Looking for simple way to confirm an email address

[tracyselena]

Hello,
I am somewhat new to php sorry.
I am looking for a way to stop a person from sending fake email addresses in my contact form. My client is getting hate mail and the person is using fake addresses. Ideally I would like it to send an email back to the sender confirming their address and clicking a url to confirm that it's valid in my database. I don't want to use a list program, because it's not a list...it's just to confirm that the person is legit.

I've searched this forum the root of phpfreaks.com, along with many other sites an I've googled the heck out of it trying to find something simple.

Any suggestions?

Thanks  ;D
Tracy

[The Little Guy]

are you tracking this persons IP? If so, and it is continuously the same... You could ban that IP.

[simcoweb]

Honestly it's a little weird to validate their email using a email message/link system just for a contact form. Normally that's done when they register as a member or similar. However, that doesn't mean you can't do it.

Here's a link that provides a tutorial on one way to do it:

http://www.chauy.com/2006/01/email-activation-in-php/

[Adika]

Hi tracyselena.

There is a very easy way to stop the person to submit fake emails. Just use a verification code (captcha) in your contact form. When a visitor wants to add himself into your contact form, he must type in the code which is shown on the screen, and if the code is correct, he is added. Otherwise, he is not added and an error message appears.

Usually, people who submit fake emails are using some kind of programs which do the hard work. You can see if the visitor is using a program or add the email manually by watching how often he add the emails. If he add min. 2-3 emails every hour, than he is using a program. If you get new bad email every two hours, than he is adding it manually.

So, the solution is a verification code (or captcha). If the bad emails will be submitted after that, too, you need to start banning by ip among verification code.

I hope I helped you.

[simcoweb]

I thought of that also but what IF it's not an automated way that he's completing the form? And, even though they have to enter the CAPTCHA code doesn't mean they'd enter a valid email address. Personally, in this case, i'd do both methods. CAPTCHA and the email confirmation.

[tracyselena]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I think I was looking for a much more difficult solution than I needed to. I think I will just trap the IP addresss instead and then block it. KISS.

Thanks again...Tracy