Someone let the bots in.
Someone let the bots in.
949honeypot errors before the fix
507%errors relative to 187 submit successes
Reducederrors dropped significantly after the fix
Situation
A Caterpillar inquiry form was under bot attack: 949 honeypot errors against 187 successful submissions. That 507% ratio was an immediate reason to investigate the integrity of the lead data.
What I did
I diagnosed the problem that morning, identified Facebook placements as the likely source, and coordinated with Randall Reilly. We removed the affected Reel placements, excluded bot IP addresses and cities from display and social placements, and set up preventive monitoring.
Tools
- Honeypot diagnostics
- Placement controls
- Randall Reilly
- Preventive monitoring
Result
The client’s digital team confirmed that errors dropped significantly. The vendor reported no evidence of bot form submissions and that the leads appeared accurate. The evidence supports a substantial improvement—not a claim that every error disappeared.