Summary
The expert and marketer consensus is strongly against correcting email typos in a CRM without explicit user consent, particularly in the fintech industry, due to potential legal and regulatory violations (GDPR, privacy laws), security risks (PII leaks), and the possibility of sending emails to unintended recipients or spam traps. Instead, a multi-layered preventative approach is recommended during the signup process. Key elements include using double opt-in, real-time email validation and syntax checks, confirmation email fields, domain filtering (with warnings for unusual domains), CAPTCHA to prevent bot entries, input validation to sanitise user inputs and progressive profiling to reduce signup friction, and not checking for MX records. If an email fails in the fintech sector, alternative communication channels (SMS, paper) must be used. Regularly cleaning the existing CRM data and segmenting potentially incorrect addresses for targeted re-engagement campaigns are crucial for maintaining list hygiene.
Key findings
- Legal Risks: Correcting typos without consent can violate privacy regulations like GDPR and other data protection laws.
- Security Vulnerabilities: Incorrectly corrected emails can leak Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and create security risks, especially in Fintech.
- Deliverability Concerns: Sending emails to corrected addresses risks spam complaints and exposure to spam traps, damaging sender reputation.
- Intentional Typos: Some users may intentionally provide incorrect email addresses, making automatic corrections problematic.
- Bot Activity: Bots often submit invalid emails; preventing them is essential for data quality.
- Fallback Channels: In fintech, if an email fails, alternative communications channels are required.
Key considerations
- Double Opt-in: Implement a confirmed opt-in process to ensure users actively consent and validate their email addresses.
- Real-Time Validation: Use real-time email validation services during signup to catch typos, invalid syntax, and disposable email addresses.
- Confirmation Email Field: Include a confirmation email field in signup forms to force users to double-check their entry.
- Domain Filtering and Warnings: Implement domain filtering to flag less common or suspicious domains and warn users to verify.
- Progressive Profiling: Collect the confirmation of email addresses later in the process to reduce signup friction.
- Re-engagement Campaigns: Segment potentially incorrect addresses and run targeted campaigns asking users to confirm their information.
- Regular List Cleaning: Periodically clean your CRM data to remove invalid or unengaged email addresses.
- Legal Compliance: Ensure all email practices comply with relevant data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).
- Utilise and understand validation tools: Need to know what tools to use and also when NOT to use them.
- Sanitize User Inputs: Implement input validation to sanitise user input and prevent security risks.
What email marketers say
13 marketer opinions
Correcting typos in existing email addresses within a CRM, particularly for fintech signups, presents a complex issue. The consensus leans against directly correcting typos without explicit user consent due to privacy regulations and the risk of sending emails to unintended recipients. Instead, implementing robust preventative measures during signup is recommended. These include double opt-in processes, real-time email validation, confirmation email fields, and domain filtering. In fintech, it is also crucial to have fallback communication channels such as SMS or paper. Regular list cleaning and segmentation of potentially incorrect addresses for re-engagement campaigns are also valuable strategies. Some sources also advise against checking for MX records because it may show phishing domains.
Key opinions
- Regulatory Compliance: Correcting typos without consent may violate privacy regulations like GDPR.
- Intentional Incorrect Data: Some users may intentionally provide incorrect email addresses.
- Risk of Spam Traps: Sending emails to corrected addresses may lead to spam complaints and exposure to spam traps.
- Fallback Communication: In fintech, alternative channels (SMS, paper) are required when email fails.
- Preventative measures are key: Implementing best practice to stop this situation occuring at the point of signup.
Key considerations
- Double Opt-in: Implement a confirmed opt-in process to ensure valid email addresses and consent.
- Real-time Validation: Use real-time email validation during signup to catch typos and invalid formats.
- Confirmation Fields: Employ confirmation email fields in signup forms to reduce typo errors.
- Domain Filtering: Implement domain filtering to alert users about less common domains.
- List Cleaning: Regularly clean the CRM data to identify and address remaining issues.
