Spam traps are special email addresses used by mailbox providers, blacklist operators, and anti-spam organizations to detect senders with poor list quality or bad email practices. A spam trap looks like a valid email address, but it does not belong to a real person and is never used for legitimate communication. Its only purpose is to identify senders who are not following best practices in email list management.
There are three main types of spam traps:
1. Pristine
- Definition: Addresses created solely as traps, often hidden on web pages or seeded in places where they should never be collected legitimately.
- Purpose: To catch senders who purchase lists or scrape websites.
2. Recycled
- Definition: Addresses that were once valid but have been abandoned, then reactivated by mailbox providers as traps.
- Purpose: To catch senders who fail to remove inactive or unengaged contacts.
3. Typo
- Definition: Misspelled or malformed addresses (e.g.,
me@mgail.con). - Purpose: To catch senders with poor data collection or form validation practices.
Why Spam Traps Matter
Sending to spam traps can have serious consequences:
- Your IP address or domain may be blocked or blacklisted.
- Your emails may go directly to spam or not be delivered at all.
- It signals to providers that you may be sending to people who never opted in or who are no longer engaged.
The severity depends on the trap type, the frequency of hits, and the organization running the traps.
Identifying and Managing Spam Trap Risks
Spam traps cannot be reliably identified at the individual email address level. Anti-spam organizations intentionally prevent this. Instead, the focus should be on preventing traps from entering your list and removing high-risk contacts.
Key best practices:
- List Hygiene: Regularly remove unengaged contacts. Traps (especially pristine and typo) will never engage, and recycled traps typically show no engagement for 6+ months.
- Engagement-based Management: Suppress or remove contacts with no opens or clicks over a defined time period.
- Confirm Opt-In: Confirm subscriptions to reduce typos and ensure genuine interest.
- Permission-Only Sending: Only email contacts who have explicitly opted in. Never use purchased, shared, or outdated lists.
- Automation: Use Keap’s Automated List Management tools to streamline suppression and cleanup.
Bottom Line
Spam traps are not the real problem — they are a symptom of poor list acquisition or weak list maintenance. By focusing on engagement, permission-based collection, and proactive hygiene, you reduce the chance of sending to traps and improve overall deliverability.
For a deeper dive, see It’s a Trap! Avoiding and Removing Spam Traps.
Looking for extra help?
If you’d like professional guidance with your email practices or recommended tools to improve your email practices and deliverability, check out these trusted partners:
- Email Deliverability specialist training, consulting and software
- List Cleaning
- Form Security