How to Recognize Spam, Phishing, and Bot Form Fills from Your Medical Website Contact Forms

Form-fill bots are automated programs designed to repeatedly fill out and submit medical website contact forms. Fraudulent companies and individuals use form-fill bots for various reasons.

Why form-fill bots target Medical Website Contact Forms

1.      Spam and marketing: Bots can send massive amounts of spam messages or advertisements through medical website contact forms. This allows spammers to reach a large audience quickly and cheaply.

2.      Lead generation: Some companies use form-fill bots to submit fake inquiries or leads to their competitors’ websites, disrupting their business and wasting time and resources.

3.      Fake registrations: Bots can create numerous fake accounts on websites, forums, or online services, which can be used for malicious purposes, such as spreading misinformation, manipulating public opinion, or conducting scams.

4.      Skewing online polls or votes: Bots can submit multiple votes or responses to online polls, surveys, or contests, manipulating the results to favor a particular option or candidate.

5.      Scraping content: Form-fill bots can extract content or data from websites by submitting forms and capturing the responses, allowing the bot operators to gather information for their own purposes.

6.      Testing stolen credentials: Cybercriminals may use form-fill bots to test stolen usernames and passwords on various websites to gain unauthorized access to user accounts.

7.      Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks: By overwhelming a website with a large volume of form submissions, bots can consume server resources and disrupt the website’s normal functioning.

The underlying strategy of form-fill bots is to automate the process of filling out and submitting online forms. This allows the bot operators to perform actions at a scale and speed that would be impossible for human users, enabling them to carry out fraudulent activities more efficiently and effectively.

Protecting Your Medical Website Contact Forms from Form-Fill Bots

Here are some ways to recognize spam and bot submissions on medical website contact forms:

1. Unusual email addresses: Spam and bot form fills often use fake or randomly generated email addresses that don’t look like typical user emails. They may contain random numbers, letters, or nonsensical combinations.
2. Irrelevant or gibberish responses: If the form responses are unrelated to the questions asked or contain random, nonsensical text, it’s likely to be spam or bot-generated.
3. Rapid form submissions: If you receive a high volume of form submissions within a short period, especially from the same IP address or with similar content, it may indicate bot activity.
4. Links or URLs in form fields: Legitimate users only include links or URLs in form fields if specifically requested. If you notice links or URLs in unexpected places, it could be spam or an attempt to spread malware.
5. Absence of required information: If required form fields are left blank or filled with irrelevant data, it suggests that the submission is likely spam or bot-generated.
6. Suspicious IP addresses or locations: Check the IP addresses associated with form submissions. If you notice submissions from unusual locations or known spam-originating regions, it may indicate spam or bot activity.
7. Honeypot fields: Implement honeypot fields in your form. These hidden fields are invisible to human users but detectable by bots. If these fields are filled out, it indicates a bot submission.
8. Lack of user interaction: Legitimate users typically interact with the website before completing a form. If form submissions occur without prior user interaction or within an unusually short time frame, it suggests bot activity.
9. Inconsistent user behavior: Monitor user behavior on your website. Form submissions from users who have not engaged with other parts of your site or have abnormal browsing patterns may indicate spam or bot activity.
10. Use of CAPTCHA or reCAPTCHA: Implementing CAPTCHA or reCAPTCHA on your forms can help distinguish between human users and bots. Bots often struggle to solve these challenges correctly.

To combat spam and bot form fills, consider implementing form validation techniques, CAPTCHA, rate limiting, and server-side validation. Additionally, services like Akismet or Google reCAPTCHA can help filter out spam submissions.

Remember, while these indicators can help identify spam and bot form fills, they are not foolproof. Some sophisticated bots may still bypass these detection methods, so it’s essential to regularly monitor and review form submissions to ensure the integrity of your data.

References:

Right! Systems Current IT Security Trends – Right! Systems. https://www.rightsys.com/right-systems-current-it-security-trends/

Credential Stuffing – Glossary. https://www.devx.com/terms/credential-stuffing/

Form Bots 101: Protecting Your Business from Spammy Leads and Traffic Burden. https://cheq.ai/blog/form-bots-101/