A spam trap is an email address designed to catch unwanted emails. There are no real people behind these addresses—they are only created to track how marketers send emails. When an email address hits a spam trap, it signals that there may be problems with the sender's list-management practices.
Spam traps come in several forms
- Pristine Traps: These are email addresses that have never been used by a real person. They’re placed on websites where they can only be collected by scraping tools. If you hit a pristine trap, it means your list was either purchased or acquired through some non-opt-in process.
- Recycled Traps: These are email addresses that once belonged to real people but have been inactive for so long that they’ve been converted into traps. Hitting a recycled trap can indicate that your list is not being properly cleaned or maintained.
- Typo Traps: These are email addresses created from common typos (like “@gnail.com” instead of “@gmail.com”). They often appear on opt-in forms when users accidentally enter incorrect information.
How do spam traps end up on your Recipient List(s)?
Spam traps usually appear on your recipient list(s) due to poor list-acquisition practices. Here are a few of the main reasons this happens:
- Purchased Lists: Buying email lists is a major risk. These lists are often full of invalid or old email addresses, including spam traps. It’s important to know that purchasing email lists violates Higher Logic's Anti-Spam Policy.
- Incorrect Data Entry: Mistakes happen during the signup process for those collecting email addresses at events, online signups, etc. Users may enter their email address incorrectly, leading to typo traps appearing on your list. Double opt-in processes help reduce this risk by verifying email addresses before sending to them.
- Old or Inactive Lists: If you don't email your list regularly, some of the addresses may become inactive and eventually turn into recycled spam traps. Sending to these old lists can cause deliverability issues and damage your sender reputation, which impacts your domain and IP address and can take weeks to months to improve your reputation overall.
Why do spam traps matter?
Spam traps exist to ensure that marketers are sending emails to people who actually want them. Hitting a spam trap can damage your sender reputation and cause email providers to block your messages. If you are hitting spam traps, it's a sign that your list-management and data-collection practices need improvement.
How to avoid spam traps
To avoid spam traps, follow these best practices:
- Do not purchase email lists. Only send emails to users who have directly opted in to receive communications from your association / organization.
- Use a double opt-in process to verify email addresses before adding them to your list.
- Regularly clean your list by removing inactive users or those who haven’t engaged in a long time.
- Monitor hard bounces and unsubscribes to keep your list healthy.
By maintaining a clean and engaged list, you can avoid the risks associated with spam traps and ensure your emails reach the people who actually want to hear from you.
Need assistance?
Our Deliverability team offers basic list-validation services upon request, which can help assess the health of your deliverability email list and provide further guidance.
To request this service, email us at:
To learn more about this service, see: