Is there anyway to stop spammers from using form even after its been removed

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Hi Sam, & Every one, I asked this at cute but did not get a reply and its driving me nuts. I just started getting a lot of spam mail that all has the word porn in the address - although the rest of it changes from post to post - and its always from hotmail. So I beleive it is probably coming from the same ip address. I checked my host at the times I recieve mails and don't see an ip address I can relate to there. So apparently they are not logging on each time to post. I removed the form completely from my site yet still receive the mails from the Cute form handler. How is this still happening? Is there anything you can think of that I can do since I am not getting a response at the Cute forum? Thanks for any help. My mailbox is getting flooded now and it is a very big problem. 

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If the form is down and you are still getting submittals from it, then it sounds like someone captured YOUR webpage that had your form on it, intact. Then they are using it to send forms.
But since YOUR email addy is in the form you are getting a copy of the form.
Happened to me.

Do you have a unique SUBJECT of the email or generic?
You can use GOOGLE to search for parts of the form that could be unique to you.
You can IP trace to locate the service provider and report the offender.
Go to copyscape.com and see if your content appears on another website (helped me track down copies of some of my content!)

I just now answered the other post on GS board (differently than this answer!).

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Thanks Sam, after reading the reply I determined the page it was on had not been captured. BUT that caused me to search through my about 200 pages to find another place I had forgotten it was posted. So I just removed that and we will see what happens...  In this particular form it only asked for an email address to sign up for an e-zine nothing else. Thanks for replying over at Cute as well. I was trying to figure out if they could check and block an ip and now I know they can not.

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NOPE that didn't work  So, then is it possible they saved my web page complete on their own computer and are using it that way? Can you think of any other remedies? The only thing I am down to is to contact my email host related to cute forms and request they block the ip - which if it is being routed through Cute service for real that will block all future form responses and that means I HAVE to implement new form handling NOW.

Before I do this just wondering if you have any ideas.

Thanks again. I wish all spammers a HORRBILE DAY TOMORROW!   GRRRRR!! 

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Please do not ask your ISP to block the IP.  That will blacklist GS server and could cause problems for the rest of us still using the forms.

Put a new form up on your site, with a different subject line, on a different page.

What email program do you use?
YOU can set rules within your own email program to delete those before you see them.
Simple and easy.  Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, etc all have ways to create rules. I use them all the time and it makes my life easier.  (Can put emails from xyz into the xyz folder automatically, delete emails containing the word ...., etc)

BTW, can you forward one of the emails to me (no I don't want the porn, just want all the info in the email).

You can also look at your site stats and see if there is specific activity on certain pages. Spammers usually jump out for going to the same page over and over. You may have another form still loaded. Or someone copied the page and is using it.  Bad idea for them because there is a specific limit how many forms can be sent (10) per hour!  Lousy returns for a spammer! Usually does not last long).

Bad spammer!  (bonk bonk on the head)

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Hi Sammy - sorry not much time to do the quoting thing - it always trips me up - but since you have been so nice to take the time to answer in such detail I will explain the what ups on your replies,

I am referring to asking my mail server related to the cute form replies not the server that my site is hosted on to block that address from entering my mail only. I use a lavanet mail addy and my site is inspirationmotivation.com so its not the same. The mail server is a local Hawaiian server that is able to only block MY email account from getting mails. They are small and personable and I have been with them for 11 years. They won't put the gs server on a blacklist that gets spread if I explain. We have a good relationship and they are wonderful over there.

I use Outlook WHEN I am on my computers. I travel a LOT and don't always access my mail that way. I am now talking lots of mails. I know I can auto move the mails but that doesn't help if I am traveling and paying bucks to download lots of things I don't need. Often I am on wireless satellite, its expensive and often slow depending on the areas. Since I go to lots of remote areas.. its more often slow. I want to stop getting the mails not file them into the delete area or a spam file.

I will source code two of the mails and send them to you Sam.. can I do that here through PM? If so I will do that today. There isn't any porn involved! lol Just that word in the address although they may have figured I might have filtered because yesterday they switched to a drug name.

Site stats as stated else where have been checked and nothing makes sense when compared to accesses and times that the mails are received nor even the pages that are accessed near the time the mails are received. So that isn't helping me. I really poured through it.


