Email spam traps are one of the significant difficulties confronting email marketers today. We all know that Email marketing is an excellent method to contact your target audience and build your brand. However, if your emails are identified as spam, they may never reach your subscribers’ inboxes.
In this post, we’ll explain what email spam traps are, how they operate, and how you may prevent them.
Please spend 3 minutes reading the full text because email spam traps are such an essential aspect impacting your sending reputation.
Knowledge About Email Spam Trap – Spam Trap
Email Spam Trap is a spam avoidance strategy. Internet service providers (ISPs) and BLacklist blocklist providers develop spam traps to lure spammers and ban them.
The spam trap is made to seem like a genuine person’s email address. They have proper MX records and are set up to receive mail successfully. But they do not belong to a “real” person, nor are they utilized for any communication.
As such, spam trap addresses are never included in the opt-in list to receive emails. This suggests that people who transmit to this “trap” are primarily spam.
What Are Spam Traps?
Spam traps (sometimes known as Honeypots) are used to detect and monitor spam emails.
Anti-spam groups, Internet service providers (ISPs), and enterprises utilize spam traps to discover spammers. They develop and put trap email addresses all over the place.
It is conceivable that by mistake, your customer list contains their email address. When you send marketing, these organizations will get your message. And they spam your IP address or even your domain name as Blacklist. It affects the company’s email reputation and transit.
See also: What you need to know about email blacklist.
Types Of Email Spam Traps
Basic/ Pristine/ Pure Spam Trap
A brand-nepristine spam trap is an email address that has never been used by a real person. It is created by anti-spam organizations and email service providers with the specific intention of catching spammers. A clear indication that you are sending unsolicited emails and are likely to be labeled as spam is when you send an email to a perfectly good spam trap.
Email addresses are inserted on web pages by anti-spam groups. So when spammers visit the website to expand their contact list. Spam traps are put at the bottom of the list. Basic spam traps may also be discovered on the purchase or rent advertisements.
This is the most destructive spam trap. Often will add your website to Blacklist or flag your IP as spam.
See also: How to create a free email with a domain name.
Spam trap recycling / Recycled Spam Trap
A recycled spam trap is an email address that was originally used by a genuine person but has been dormant for a long time. When the email service provider realizes that no one is using the email account, they convert it into a spam trap. If you send an email to a recycled spam trap, it is a clear indicator that you are sending emails to an old or defunct email list.
Recycling spam traps frequently register legal domain names or email addresses but have been set up for spam traps.
Some frequent examples include role addresses ( sales@, info@, hotro@ ) or email addresses of workers who are no longer at the organization…
The recycling spam trap is often not as destructive as the pristine spam trap. But it will still tarnish your submission reputation over time.
Email in wrong format
Emails featuring frequent misspellings, such as “Gmail” instead of “Gmail” or “Yahoo” instead of “Yahoo,” may also be used as spam traps. This might be an inadvertent error by the registrant. But it may still lead to a spam trap hiding in your contacts.
The consequences of misconfigured email spam traps are often less severe than simple spam traps. However, it demonstrates that senders need to clear their contact list consistently. This may tarnish the sender’s reputation.
How Does A Spam Trap Work?
A spam trap is one of the strategies aimed at safeguarding a subscriber utilizing the services of Yandex, Google, Yahoo, and other email providers. It protects the audience from unpleasant mailings, and at the same time disguised, it is not simple to discover. The most typical size for a spam trap is in a list of random network addresses or a bought database of email addresses.
Companies offering access to the network regularly check spam traps. Any mailings sent to such an email are prohibited. The sender is listed on the Black List. Marketers that do not follow the best guidelines for sending alerts are in danger of adding “traps” to their email lists.
How spam traps operate depends on how they are categorized. There are three significant kinds of email spam traps.
- Email spam trap stub
These are email addresses generated by ISPs. They act as a trap with the sole purpose of catching spammers.
