Protect your Chat Widget from spam
Spam protection on the Chat Widget detects bot and high-volume suspicious submissions automatically, without CAPTCHA, extra form fields, or extra steps for genuine visitors. Flagged contacts are kept for review rather than deleted, and SMS, email, or both can be paused for them. Spam protection is configured per widget from Sites > Chat Widget.
Enable Spam Protection
Go to Sites > Chat Widget.
Open the Chat Widget you want to configure.
Open Spam Protection in the builder sidebar.
Turn Spam Protection on.
Select the action to take when a suspicious submission is detected: Tag Only, Pause SMS, Pause Email, or Pause Both.
Save your changes.
What happens when a submission is flagged
Suspicious submissions are detected automatically and never change the experience for genuine visitors. A flagged contact is not deleted: it is created normally and tagged chat_widget_high_volume_flag, and messaging is paused on the channels you selected. Only the selected channel is affected; other communication channels and existing DND preferences remain unchanged. When messaging is paused, the contact's activity log records the action and identifies the affected channel.
Review flagged contacts
To find flagged contacts, filter your contacts using the chat_widget_high_volume_flag tag. When a flagged lead turns out to be legitimate, your team can review it and restore messaging.
Defaults for existing and new widgets
Existing Chat Widgets have Spam Protection off by default, so current behavior does not change unexpectedly. Newly created widgets have Spam Protection on by default, with Pause Both selected.
Expecting an unusually large legitimate traffic spike, such as a major campaign, launch, event, or press announcement? Temporarily disable Spam Protection for that widget and turn it back on afterward.
The specific signals and thresholds used to identify suspicious activity are not published, so submissions cannot be designed to bypass the protection.