- Progressive Profiling: Collecting the confirmation of email addresses later in the process to reduce signup friction.
Marketer view
Email marketer from HubSpot Blog recommends using a confirmation email field in signup forms, where users have to enter their email twice, reducing the chances of typos.
23 May 2025 - HubSpot Blog
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email on Acid suggests implementing a filter that accepts only the most common domains (e.g., gmail.com, yahoo.com) and alerts the user if they enter a less common domain, prompting them to double-check their address.
16 Nov 2024 - Email on Acid
What the experts say
4 expert opinions
Experts emphasize the importance of not correcting typos in email addresses, especially in Fintech, due to security risks, potential leaks of PII, and regulatory issues. Typos, particularly those resulting in deliverable mail, pose a significant threat to customer protection. A combination of tools for validating email validity is recommended, including checks for MX records, syntax, and common typos. The issue isn't limited to domain-side typos; problems on the domain side suggest similar problems on the user side.
Key opinions
- Security Risk: Typos in email addresses, particularly in Fintech, pose a security risk, potentially leaking PII.
- Regulatory Issues: Correcting typos may flag regulatory issues, especially in the financial sector.
- PII Leak: Typos leading to deliverable mail are worse because they leak PII.
- All-side issue: Typos aren't limited to the domain side of the email address, there will be a problem with the user side.
Key considerations
- Validation tools: Implement a suite of validation tools and checks.
- Mx record check: Confirm the domain the email came from.
- Syntax check: Check email conforms to syntax requirements.
- User side: Consider issues for users who may not be using the correct email themselves.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks emphasizes that typos in email addresses, especially for fintech companies, pose a security risk and a customer protection issue, potentially leaking personal identifiable information (PII). She suggests that typos leading to deliverable mail are worse because they leak PII.
24 Aug 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks highlights that one cannot assume that typos only occur on the domain side and/or lead to undeliverable mail. If there are significant problems on the domain side, there would be similar problems on the user side.
24 Feb 2025 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Technical documentation emphasizes preventative measures for handling email typos during signup. Confirmed opt-in (Mailchimp) ensures valid addresses and user consent. Real-time validation (Twilio SendGrid) catches typos and invalid formats before they enter the CRM. RFC 5322 specifies email syntax for validation. OWASP highlights input validation techniques for sanitizing user data, preventing typos and security issues. reCAPTCHA (Google) prevents bots from submitting invalid emails, ensuring cleaner data.
Key findings
- Preventative Focus: The primary focus is on preventing typos from entering the CRM in the first place.
- Confirmed Opt-in: Confirmed opt-in is essential for validating email addresses and obtaining user consent.
- Real-time Validation: Real-time validation is crucial for catching typos and invalid formats during signup.
- Security: Input validation is crucial for sanitizing user data and ensuring the integrity of the data
- Bot Prevention: CAPTCHA technology prevents bots from submitting invalid or typo-filled email addresses.
Key considerations
- Implement Confirmed Opt-in: Require users to confirm their email address via a link sent to their inbox.
- Real-time Email Validation: Use an email validation service to check the validity of email addresses during signup.
- RFC 5322 Compliance: Ensure email addresses comply with RFC 5322 syntax specifications.
- Input Validation Techniques: Utilize input validation to sanitise user input and prevent security risks.
- Implement reCAPTCHA: Use reCAPTCHA to prevent bots from submitting typo filled email addresses.
Technical article
Documentation from RFC 5322 provides the technical specifications for email address syntax, which can be used to validate the format of email addresses during sign-up, helping to identify some types of typos. This can be used in conjunction with other methods.
9 Jul 2024 - RFC Editor
Technical article
Documentation from Google reCAPTCHA informs that using CAPTCHA technology on sign-up forms can help prevent bots from submitting large numbers of invalid or typo-filled email addresses, contributing to cleaner data.
25 Jun 2022 - Google
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