The stub spam trap was not included in any opt-in lists. They are embedded in websites on the internet. Only those who use data scanning tools often fall into this trap. The spam trap email administrator will monitor to see if anyone has been sent to this trap address. And most of the contacts included here have suffered severe damage to the sending reputation.
Typo spam traps – Typo spam traps
Have you ever come across mistyped email addresses like the ones below:
These are just addresses that are misspelled due to spelling errors, but among them, there are many Email spam traps hidden. And we call this the Typographical Spam Trap.
Senders to this trap do not suffer the same severe reputational loss as stub traps. However, it will also signal anti-spam organizations from time to time. Therefore, every marketer should clean their list regularly.
Recycling Trap
Some traps converted from previously active email addresses have expired. These are called Email Spam Trap Recycling Spam Traps. E.g.:
The email addresses of employees no longer employed by the company can also be used as recycling spam traps. Usually, if the email is inactive within 6-12 months, it will be withdrawn for this purpose.
Recycling spam traps are generally less harmful to senders than stub traps. However, it can still deal damage over time, just like a typing trap. Therefore, it is important for senders to make user engagement a key targeting driver. This will avoid expired domains that still exist in the contact list.
Why Avoid Email Spam Traps?
Email spam traps are a serious threat to your email marketing campaigns. You should stay away from them for the following reasons:
They may tarnish your sender’s reputation.
Sending emails to spam traps may affect your sender reputation, which is a score that internet service providers (ISPs) use to evaluate whether your emails should be sent to recipients’ inboxes or sent to the spam folder. If your sender reputation is poor, your emails are more likely to be tagged as spam, which may impact your open, click-through rates, and other email metrics.
They affect your email deliverability.
Email spam traps may also impact your email deliverability, which is the proportion of emails that are successfully delivered to recipients’ inboxes. If you send emails to spam traps, ISPs may perceive your emails as suspicious or spammy, which might force them to ban or filter your emails.
They can need extra time and materials.
Sending emails to spam traps might be a good use of your time and resources since you are likely to gain a response or interaction from these email accounts.
Additionally, if your emails are marked as spam, you may need to invest extra time and money to rehabilitate your sender reputation and reclaim your email deliverability.
They may hurt your brand reputation.
Sending emails to spam traps may hurt your brand reputation since it can make you look unprofessional or spammy to your readers. This may lead to a reduction in consumer loyalty and trust, which can harm your bottom line.
They may result in legal penalties.
In certain situations, sending emails to spam traps might result in legal penalties. For example, if you send emails to spam traps that are controlled by ISPs or anti-spam groups, you may be breaking their terms of service or anti-spam legislation, which may result in penalties or legal action.
In short, avoiding email spam traps is vital for the effectiveness of your email marketing operations. But how can you avoid email spam traps?
How To Avoid Spam Traps From Entering The List?
There are a few ways to trap spam on your list. But the most common form often stems from the act of neglecting to manage email lists, not “sanitizing” them periodically.
Spam traps can often be prevented by maintaining a healthy contact list. You should take the time to filter out the email addresses of interested customers from your daily email marketing.
Here are some solutions to help avoid your email list from falling into spam traps:
· Stop buying email lists
Stop buying email lists now! Using a buying list almost guarantees that you will run into a spam trap. Not to mention that subscribers on buying lists are likely interested in something other than your service. And may mark received emails as spam or delete emails. All of these behaviors adversely affect the sender’s reputation.
· Get rid of malformed lists.
To avoid malformed emails, spell-check the contacts in the list. Incorporate a life-and-death email checker into a customer’s signup form to automatically check the legitimacy of an email address and prevent typos.
It would be best if you also used Opt out – Opt in in your campaign. The purpose is for customers to be able to unsubscribe or subscribe to continue to receive information from you.
· An email has not been used for a long time.
As mentioned earlier, spam traps sometimes originate from outdated email addresses that are no longer valid. If you get a response from a contact for a long time, it may turn into an email spam trap.
What you need to do is that you have to set up an email campaign to confirm the customer is still interested in the service. Then remove the addresses that are no longer of interest to avoid falling into spam traps.
