Why is a submission going through without hitting ajax submit/validation function - php

Question

Ever since I made a change to a send file, I am getting around 20 spam submissions a day on a form. Before the change there was never spam.
The subtle modifications to my send file are shown below. The change solely consisted of how I was getting the POST data. The commented code below was my original and non-commented is what it is now.
$to_requester = Communication::mail_api($_POST, null, $template, 1, "{$_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT']}/PDFs/{$pdf_downloaded}.pdf");
//$to_requester = Communication::mail_api($_POST, null, $template, 1, "../PDFs/" . $file_mapping[$_POST['pdf_downloaded']] . ".pdf");
There are several parts to my form. The process goes in this order:
Submission to Salesforce
Information sent to my database (via ajax)
Notification emails are sent to the user and myself (via ajax)
The spam submissions that are occurring are only submitted to salesforce. They never touch my send file (this includes the db submission and email notifications). The change I noted above is in the send file, so I have no idea why this would have any effect.
I have jQuery validation setup on the form itself.
The salesforce id and other information is held in a config file and called in the form file.
The submissions are entering salesforce like this:
The name/company fields are being filled with some sort of id/code. Again, the send file or database are not being reached with these submissions. The send file is reached with AJAX communicating in-between.
What could be causing these spam submissions? Is there anything I can do validation wise to make sure this spam is not submitted?
Form
<form action="<?php echo $config['sf_url']; ?>" method="POST" id="pdfForm">
<input type=hidden name="oid" value="<?php echo $config['oid']; ?>">
<input type=hidden name="retURL" value="<?php echo $config['retUrl']; ?>">
<input type="text" class="input block" id="first_name" maxlength="40" name="first_name"placeholder="First Name *">
<input type="text" class="input block" id="last_name" maxlength="80" name="last_name" placeholder="Last Name *">
<input type="email" class="input block" id="email" maxlength="80" name="email" placeholder="Email *">
<input id="pdfButton" class="button" type="submit" value="Download File">
</form>
Config
<?php
function getConfig($key)
{
$db = [
'username' => 'user',
'pass' => 'password',
'dbname' => 'db',
];
$ar = [
'sf' => [
'oid' => 'real id',
'sf_url' => 'https://webto.salesforce.com/servlet/servlet.WebToLead?encoding=UTF-8',
'retUrl' => 'https://example.com',
],
'pdo' => new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname={$db['dbname']}", $db['username'], $db['pass'])
];
if(array_key_exists($key, $ar))
return $ar[$key];
}
Send file
ini_set('display_errors', 1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);
require 'classes/Communication.php';
require_once '../config.php';
if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] != 'POST')
exit();
$file_mapping = [
//Index
'Linear Structure' => 'Belt_Driven_Linear_1_3D', //LM Index
'Dynamic Structure' => 'Belt_Driven_Linear_5_3D', //LM MH Index
//LM
'Ball-Screw Application' => 'Belt_Driven_Linear_2_3D',
'Belt-Driven Structure' => 'Belt_Driven_Linear_6_3D',
'Linear Motion Enclosure' => 'Belt_Driven_Linear_7_3D'
];
$first_name = trim(htmlspecialchars($_POST['first_name']));
$last_name = trim(htmlspecialchars($_POST['last_name']));
$email = trim(htmlspecialchars($_POST['email']));
$phone = trim(htmlspecialchars($_POST['phone']));
$company = trim(htmlspecialchars($_POST['company']));
$pdf_downloaded = trim(htmlspecialchars($_POST['pdf_downloaded']));
$page_name = $_POST['page_name'];
$hasError = false;
try {
$config = getConfig('db');
$sent = false;
$con = getConfig('pdo');
$con->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
$consult_insert = "
INSERT INTO pdf_submissions
(first_name, last_name, email, phone, company, date, pdf_downloaded, page_source)
VALUES(?,?,?,?,?,NOW(),?,?)
";
$consult_stmt = $con->prepare($consult_insert);
$consult_stmt->execute(array($first_name, $last_name, $email, $phone, $company, $pdf_downloaded, $page_name));
if (!array_key_exists($pdf_downloaded, $file_mapping)) {
$date = new DateTime();
$hasError = true;
file_put_contents('error_log', "\n[{$date->format('Y-m-d H:i:s')}]" . "Error adding attachment: The file selected could not be found in the file mapping. {$pdf_downloaded}.", FILE_APPEND);
}
} catch (PDOException $e) {
// echo "Connection failed: " . $e->getMessage();
}
if ($hasError !== true) {
/************************ Start to Requester ******************************/
$placeholders = [
'{first_name}',
'{last_name}',
'{phone}',
'{company}',
'{email}',
'{pdf_downloaded}'
];
$values = [
htmlentities($_POST['first_name']),
htmlentities($_POST['last_name']),
htmlentities($_POST['phone']),
htmlentities($_POST['company']),
htmlentities($_POST['email']),
htmlspecialchars($_POST['pdf_downloaded']),
];
$template = str_replace($placeholders, $values, file_get_contents("templates/pdf_to_requester.html"));
// Mail subject line goes here
$_POST['subject'] = 'Subject';
$_POST['h:Reply-To'] = 'sales#example.com';
$to_requester = Communication::mail_api($_POST, null, $template, 1, "{$_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT']}/PDFs/{$pdf_downloaded}.pdf");
if (!$to_requester) {
$msg = [
'status_code' => 500,
'status_message' => 'Email Failed to send.'
];
echo json_encode($msg);
}
/************************ End to Requester ******************************/
/************************ Start to Domain ******************************/
$placeholders = [
'{first_name}',
'{last_name}',
'{email}',
'{phone}',
'{company}',
'{file_requested}',
'{page_name}'
];
$values = [
$first_name = trim(htmlspecialchars($_POST['first_name'])),
$last_name = trim(htmlspecialchars($_POST['last_name'])),
$email = trim(htmlspecialchars($_POST['email'])),
$phone = trim(htmlspecialchars($_POST['phone'])),
$company = trim(htmlspecialchars($_POST['company'])),
$pdf_downloaded = trim(htmlspecialchars($pdf_downloaded)),
$page_name = $_POST['page_name'],
];
$template = str_replace($placeholders, $values, file_get_contents("templates/pdf_to_domain.html"));
// Mail subject line goes here
$_POST['subject'] = 'Subject';
$_POST['h:Reply-To'] = 'sales#example.com';
$_POST['sendTo'] = "info#example.com";
$to_company = Communication::mail_api($_POST, null, $template, 0);
/************************ End to Domain ******************************/
if (!$to_company) {
$msg = [
'status_code' => 500,
'status_message' => 'Email was not sent.'
];
} else {
$msg = [
'status_code' => 200,
'status_message' => 'Check your Email.'
];
}
echo json_encode($msg);
JS
$("form#pdfForm").submit(function (form, e) {
console.log(send);
if(!send)
{
return false;
console.log("Should never touch this " + send);
}
var formData = new FormData(this);
$.ajax({
url: 'https://example.com/php',
type: 'POST',
data: formData,
success: function (e) {
$.LoadingOverlay("hide");
},
cache: false,
contentType: false,
processData: false
});
});