The Visual Verify Code (VVC) contribution is an answer to harmful automated scripts that create large numbers of user accounts, or repeatedly send emails via “Tell-A-Friend” and “Contact Us.” The system works by displaying some random characters in an image and asking the user to enter the text that they see displayed. The image is dynamically generated, the characters are of differing sizes and placements, and the number of characters displayed is random. The pool of characters that serve as fodder for the resulting image is user definable.