· Set how often to clean your contact list.
Eliminate contacts who last joined your list in 3 to 6 months. You may check out our full guide on how often you should clean your email contact list.
Conclusion
For every email marketer, email spam traps can be a significant challenge. However, you may prevent them and make sure that your emails reach their intended recipients by adhering to best practices and working with reliable email service providers.
Keep in mind that spam traps are designed to capture spammers. Thus, if spam traps are a concern. The best way to avoid them is not to act like a spammer. This means:
- Don’t buy the list.
- Regularly check lists for typos and outdated emails.
- Use opt-in to confirm that the recipient is the legitimate sender.
- Maintain a healthy contact list.
Remember to test your emails before sending them out, maintain the integrity of your email list, and offer value to your subscribers. By doing this, you may raise the effectiveness of your email marketing initiatives and increase the deliverability of your emails.
Frequently Asked Questions About Email Spam Traps
What is the difference between a pure spam trap and a recycled spam trap?
A recycled spam trap is one that once belonged to a real person but has since been abandoned. A pure spam trap is an email address that has never been used by a real person.
What happens if my emails end up in the spam folder?
Your emails are less likely to be opened and clicked on if they go into the spam bin. This could make your email marketing campaigns less effective.
Can I recover from a damaged sender’s reputation?
You can restore your sender’s reputation, yes. The best approach to achieve this is to adhere to best practices for email marketing and refrain from sending emails to spam folders.
How often should I clean my email list?
To ensure that you are only sending emails to engaged and active subscribers, you should frequently clean your email list. Cleaning your list is something we advise doing at least every six months.
Can I remove spam traps from my email list?
Your email list contains spam traps, which you cannot remove. Removing spammers from your email list would not be morally or practically acceptable because email providers deploy spam traps to catch spammers.
How can I tell if an email address is a spam trap?
Due to email providers’ refusal to divulge their spam trap addresses, it can be challenging to determine whether an email address is a spam trap. Following email marketing best practices, such as using double opt-in and keeping your email address confidential, is the greatest approach to prevent sending emails to spam traps.
What happens if my emails end up in the spam folder?
Your emails are less likely to be opened and clicked on if they go into the spam bin. This could make your email marketing campaigns less effective.
Can I recover from a damaged sender’s reputation?
You can restore your sender’s reputation, yes. The best approach to achieve this is to adhere to best practices for email marketing and refrain from sending emails to spam folders.
How often should I clean my email list?
To make sure that you are only sending emails to subscribers who are engaged and active, you should frequently clean your email list. Cleaning your list is something we advise doing at least every six months.
How do I know if there’s a spam trap in my list?
In your email list, there are a few ways to spot spam traps. One strategy is to search for email addresses that haven’t opened your emails in a while. Utilizing an email validation service that can identify and warn spam traps in your list is another option.
How do I find and remove a spam trap?
You can use an email validation tool or manually scan your email list for inactive or questionable email addresses to identify and eliminate spam traps. To protect your sender’s reputation, it’s crucial to delete these email addresses from your list.
How do I know if my email is a spam trap?
If your email is a spam trap, you won’t discover it until it’s too late. Because of this, it’s critical to adhere to standard practices and refrain from sending emails to erroneous or suspect email addresses.
Does Gmail use spam traps?
Yes, Gmail does recognize and filter out spam emails using spam traps. Your sender reputation may suffer if you send emails to dubious or inactive email addresses, and Gmail may mark the emails as spam.
What triggers spam in emails?
Spam trigger words in your subject line or email body text, sending emails to inactive or dubious email addresses, and having a bad sender reputation are just a few of the things that might cause spam filters to kick in. Use best practices and offer pertinent and worthwhile information to engaged subscribers to avoid setting off spam filters.
Why is it called spam?
Originally, “spam” was a brand of tinned beef that was derided and despised by consumers. Due to its resemblance to undesired canned meat, the term was later repurposed to designate unwanted or unsolicited messages, such as email spam.
