# Enquiry forms that keep the bots out of your inbox

> Your enquiry forms filter out bots and junk submissions behind the scenes, without annoying puzzles, so your inbox is mostly real customers. Included on every plan.

- Source: https://nerdsharks.com/features/spam-protected-forms
- Publisher: Nerdsharks (Exeter, Devon, UK)
- Updated: 2026-09-27

Any form on the internet attracts spam: automated programs, called bots, that fill in contact forms with adverts, junk links and nonsense. On an unprotected site that can mean dozens of fake enquiries a week, and a real customer buried among them. Every form on a Nerdsharks site has several layers of bot filtering built in. Most of it works invisibly, checking for the tell-tale signs of automated submissions and limiting how often one source can submit, so genuine customers are not asked to click on pictures of traffic lights. No filter catches every piece of spam, but the aim is an inbox where nearly everything is a real enquiry.

## How it works

1. **Invisible checks on every form** - Behind the scenes, each submission is checked for signs of a bot, such as hidden fields that only automated programs fill in or forms completed impossibly fast.
2. **Repeat submissions are limited** - If the same source tries to send a stream of submissions, it is slowed down and then blocked, which stops floods of junk in their tracks.
3. **Real customers are not held up** - Genuine visitors fill in the form and press send as normal. Where an extra check is ever needed, it is designed to be as light as possible.
4. **We adjust if spam gets through** - Spammers change their tactics. If you start seeing junk arrive, tell us and we tighten the filtering for your site.

## Why it matters

- **Real enquiries do not get missed** - When half your inbox is junk, it is easy to overlook the one genuine job. Filtering the rubbish out keeps real customers visible.
- **Less time deleting rubbish** - You are not spending the end of the day clearing out fake messages about SEO services and crypto. Your enquiry list stays useful.
- **No puzzles putting people off** - Hard "prove you are human" tests make some real customers give up. Mostly invisible checks protect the form without costing you enquiries.

## Questions

### How do you stop spam on contact forms?

We use several layers of checks that run in the background: hidden fields only bots fill in, timing checks, and limits on repeated submissions. Together they filter out most automated spam without making customers solve puzzles.

### Will spam protection block real customers?

It is designed not to. The checks look for automated behaviour rather than asking people to prove anything. If you ever think a real enquiry has been blocked, tell us and we will look into it straight away.

### Will I never get spam again?

No filter stops every piece of spam, and anyone who says theirs does is overselling. The aim is that nearly everything reaching you is genuine, and if junk starts getting through, we tighten things up.

### Is spam protection extra?

No, spam protection is built into every form on every plan, including Monthly at £99 a month. There is no plugin to buy or set up.