Detecting spam traps to avoid email blacklist issues is an inactive or fake contact that ISPs and blacklist vendors use to identify the source of spam. Hitting a spam trap is a bad thing for email senders because it damages their reputation and makes it harder to reach their target audience. It also hurts their deliverability rates, and they might be subject to fines if they hit a spam trap too often.

The most common way that spam traps get into email lists is through purchasing or renting third-party contact lists. These lists are usually scraped off the internet and may not be safe or valid. Additionally, stale or inactive email addresses can become recycled spam traps when not regularly managed. Email verification tools can help ensure that purchased or rented lists don’t contain inactive emails.

Detect Spamtraps to Avoid Email Blacklist Issues

Spam traps can also be inadvertently included in a sender’s contact list when their email program uses questionable practices to collect new subscribers or maintain existing ones. For example, a brand may use web forms that allow people to sign up with just their name and an email address or they may purchase or rent a list of email addresses instead of collecting opt-ins. Additionally, if the brand doesn’t regularly trim inactive addresses from their contact list, it can result in spam traps that can damage a sender’s reputation and cause them to be blocked by ISPs and blacklist vendors.