What’s the difference between pristine and recycled spamtraps?

Pristine spamtraps are addresses created specifically to catch spam. They have never been used for any legitimate purpose. The only way to obtain them is through scraping, purchasing lists, or random generation. Hitting a pristine trap indicates severe list hygiene violations.

Recycled spamtraps are former legitimate addresses that were abandoned, deactivated, and later reactivated as traps. At some point, someone genuinely used that address, but after extended inactivity, it became a trap.

The distinction matters for severity. Pristine traps indicate you are acquiring addresses improperly. Recycled traps may indicate you are not cleaning inactive addresses from old lists.

Both cause problems, but pristine trap hits typically trigger more severe consequences. Blocklist operators view them as definitive proof of bad practices.

A pristine trap is a carefully laid snare. A recycled trap is an abandoned vessel repurposed as a warning buoy.