What happens when you hit a spamtrap?

Hitting a spamtrap triggers serious consequences:

Pristine spamtraps (addresses that were never valid) indicate purchased lists or scraped data. This is the most damaging trap type, often resulting in immediate blocklisting.

Recycled spamtraps (abandoned addresses converted to traps) indicate poor list maintenance. The damage is serious but less severe than pristine hits.

Providers may blocklist your IP or domain depending on the trap operator. Spamhaus, Barracuda, and others maintain extensive trap networks.

Even without blocklisting, trap hits significantly damage reputation scores and increase filtering across the board.

Recovery requires identifying how the trap entered your list and cleaning the source to prevent repeat hits.

Hitting a spamtrap is like your ship being caught in a coast guard sting operation. The authorities set the trap specifically to catch violators, and getting caught has serious consequences.