❓What is email poisoning?
Email poisoning is a malicious tactic where someone intentionally submits fake or invalid email addresses into your forms, lead magnets, or opt-in lists to harm your deliverability.
It's also known as:
- List poisoning
- Lead form spamming
🤔Why do people use email poisoning?
Email poisoning is used to:
- Crash autoresponders by flooding them with fake signups
- Damage your sender reputation with high bounce/spam rates
- Trick you into sending to honeypots or spam traps
- Waste your time and money with bad leads
It's often automated with bots or scripts targeting open forms.
🔍How do I know if I've been poisoned?
Warning signs include:
- Sudden spike in bounces or fake-looking domains
- Huge increase in signups from suspicious IPs or countries
- Emails that fail validation (e.g. asdf123@zzzz.com)
- Increased complaints, unsubscribes, or blacklist hits
🛡️How can I prevent email poisoning?
Protect your forms with:
(like Lero)
or reCAPTCHA
per IP
confirmation
and block known bot IPs
📌 Summary
Email poisoning is a malicious tactic where fake or invalid email addresses are intentionally submitted into your forms to damage your sender reputation and deliverability. Don't wait until it hits—validate before you send.
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