site, it blocks the message as spam. Here is how they are listed in the settings on my site:

Have you entered the full email address in that section? It sounds like you tried this, so I’m not sure why it wouldn’t work for you. Here is what I see:

Thanks for the clarification. That’s the functionality I am looking for. Looks like there is a conflict on my site stopping it from working. I’ll look into it. Thanks for your help!