Spam trap

A spam trap looks like a normal address but receives no real mail. Providers and blocklist operators use them to find senders who do not manage their lists. There are three common types. Pristine traps are addresses that were never used by a person and are placed where scrapers will find them. Recycled traps are old, abandoned addresses that a provider later turns into traps. Typo traps are misspelled domains of well-known providers.

Sending to a trap tells the operator that your list was scraped, bought or never cleaned. The result can be a blocklist listing, or a drop in your reputation at a provider.

You cannot tell which addresses are traps, so the defence is list hygiene. Never buy or rent lists. Do not send to scraped addresses without checking them. Verify the list, remove addresses that bounce, and stop mailing contacts who never engage. Collect addresses from sources you know are real.