# Bots and Recpatcha **URL:** \ **Category:** RapidWeaver Classic\ **Created:** [March 10, 2021, 10:11am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/bots-and-recpatcha/38073 "2021-03-10T10:11:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jonline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@Jonline](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Jonline)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 10:11am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/bots-and-recpatcha/38073/1 "2021-03-10T10:11:25Z")
I’ve 2 sites that have been flagged up by my hosting company as to having been hit by bots, they have told me to install recpatcha, on looking at this and not understanding any code, whatsoever, Is their an easier way to stop this happening? One form is from Doobox and doesn’t contain any question to answer (i.e. 5+3) The other has a foundry form and contains the question, but according to the hosting company, both are being hit the same?? Will turning the ‘check for visitor consent’ on the foundry form stop bots? Mail transactions recorded for Monday 8th March 2021: 24 : Total transactions recorded 12 : 50% : Emails received 0 : 0% : Emails delivered 12 : 50% : Total emails flagged as failed 0 : 0% : Emails deferred by the recipient server 0 : 0% : Emails flagged as spam 12 : 50% : Emails rejected (1) ``` (1) Includes emails that were sent from the web site and were rejected immediately by our servers, emails that were rate-limited, and emails returned from the recipient's host (NDRs) ``` The following rules were triggered: - HIGH\_OVERALL\_FAILURE The number of failures logged for this domain was more than 25% of the total mail transactions - HIGH\_BOUNCE\_RATE The number of emails rejected by the recipients or our web server was more than 10% of the total transactions, or above the threshold deemed at-risk Top 10 subject lines: - 2 : Profit: $86000 - 2 : Profit: $147000… - 2 : For Anyone Looking To Start, Scale and Grow A Digital Business In 2021 - 2 : $13,000 every single day - 2 : $275,484.98 in two days - 2 : My Profit: $ 169000 ---
**Author:** ![jacksona](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/jacksona/32/16622_2.png) [@jacksona](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/jacksona)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 11:32am UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/bots-and-recpatcha/38073/2 "2021-03-10T11:32:21Z")
I’m using the _Form Pro_ stack which is in the _Foundry Potion Pack_ add-on. I get none of the get-rich-quick type spam mails, although I do get SEO companies in India from time to time. _Form Pro_ has a honeypot built in, so you don’t need to have the Human Test (5+3=), which I hate with a passion. I also despise reCaptcha. I’m sure @Elixir will be along when Florida wakes up, if you need any further info. Where I have the email address (and phone number) showing elsewhere on the site, I use @willwood’s [TouchBase](https://stacks4stacks.com/touchbase/index.php) stack to obfuscate. ---
**Author:** ![Jonline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@Jonline](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Jonline)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 12:03pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/bots-and-recpatcha/38073/3 "2021-03-10T12:03:31Z")
Thanks Adam, I‘ve got _Form Pro_ so will swop out the old _form_. Sorry, but whats a honeypot? Will also have a look at Touchbase, thanks for your help. Cheers Jon ---
**Author:** ![jacksona](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/jacksona/32/16622_2.png) [@jacksona](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/jacksona)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 12:25pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/bots-and-recpatcha/38073/4 "2021-03-10T12:25:07Z")
No problem. A honeypot is designed to confuse the bots. It has a dummy field in it, which doesn’t display on the page, so a human wouldn’t complete the field, but a bot would - so if the form detects that field has been completed, it knows it’s not an actual person, and discards the response. ---
**Author:** ![Jonline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@Jonline](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Jonline)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/bots-and-recpatcha/38073/5 "2021-03-10T12:38:46Z")
Clever stuff! 👍 ---
**Author:** ![robbeattie](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/robbeattie/32/78_2.png) [@robbeattie](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/robbeattie)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 1:25pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/bots-and-recpatcha/38073/6 "2021-03-10T13:25:52Z")
The Doobox HTML Email stack already includes the ‘honeypot’ feature so switching to Form Pro may not solve the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Jonline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@Jonline](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Jonline)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 1:29pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/bots-and-recpatcha/38073/7 "2021-03-10T13:29:06Z")
Ok swopped the form out for - _Form Pro_ but now getting a - Mailer Error: Could not instantiate mail function. Have the send using email address box ticked, and have added the email address in the your info box? Anything I‘ve missed? Do I need to fill in the SMTP box at the base? ---
**Author:** ![Jonline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@Jonline](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Jonline)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 1:30pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/bots-and-recpatcha/38073/8 "2021-03-10T13:30:06Z")
😐 🤨 😂 Bugger! ---
**Author:** ![Elixir](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/elixir/32/25498_2.png) [@Elixir](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Elixir)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 1:42pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/bots-and-recpatcha/38073/9 "2021-03-10T13:42:18Z")
> [@Jonline](#): > > Mailer Error: Could not instantiate mail function Sounds like your server’s PHP installation is not configured to call the `mail()` function correctly, which the stack uses via PHPmailer, or something else in your php.ini file may be incorrect. Try including the SMTP information, which you’d really want to do anyway, and see if that clears things up. You may need to work with your host of figuring out why their server is returning this error. ---
**Author:** ![Jonline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@Jonline](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/Jonline)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 1:46pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/bots-and-recpatcha/38073/10 "2021-03-10T13:46:12Z")
Thanks Adam will have a look at that 👍 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/forums.realmacsoftware.com/system/32/25301_2.png) [@system](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 11:46pm UTC](https://forums.realmacsoftware.com/t/bots-and-recpatcha/38073/11 "2021-04-09T23:46:14Z")
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