To protect your WordPress contact form from spam, you can follow these simple steps:
Install a plugin: Install a reliable anti-spam plugin, such as Akismet or Antispam Bee, to help automatically filter out spam submissions from your contact form. Use CAPTCHA: Add a CAPTCHA, such as Google reCAPTCHA, to your contact form. This will require users to complete a task or enter a series of characters, ensuring they are human and not an automated spamming bot. Enable honeypot: Activate a honeypot feature, which is often included in contact form plugins, or as an add-on like Honeypot for Contact Form 7. A honeypot is an invisible field that attracts spam bots, but is not visible to human users. When a bot fills out this field, the form submission is identified as spam and blocked. Limit form submissions: If your contact form plugin supports it, set up limits on how often a user can submit the form within a certain time frame. This can deter spammers from bombarding your site with multiple submissions. Use email validation: Make sure your contact form requires a valid email address for submission. This can help filter out spam by requiring users to submit a legitimate email address. Block specific IP addresses: If you notice a pattern of spam coming from a certain IP address or range of addresses, you can block them from accessing your contact form. This can be done in various ways: by using a security plugin, through a web application firewall, such as that available on Cloudflare, or through your site's .htaccess file. Remember to regularly update your plugins, themes, and WordPress core to ensure you have the latest security features and protection against spam.