How to Read Your WordPress Spam Log and Fix False Positives

Any spam filter can block a real person by mistake. The difference between a filter you trust and one you worry about is whether you can see what it blocked and why. In Maspik that place is the spam log.

What the log records

Every blocked submission appears as a row in the Maspik spam log. According to the documentation, the columns are:

• Type: the field that triggered the block, or General if it is not tied to one field.
• Data & reason: why it was blocked, and the submitted data, which is hidden until you click More Details.
• IP address and country of the sender.
• User agent: the browser or device used.
• Date: when it happened.
• Source: the plugin or form it came from (for example, Elementor Forms), with a link to the page where it was submitted.

A five-minute review

1. Scan the reasons. Look for the ones that appear most often. These are the rules doing the work.
2. Open a few entries in each group with More Details. Does the content look like spam? If you see a real name, a real question or a plausible phone number, you have found a false positive.
3. Find the rule behind it. The reason tells you which field and which rule blocked the message: a word in the textarea list, an email fragment, a phone format, a language requirement, a country rule.
4. Adjust the smallest thing. Remove one word, narrow one pattern, or add the missing phone format. Do not turn off a whole layer because of one message.
5. Check the source column to see whether the problem is on one form or all of them.

Rules that most often cause false positives

• Short blacklist words. Since version 2.4.0 matching is by whole words, which removed most partial-word mistakes, but a common word in the blacklist can still block ordinary messages. See Textarea Field.
• Required languages. A legitimate message with none of the required characters, such as a very short one, is blocked. See Language Restriction.
• Allow-lists for countries. A real customer travelling or using a VPN can fall outside the list. See Countries Restriction.
• Strict phone formats. A valid number in a format you did not list is marked as spam. See Phone Field.

If you find a false IP block

IP verification checks the sender against Maspik’s blocklist. If an address looks wrongly listed, the IP Verification page explains how to check it and report it through the support form.

A worked example

Suppose you notice a customer never received a reply. You open the spam log and find their message, marked with a reason in the textarea field. Clicking More Details shows the text: they wrote that they wanted to “book a ranking review of my competitor’s site”, and “ranking” is on your blacklist. The message was real. The fix is small: remove “ranking” and add the more specific phrases you actually see in spam, such as “first page of Google”. Then submit a test message to confirm it now passes.

A monthly tuning checklist

1. Scan the last month of entries for anything that looks like a real person.
2. Remove or narrow any rule behind a false positive.
3. Look at what reached your inbox instead, and add the most common word or pattern to the right list.
4. Check the country column. If one country dominates the junk, consider a country rule (Pro).
5. Delete rules that have not fired in months.

Frequently asked questions

Where do I find the spam log?

In the Maspik menu of your WordPress admin. Every blocked submission appears there with its reason.

Does the log show the message that was blocked?

Yes. The submitted data is hidden by default and shown when you click More Details.

What if the same real person keeps getting blocked?

Find the rule named in the reason and adjust it. The reason tells you which field and which rule was responsible.

Make it a habit

Check the log a few days after you add or change rules, then monthly. A rule that never fires can be removed, and a rule that fires on real people should be narrowed. New to Maspik? Start with Getting Started.