Two kinds
Pristine traps are addresses never used by a human, so mail to them proves scraping or guessing. Recycled traps are once-real addresses that were abandoned and repurposed, so hitting them proves you are not cleaning your list. Both are landmines in bought or scraped data.
How to avoid them
Never buy or scrape lists, verify addresses before sending, and remove long-inactive contacts. Spam traps are a direct route to a blocklist, which is why bounce hygiene and permission-based sending protect sender reputation.
Common questions
What is a spam trap?
An email address created or repurposed to catch senders with poor list hygiene. Mailing one signals scraping or a stale list and can get your domain blocklisted.
How do you avoid spam traps?
Do not buy or scrape lists, verify addresses before sending, and prune long-inactive contacts. Permission-based, well-maintained lists rarely hit traps.