Similar to rat traps for rodents and bear traps for grizzlies, spam traps are set to catch unsuspecting senders. The results of stepping into these traps can damage your deliverability. If your sending IP or domain gets blacklisted by an ISP or spam-blocking agency, email delivery rates will suffer significantly. In the worst cases, you may be blocked permanently.
Prevent Spam Issues with Email Spamtrap Detection
Prevent spam issues with email spam trap detection are email addresses that have never been used, not assigned to a user, or lost authorization through inactivity. They are created by ISPs and anti-spam organizations to identify spammers, and are used as signals that a sender isn’t properly maintaining their list or following good email acquisition and list hygiene practices. There are several types of spam traps: Pristine traps are pure traps that ISPs or anti-spam organizations create to monitor for spammers. Recycled traps are email addresses that have been repurposed after a user has left a company and can also be created by ISPs or anti-spam organizations to see how many marketers are using their lists to reach disengaged contacts. Typo traps are simply invalid or mistyped email addresses that can be used as spam traps.
Common causes of a sender landing in a spam trap include acquiring email addresses without following strict email acquisition and list hygiene standards, purchasing or renting unreliable lists, and not regularly cleaning or pruning their databases. To prevent stepping into spam traps, use real-time email validation and a double opt-in during signup to ensure recipients want your content, implement a system of list hygiene to remove inactive or disengaged users from the database, and send regular emails that encourage engagement (e.g., re-engagement campaigns, website or event signups).