How Can I Prevent Bots or Spam Entries in My Contest?
You don't have to switch anything on. Every Competition runs our Fraud Filter from the first entry at the High Fraud Level, and it marks suspicious entries Invalid within about 5 minutes. These settings let you tighten it, and check what it caught before you draw.
The Fraud Level slider on the Pre-Entry tab sets how strict we are. Changing it is on the Business Plan and above:
- Off: entries from the same network or device are accepted (handy at a live event)
- Low: CAPTCHA and login verification on
- Medium and High: adds protection against malicious VPNs and data centres
- Very High: adds more aggressive Cloudflare challenges
CAPTCHA is part of the Fraud Level, so you don't set it separately. Fraud Level has the full breakdown.
This video sets a Fraud Level, reviews flagged entries, blocks a repeat cheater and re-checks the winner:
- Contestant Verification (also on Pre-Entry, Business Plan and above) emails entrants a 4-digit code before they can enter. Phone verification needs a Twilio integration
- Reject Throwaway Accounts on X actions (Business Plan and above) and Don't Allow Limited Accounts on Steam actions turn away accounts made just to enter giveaways
- Include or Exclude locations (Pro Plan and above) limits entries to the countries you can ship to
Open the Actions / Entries tab and look at anything marked Invalid. Open a row's Actions menu and choose Actions from User IP to see every other action from the same IP address, including ones we've already invalidated. On paid plans, Block User bars a repeat offender from every Competition and Rewards campaign on your Site.
X no longer lets us verify follows, reposts or posts server-side. We record the entrant's X handle but can't confirm the action with X, so check your winner's X actions by hand before you announce.
For what each label means, see what an invalid entry is.
See Next Article
Can Gleam Widgets Be Installed Within an App?
Gleam widgets are designed for websites and require an active internet connection to function. Native mobile apps are not directly supported, though a widget may load if the app uses a standard web view. Read on for more details.