All About Spam Traps

Spam traps are an email marketer’s worst enemy. Unlike hard bounces, they live undetected in almost every email list. Since they don’t bounce back, they’re hard to identify and hard to remove. They look like and act like real email addresses, but their presence in your email lists can be devastating.

Spam traps are real email addresses. And having spam traps in your email lists mean Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) and Email Service Providers (ESP’s) are penalizing you. They believe your lists are unclean, your content may be spam, and your email harvesting methods may be illegitimate.

Having too many spam traps in your lists can cause your sender score to plummet, your deliverability to suffer and your revenues to drag. Ultimately, they can cause your domains and IP’s to be blacklisted. Meaning none of your emails will ever be delivered.

In a nutshell, spam traps are bad for business.

But what exactly are spam traps? And how do you get rid of them?

Well, let’s start with what a spam trap really is.

Spam traps are valid email addresses. And there are several different types. Most spam traps come primarily from the following sources:

1. Mistyped Domain Names: When a user inputs their email address incorrectly and inadvertently uses the domain name of an anti-spam organization.
2. Pristine Traps: Addresses created by ISP’s, ESP’s and anti-spam organizations specifically for use as a trap. These addresses are often embedded on websites, so if a spammer scrapes a site for data, the traps get automatically uploaded into lists.
3. Expired or Recycled Addresses: Old or unused email addresses that are never removed from your list. Anti-spam organizations have been known to purchase expired addresses to convert them into traps.
4. Bulk Purchased Names: These are addresses purchased from a third party and uploaded into your email system. Purchased lists are often loaded with invalid addresses and traps. If not properly cleaned, purchased lists can quickly shut down your entire operation.

Now, having spam traps in your email lists is a nightmare. With the naked eye, they look like regular subscribers, and some sophisticated traps can even act like regular subscribers.

Even if your content or marketing material is clean, some words within that content can trigger the traps to alert ESP’s and ISP’s of potential spam materials. So obtaining a quick spam score before sending can sometimes be fruitless.

Meaning, if these traps are not removed, your business could be shut down by no fault of your own.

But there are solutions to the spam-trap problem. And one solution, provided by EmailOversight, is simple, effective and proven.

Let’s start with Mistyped Domains. EmailOversight’s Email Validation technology can identify all mistyped domains, both real and fake. Even those that don’t bounce back.

We can eliminate all mistyped domains in a flash, including those of anti-spam organizations who are looking to penalize you.

Pristine Traps: when it comes to pristine traps, you can avoid most of them by never scraping website data or illegally collecting names. No brainer here. The sole purpose of pristine traps is to get you in trouble. Don’t get in trouble. Operate your email marketing business professionally.

Expired or recycled addresses. Like mistyped addresses, EmailOversight can help you remove these types of spam traps from your lists.

Bulk Purchased Names. If you purchase an email list, or even an email marketing company, it’s important to run your names through an extremely thorough hygiene program.

EmailOversight can take your newly acquired names, clean out all hard bounces, spam traps, bots, known complainers and more.

These nefarious email addresses can cause your reputation to plummet, your IP and Domains to be blacklisted and your business revenue to dry up. Get rid of them. They can only cause harm.

Now, when you’re undergoing a lead-gen or e-cap campaign, it’s important to prevent spam traps from ever entering your email lists in the first place. EmailOversight’s Email Validation API does this for you, and in real-time.

Our API will sequester spam traps, bots, known complainers and mistyped addresses before they enter your lists, and before you ever send an email to them. It keeps your operation healthy and running, without the worry of spam trap threats.

A proven Email Validation API, like the one available HERE, at EmailOversight, gives you piece of mind knowing all your new email addresses are clean, ready to send and ready to start generating revenue.