Junk leads never reach your pipeline.

Overview

This guide covers the LeadFilter extension for Zoho CRM: what happens when you install it, how it screens incoming Leads, and how to adjust its settings from inside Zoho. No separate LeadFilter account, API key, or signup form is needed — the extension handles all of that for you.

• Zero-config activation: install the extension, and a LeadFilter account is created for you automatically.
• Every inbound Lead — from a web form, a chat, or an API/integration write — is screened in the background within seconds of creation. Leads you type in by hand, import, or migrate are deliberately skipped (see Sources LeadFilter skips).
• Obvious spam is flagged directly on the Lead record — nothing is ever deleted.

Installing the extension

Install Inbound Spam Check for Zoho CRM from the Zoho Marketplace into your CRM the same way you'd install any other extension. Zoho will ask you to confirm the permissions it requests (reading Leads and writing back their status and notes) — approve these so screening can run.

What happens on install

Behind the scenes, the extension provisions everything it needs the moment it's installed:

• A LeadFilter account is created for your organization, tied to your Zoho org.
• A free 14-day trial starts immediately — no credit card required.
• A private API key is generated and stored securely inside Zoho; you never see or handle it.
• The Leads workflow that triggers screening is wired up automatically.

If you ever uninstall and reinstall the extension, it reprovisions itself the same way — nothing is lost, and no extra steps are required on your side.

How screening works

Whenever an inbound Lead is created, LeadFilter reads its description and available context (email, company, source, country) and asks its classifier how likely the Lead is to be spam, vendor outreach, or otherwise non-actionable. That happens within moments of the Lead being created — no scheduled jobs, no manual trigger.

“Inbound” means the Lead arrived on its own: a web form, a chat, or a write from an API or integration. Leads created by hand in the CRM UI or mobile app, and Leads loaded by import or migration, are not screened — they aren't inbound traffic, and screening them would spend your lead checks on records you already trust. That rule is configurable; see Sources LeadFilter skips.

LeadFilter estimates spam likelihood; it does not judge whether a Lead is a good fit for your business, and it never deletes or removes a Lead. Genuine inquiries are left untouched.

The Junk Lead flag

When a Lead looks like spam, LeadFilter updates its status and attaches a Note explaining why — so anyone reviewing the record can see the reasoning, not just the outcome.

• Lead Status is set to Junk Lead by default (this value and the field it's written to are both configurable — see Write-back settings).
• A Note is added to the record with a short, plain-English reason for the flag.
• Nothing is deleted, merged, or hidden — flagged Leads stay fully visible and reversible.

Sources LeadFilter skips

LeadFilter only spends a check on Leads that look like real inbound traffic. It skips:

• Leads created through manual entry in the CRM web or mobile UI, bulk import, or data migration — these are common sources of high volume that aren't inbound inquiries. (Default skipped creation sources: crm_ui, crm_mobile, bulkapi, migration, mass_addition_via_ui.)
• Leads whose Lead Source matches a known outbound/vendor list (for example manual outreach, prospecting tools, or list-building services), by default.

Both lists are editable from the settings widget, so you can widen or narrow what gets screened to match how your team actually creates Leads.

Testing that it works

Creating a Lead by hand in the CRM will not flip its status — manual entry is a skipped source by design, so a hand-typed Lead is never sent for screening. To see screening act on a record, the Lead has to arrive the way a real inbound Lead does, and it has to actually look like spam.

1. Create the Lead the way inbound Leads arrive. Submit your Zoho web form, or write the Lead through the Zoho CRM API / an integration (Zoho Forms, Zoho Flow, Zapier, or a POST /crm/v8/Leads call). API inserts must be sent with "trigger": ["workflow"] so the extension's workflow runs — that is Zoho's default for inbound integrations and off for data migrations.
2. Put spam-looking text in the Description field. That field is the signal LeadFilter screens; a Lead with an empty Description is skipped. A short line like “I need to know about food” is a normal inquiry and is meant to pass through untouched. Something like the following is flagged:
   “Hi, we are a leading SEO and web development agency. We can rank your website #1 on Google and offer white-label development at cheap rates. Reply for our price list.”
3. Leave Lead Source alone or set an inbound one. Sources containing manual, outbound, prospecting, and known list-building vendors are skipped by default.
4. Wait a few seconds and reload the Lead. Lead Status becomes Junk Lead and a LeadFilter Note is attached with the reason.

The LeadFilter widget

Open the LeadFilter widget from inside Zoho CRM (Setup → Marketplace → All → Inbound Spam Check for Zoho CRM → Settings) to see and change everything the extension does, without leaving the CRM:

• Your live plan, subscription state, trial end date, and lead checks used/remaining.
• Which Lead field is screened, and what LeadFilter writes back when a Lead is junk.
• Which creation sources and Lead Source values are skipped.
• Your business context, so screening reflects what a good lead means to you.

The widget is self-contained: it does not open the LeadFilter dashboard, billing, or any other site. Everything that lives outside Zoho — your check history, the test console, and plan changes — is on app.leadfilter.zsetup.com, covered below.

Write-back settings

The widget lets an admin change what happens when a Lead is flagged as spam:

• Which field gets updated (defaults to Lead Status).
• Which value marks a Lead as junk (defaults to “Junk Lead”).
• Where the reason is recorded — a Note by default.
• Which creation sources and Lead Source values are skipped (see above).

Sensible defaults are pre-filled on install, so there's nothing required to change here to get started.

Business context

Optionally, tell LeadFilter a bit about your business from the widget — your industry, what a strong Lead typically looks like, and any red flags specific to you. This context sharpens the classifier's judgment beyond generic spam patterns, without changing anything about how or when screening runs.

Trial, plan & billing

Every install starts on a free 14-day Growth-tier trial — no card required. The widget shows how many lead checks you've used and how many remain for the current period, and warns you inside Zoho before the trial ends or the allowance runs out.

The extension itself is free. Screening runs against a LeadFilter subscription, which is managed in your LeadFilter account at app.leadfilter.zsetup.com — not inside Zoho CRM. We email the address that installed the extension before the trial ends, with a link to choose a plan. Plans are billed monthly and measured in lead checks; you can change or cancel a plan at any time, and screening simply pauses if there is no active plan.

Using LeadFilter outside Zoho

Day-to-day screening needs nothing outside Zoho. To reach your LeadFilter account — check history, the test console, and plan and payment management — go to app.leadfilter.zsetup.com and use “Forgot password” with the same email that installed the extension, then set a password. That account was created for your org at install; you are not signing up for anything new.

FAQ & troubleshooting

I created a Lead by hand and its status didn't change. That's expected — Leads typed into the CRM UI are a skipped source, so they're never sent for screening. See Testing that it works for how to trigger a real screening run, or remove crm_ui from the skipped sources in the widget to screen manual entries too.

The Lead was screened but stayed untouched. LeadFilter only acts on Leads it judges to be spam. A short, plain question is treated as a genuine inquiry and left alone — that is the intended outcome, not a failure.

Does importing a spreadsheet of Leads use up my checks? No — bulk imports don't trigger screening by default, so loading in an existing list won't burn through your allowance.

A Lead I'd expect to be skipped got screened anyway. If LeadFilter can't determine a Lead's creation source for any reason, it screens the Lead rather than silently skipping it — this is intentional, so a real inquiry is never missed.

The widget shows “not provisioned” or nothing loads. Try reopening the widget after a minute — provisioning happens right at install and occasionally needs a moment to finish. If it's still stuck, contact support with your Zoho org ID (see below).