Spam traps If you’ve bought a list, rented one. Or scraped the internet to gain contacts. There could be imposter email addresses hiding in your list. That’s because mailbox providers and other entities plant traps to catch potential spammers. And if you built your list in a shady way, you are spamming those people. Basically, a spam trap is an email address that never was or is no longer connected to a real subscriber, which suggests you’re collecting contacts in a deceptive or illegal manner. There are a few different types of spam traps: 1. Honeypots or pristine spam traps Pristine spam traps are email addresses made for the express purpose of catching spammers.
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They are fake contacts hidden around the web. If they end up on your list, it’s a clear sign that you’re a spammer who either purchased contacts or has been scraping the internet for email addresses. They’re also often called “true traps” or “honeypots” because they attract spammers like bears are attracted to pots of sweet honey. Mailbox providers, cybersecurity firms, and blocklist providers place these fake email addresses where spammers are likely to find them. So, those who try to harvest contact information for spamming end up getting caught when they send to a spam trap. Honeypots have never been used as a real email address.
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That means there’s almost no possible way one could end up on your list unless you really are a spammer. In that case, it’s time to clean up your act if you want to improve email deliverability. 2. Recycled spam traps When someone abandons an old email address, because they leave a job or school or just stop using it, that could become a recycled spam trap. Mailbox providers sometimes repurpose old email addresses to catch senders who acquire contacts illegitimately. Of course, in this case, it may be that you haven’t removed those inactive contacts from your list yet.
