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Block a visitor by IP or email

Stop abusive visitors and spammers from chatting with you by blocking their IP address or email address, and learn what a blocked visitor sees.

Security & privacy 2 min read Updated
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If someone keeps sending spam or abuse, block them. Pengo can block a visitor by their IP address or by their email address. Blocks apply to one website.

#Block a visitor

  1. Go to Settings Security Blocked visitors .

  2. Under Ban type, choose IP address or Email address.

  3. Enter the address.

    For an IP address, enter the full address, such as 192.168.1.1. For email, enter the address they use, such as user@example.com.

  4. If you like, fill in Reason (optional), such as “spam” or “abusive messages”, so your team knows why.

  5. Click Add ban.

The ban appears under Banned list with its type, the reason and the date. Changes save automatically; wait for Saved in the page header.

#What a blocked visitor sees

  • IP ban: the chat won’t open for anyone visiting from that address. When they try, Pengo hides the widget, and it won’t accept new chats or messages from that address.
  • Email ban: Pengo won’t start a chat for someone using that email address, for example in your pre-chat form. The email match ignores capital letters.

Pengo doesn’t tell the visitor they’re blocked. Once a browser has been blocked, it keeps the widget hidden for up to an hour, even after you remove the ban.

#Choose the right ban

Ban typeGood forWatch out for
IP addressSomeone who chats without giving an email.Many people can share one IP, such as an office, a school or a café. Blocking it blocks all of them. IP addresses can also change.
Email addressSomeone who gives the same email each time.It only works when Pengo knows their email. Collect it with the pre-chat form, see forms and ratings.

Each ban matches one exact value. Ranges, wildcards and whole email domains aren’t supported.

#Remove a ban

Under Banned list, click the bin next to the ban, then confirm Remove ban?.

To stop the widget loading on other people’s websites, rather than blocking a person, use allowed domains.

Common questions

Will the visitor know they've been blocked?

Pengo doesn't tell them. When they try to chat, the widget is hidden and Pengo doesn't accept their chat or messages.

Can I block a range of IP addresses?

No. Each IP ban matches one exact address, such as 192.168.1.1. Ranges and wildcards aren't supported.

How do I unblock someone?

In Settings › Security › Blocked visitors, click the bin next to the ban under Banned list and confirm.

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