What are spamtraps and how do they cause blocklisting?

Spamtraps are email addresses that exist solely to identify spammers. They should never receive legitimate mail because they never signed up for anything. Sending to them proves your list contains addresses obtained improperly.

When you send to a spamtrap, the operator logs your sending IP and domain. Depending on the trap type and operator, this may trigger immediate blocklisting or contribute to a pattern that eventually triggers listing.

Spamtraps enter lists through several paths: purchased or scraped lists that contain them, typos that accidentally match trap addresses, or reactivated abandoned addresses that became traps.

The only way to avoid spamtrap hits is rigorous list hygiene: confirmed opt-in, regular engagement-based suppression, and never purchasing or scraping addresses.

Spamtraps are silent sentinels that never speak but always report. You cannot see them, but they definitely see you.