Despite having a recaptcha on every form on your site, why are you still getting spam submissions?
The answer is, unfortunately, scammers and spammers are persistent. Google's recaptcha does not keep out all spambots and cannot keep out scammers who are real people filling out website forms.
To help you understand the types of things to look out for even after recaptcha has stopped some of the spammers, we have compiled a list of some of the common scam messages you might receive so you know you can put those messages right in the trash. We removed some of the text and put a note in brackets such as [insert name] because these are things that will likely vary between each message.
Hi, This is [insert name] and I am a licensed photographer. I was surprised, to put it nicely, when I found my images at your web-site. If you use a copyrighted image without an owner's license, you should know that you could be sued by the copyright holder. It's illegitimate to use stolen images and it's so low! Check out this document with the links to my images you used at [insert website URL] and my earlier publications to get the evidence of my copyrights. Download it now and check this out for yourself: [web address for a sites.google.com address or similar freely hosted domain]. If you don't get rid of the images mentioned in the document above within the next several days, I'll file a complaint against you to your hosting provider informing them that my copyrights have been severely infringed and I am trying to protect my intellectual property. And if it is not enough, you may be pretty damn sure I am going to report and sue you! And I will not bother myself to let you know of it in advance.
OK, these can sound scary the first time you receive them. Yes, it is copyright infringement to post images without a license. However, any imagery PMI Pros provides on your website will either be no-attribution licenses or are paid for and licensed from a reputable stock photography website. Furthermore, if you feel your gut sinking down when you read a message, that is when you need to stop and think: is this real? Really investigate their claims. Is a professional photographer likely to have a free domain or is it more likely they will have a domain name like photographername.com? If you ever have doubts, especially if they want you to click on a link in their message, please send us an email at info@pmipros.com and we can advise you.
Here's another common scam message format:
Notice#: [insert random number] Date: [insert date] YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION TO THIS MESSAGE IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY! YOUR DOMAIN [insert your website URL] WILL BE TERMINATED WITHIN 24 HOURS We have not received your payment for the renewal of your domain [insert your website URL] We have made several attempts to reach you by phone, to inform you regarding the TERMINATION of your domain [insert your website URL] CLICK HERE FOR SECURE ONLINE PAYMENT: [insert reputable sounding domain registration URL] IF WE DO NOT RECEIVE YOUR PAYMENT WITHIN 24 HOURS, YOUR DOMAIN [insert your website URL] WILL BE TERMINATED CLICK HERE FOR SECURE ONLINE PAYMENT: [insert same reputable sounding domain registration URL] ACT IMMEDIATELY. The submission notification [insert your website URL] will EXPIRE WITHIN 24 HOURS after reception of this email.
OK here's another scam attempting to scare you. Domain registrars such will not fill out a website form submission if your domain is expiring. They will send you a system-generated email to the email address listed on the domain registration. Furthermore, PMI Pros keeps your domain payments on auto pay unless we say otherwise, and we will contact you if your payment information is expiring or needs to be updated.
Here are some other common types of spam you may receive:
Hello And Good Day I am [insert name] Marketing Manager with a reputable online marketing company based in India. We can fairly quickly promote your website to the top of the search rankings with no long term contracts! We can place your website on top of the Natural Listings on Google, Yahoo and MSN. Our Search Engine Optimization team delivers more top rankings than anyone else and we can prove it. We do not use "link farms" or "black hat" methods that Google and the other search engines frown upon and can use to de-list or ban your site. The techniques are proprietary, involving some valuable closely held trade secrets. We would be happy to send you a proposal using the top search phrases for your area of expertise. Please contact me at your convenience so we can start saving you some money. In order for us to respond to your request for information, please include your company’s website address (mandatory) and or phone number. So let me know if you would like me to mail you more details or schedule a call. We'll be pleased to serve you. I look forward to your mail. Thanks and Regards
It looks like this link is broken on your site: [insert a url for a page on your website] I thought you would like to know :). Silly mistakes can ruin your site's credibility. I've used a tool called [linkSniff.com or other website name] in the past to keep mistakes off of my website. -[insert name]
Hi There, How are you? This [insert name] from [insert country]. I am writing this mail to inform you that your business might be on danger! recently I was searching on internet and I found your store name listed on Google maps everything looks fine except one thing and that is verification. I think you are now aware about this thing that Google is removing all those store listings to it's search results which are not verified. And if this happens to you your store will loose huge amount of traffic. My intention for writing this mail to inform you that I am a freelance professional SEO expert and I can help you to make your listing get verified. If you want to know more then reply me back asap. Thanks, Regards
You might not realize it, but your waste and recycling bills have likely gotten out of control, resulting in bloated disposal costs and shrinking profits. At [insert company name], we uncover and slash the hidden costs in your waste disposal bills. In a complex organization, with many facilities and large-scale waste disposal needs, we can almost always find savings, sometimes up to 30%. There is no charge for our analysis and recommendations. We do all the work for you with only a minimal time investment needed from you. We only get paid if you save money. You have no out-of-pocket costs and no risk. I’d like to give you a complimentary savings consultation, with no obligation and no strings attached. We’ll review your recent waste disposal bills and find potential savings. May I give you more information?
Hi, This is [insert name] from [insert business name]. I have visited your website and noticed good traffic. We can convert that traffic into you client lead by equipping your website with 24-7 live chat service with live attendant availability which will increase your website conversion up to 35% and generate 3 times more leads from your visitor traffic, ensuring you don’t lose a single client visiting your website. Per Lead billing – No setup charges- Free non-qualified chats. You can test the potential with $300 worth of free lead credit and continue if you see the results. If you would like to explore this further - please reply by email and we can take it from there! Best, [insert name] Client Relations [insert email] [insert website URL]
Hi, We have a team of 55+ highly qualified professionals who are certified in Google AdWords and ISO standards providing a wide range of services in order to generate higher visitor traffic to your website. This ensures that your website gets higher rankings on the search engine pages. We offer SEO (with plan & activity) Services at much lower Cost. I’d be happy to send you our package, pricing, and past work details Regards, [name]
Re: Error in your Website Hello, My name is [insert name] and I am a Digital Marketing Specialists for a Creative Agency. I was doing some industry benchmarking for a client of mine when I came across your website. I noticed a few technical errors which correspond with a drop of website traffic over the last 2-3 months which I thought I would bring to your attention. After closer inspection, it appears your site is lacking in 4 key criteria. 1- Website Speed 2- Link Diversity 3- Domain Authority 4- Competition Comparison I would love the chance to send you all the errors that at least give you a gauge on the quality of what I do. If you are interested then please share your Phone number and requirements. Our prices are less than half of what other companies charge. Thanks [insert name] [insert email]
First page rankings on Google We can put your website on 1st page of Google to drive relevant traffic to your site. Let us know if you would be interested in getting detailed proposal. We can also schedule a call & will be pleased to explain our services in detail. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Thanks!
Additional spam-type messages will include unsolicited offers for marketing services. Successful SEO companies will not be spending time filling out forms on random websites looking for business.