I now have searched every web page twice although when I get the time I will do it one more time just in case but truly I believe there are no more forms on my site. I had two they are both gone.


I agree on the bad returns on the spammer quota at ten per hour. This feels more like an annoyance spammer or a revenge spammer! I have been in the process of nicely notifying people who have my things on their sites to remove or cooperate with my qualifications to have my things there. It is absolutely amazing that some people actually snap off at me - they aren't getting a legal notice at this time either just a nice letter - A couple of people were down right nasty. Can you believe that? Yes, I know YOU can. So I am thinking a nutcase more than a spammer who wants to sell me something. 

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PS I love the bad spammer thingy 

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Your form (I posted it in PM) is still live on the net and will be until the CACHE is cleared at GOOGLE, YAHOO, and others.

Note that when someone visits your web page, a copy of the content is automatically CACHED on the visiting computer and if they do not have their browser set to update on each visit, they could be seeing web pages that existed a year ago or more!  Even legit visitors may be in that condition!  Especially with dial-ups, tech support at ISP tell dial-up users to set the page to CACHE so the page loads faster!

YOU as the webmaster have very little control over that.  You can add meta tag  code to the pages with forms, etc that tells the browser not to cache, but if someone wants to do it, it can be done without going to great lengths to do it!

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you tell your mail processor to prune based on SUBJECT of the email instead of the source (feedback@...).  By clearing all email with the subject of XYZ, you could still have a new form up with a different subject and get it with no problem, with no interuption for real email forms!  And you do not endanger the rest of us by blacklisting the GS server/email addy.  Note that even SMALL companies share this VITAL info.

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big sigh! Unfortunately they either won't or can't do that. I asked this before when I was just generally getting mails with certain words in them -- maybe being small I don't know why they don't step up to the plate on that and give us filters -- I will be changing the response address in the future so I can run it through a system that does allow word filtering... and in the case of this mail for example I have two things I could request if I could some how talk them into it .. one the subject A request form was submitted -- which would refer to any form from cute.. or two an email address that changes from mail to mail so that won't work. And if the next form handler I use has the same subject ... lol ??

Well, I am going to give them a try today and see what they say.

I am glad it is spurring me on to figure out the form thing I guess but it just doesn't arrive at the most convenient time of course. 

Maybe someone else reading this will think these kinds of issues through before choosing a form handler in the future. Are you sure Cute can't intervene - even if they disabled my form account or what ever they have to run it? Sorry just have to check all possibilities. This has to stop. 

BUT THANKS SO MUCH SAMMY! How the heck did you find that? I looked via Google.

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I have two things I could request if I could some how talk them into it .. one the subject A request form was submitted -- which would refer to any form from cute..

You are wrong here Wanda.
YOU can change the form subject when you post the form (see pm for the link that I gave you for HOW to do that (sent you to a tutorial).
You change your new form to a TOTALLY DIFFERENT SUBJECT!
Then only the ones that say A Request form was submitted will be deleted because they come from OLD posted forms that have been pulled down.
The ones with the NEW SUBJECT come through with no problem.
And put your new form on a different page.

GlobalSCAPE can not intervene.
YOU need to tell your processor to clear by subject!
It is a general form server and it will be shut down July1, 2008 (confirmed - see my FAQ post today).

I am a whiz with searching.  I often find things others do not...   Makes me a tad dangerous when I am on the warpath and out to take people down! 

Of course in the long run, you will need to use other forms instead of CSB, but that is not a today issue....

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I got busy and didn't call them and it has started to decrease in number maybe they are getting tired of it or are having a harder time finding a cache page. But I was talking to a friend who uses the mail server as well and they told me they don't think they will put up a block based on subject either. The only time they have done a block for me was for an international ip address and I had to be persistent in my request to get it done. Why they are so behind in this one area I don't know.. anyway I am going to sit tight for a few days and see what happens.

I did not know I could change the title of the form and all of my forms comes in under the same title. lol

I wish you were the one hunting down all of my stuff on other web sites! wow! lol 

Thank you for your replies and efforts to help me in this matter Sam I do appreciate it. I think I am going to go ahead and switch after the holidays. At least this has made me aware of some features I need to be sure I have when I select a new service.

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Hang tight.... I am working on several options that I can offer you and others. One product is being put together specifically with CSB people in mind and may suit exactly what you need...