Why would Netcraft flag my legitimate emails as fraudulent?

Netcraft's automated systems can sometimes misclassify legitimate emails as fraudulent. This often happens if your emails are sent to a typo-squatted domain (a common misspelling of a legitimate domain that acts as a spam trap), or if their security scanners interact with your email's links in a way that mimics suspicious behavior. Even if you use double opt-in, such interactions can trigger false alarms.

What should I do if Netcraft reports my domain or emails falsely?

Immediately contact Netcraft through their report a mistake page. Provide all relevant details, including evidence of your legitimate sending practices, like double opt-in records, a clear unsubscribe option, and the content of the flagged email. Transparency and quick action are key.

What are typo-squatting spam traps and how do they work?

Typo-squatting spam traps are domains intentionally registered with common misspellings of popular domains (e.g., gmai.com ). They are designed to catch emails sent to mistyped addresses. If your email lands in one of these, it signals poor list hygiene or potentially unwanted sending, leading to blocklist listings (or blacklist entries) and damage to your sender reputation. Even with double opt-in, if a subscriber makes a typo, their email might go to such a trap.

How can I prevent my emails from hitting typo-squatting spam traps?

To avoid typo-squatting spam traps, implement robust email validation at the point of signup to correct misspellings. Regularly clean your email list by removing inactive subscribers, as dormant addresses can become recycled spam traps. Maintaining a list of known bad domains and suppressing sends to them is also effective. Actively monitor your blocklist status to catch any issues early.

What is the potential impact of false positive reports on my email deliverability?

False positive reports, even when resolved, can temporarily affect your sender reputation and cause deliverability disruptions. They might lead to your emails being directed to spam folders or even temporary suspensions by your email service provider. Swift communication and providing evidence of compliance can help mitigate the long-term impact on your email reputation. Understanding how to recover domain reputation is important.

How to handle false positive reports from Netcraft and typo-squatting spam traps? - Sender reputation - Email deliverability - Knowledge base

Receiving a false positive report, especially from a reputable security company like Netcraft, can be incredibly frustrating. It's particularly vexing when you're diligently following email best practices, such as maintaining a double opt-in list and including clear unsubscribe options. The sudden accusation of sending "fraudulent emails" or "attempting to extort users", can trigger alarming notifications from your email service provider, potentially jeopardizing your sending reputation or even account status.

Often, these false positives are not due to an actual malicious act on your part, but rather a combination of automated detection systems and the insidious nature of typo-squatting spam traps. These traps, often set up on misspelled versions of popular domains, are designed to catch illegitimate email traffic. However, legitimate senders can sometimes get caught in the crossfire if a subscriber accidentally mistypes their email address or if security tools interact with these trap domains in unexpected ways.

Understanding Netcraft and false positives

Netcraft is a well-known internet services company that specializes in anti-phishing, web security, and internet data mining. Their services often involve identifying and reporting malicious websites and phishing campaigns. While their work is crucial for internet safety, they do, at times, generate false positive reports. These can occur when their automated systems misclassify legitimate content as malicious, often due to interactions with typo-squatted domains or unusual email engagement patterns.

If Netcraft reports your legitimate domain or email activity as fraudulent, it's vital to act swiftly. You can directly report a mistake on their platform, providing detailed information about the false classification. This process is designed to allow legitimate entities to contest incorrect blocklist (or blacklist) entries and classifications. Microsoft also acknowledges that Netcraft has withdrawn phishing status due to false positive reports, indicating this is a known issue for the company. To report a mistake, use their dedicated portal here.

The impact of such a report can be significant. Even if it's a false positive, your email service provider might flag your account, or your domain (or IP address) could end up on an internal or external blacklist, affecting your email deliverability. This can lead to your emails landing in spam folders or being outright rejected. Understanding what happens when your domain is blocklisted is crucial for effective remediation.

The challenge of typo-squatting spam traps

Typo-squatting spam traps are email addresses on domains that are intentional misspellings of popular legitimate domains, such as gmai.com instead of gmail.com. These domains are registered by anti-spam organizations, security researchers, or even malicious actors to identify senders who are not properly validating their email lists. If you send an email to such a misspelled address, it signals poor list hygiene or potentially spamming behavior.

Even with a double opt-in process, a subscriber might mistype their email, click the confirmation link, and then proceed to receive emails without realizing their error. Alternatively, automated security scanners might click links within emails sent to these typo domains, leading to false impressions of engagement. The core issue is that these domains are often configured to report any incoming mail as spam or abuse, leading to blocklist (or blacklist) hits. For more information on preventing such attacks, you can consult guides on how to prevent typosquatting attacks.

These traps are a significant concern for email deliverability. Hitting a spam trap, whether a typo trap or another type, can severely damage your sender reputation and lead to poor inbox placement. It's crucial to understand if spam trap hits are a concern and how to identify them. The domain owners of these typo traps often share incoming mail data with security vendors, amplifying the risk.

Even if your list is double opt-in, if you are sending to a domain that is known to be a spam trap, this can lead to reports, regardless of user interaction. Email validation tools can help catch errors at the point of collection, reducing the chances of hitting typo-based spam traps and improving overall deliverability, as detailed by Braze.

Proactive measures to prevent issues

Proactive measures

To prevent false positives and spam trap hits, a multi-faceted proactive approach is essential. This begins with rigorous list hygiene and subscriber validation practices. It's not enough to just use double opt-in, you must also be vigilant about the quality of addresses entering your system. Validating email signups from unusual or new domains is a critical step.

Domain Filtering: Maintain a list of known bad domains and prevent subscriptions from them. This can be integrated via API with your sending software.
Consent Confirmation: Ensure your double opt-in process thoroughly validates the subscriber, ideally tracking the IP address of the confirmation click to detect suspicious activity like security scanners or automated sign-ups.
Inactive Sunset Policy: Regularly remove inactive subscribers from your lists. This reduces the chance of hitting recycled spam traps (email addresses that become traps after being abandoned by their original owners) and helps maintain a healthy sending list. This also helps keep spam traps to a minimum. Learn more about tips and tools for spam traps.

Beyond list management, maintaining strong email authentication protocols is foundational. Implement and monitor DMARC monitoring to gain visibility into your email ecosystem and detect any unauthorized use of your domain. This ensures that only legitimate emails from your domain are being sent, reducing the risk of your domain being associated with fraudulent activities, which could lead to blocklist entries.

Similarly, active blocklist monitoring allows you to quickly detect if your domain or IP has been listed on any real-time blackhole lists (RBLs) or DNS blacklists (DNSBLs). Early detection is key to minimizing the impact and initiating the delisting process promptly. Understanding what a DNSBL is and how it affects deliverability will help here.

Reactive measures and dispute resolution

Even with the best proactive measures, false positives and spam trap hits can occur. When they do, a swift and strategic reactive approach is necessary. The key is to have a clear process for addressing these issues directly with the reporting entity and your email service provider.

Identifying the source

When a report comes in, whether from Netcraft or via your email service provider, the first step is to trace the problematic email back to its origin. This involves using message IDs or timestamps to pinpoint the specific email and the subscriber it was sent to. If it leads to a typo-squatted domain, analyze if this is a repeated issue or an isolated incident. This helps you to identify suspicious email domains and spam trap networks. Consider the article How to identify suspicious email domains.

Dispute and remediation

For Netcraft, use their Report Mistake page. Provide clear evidence of your legitimate sending practices (double opt-in records, unsubscribe availability, content review) and explain why it's a false positive. For spam traps, you may not be able to dispute directly, but you can remove the problematic address from your list and consider adding the domain to your internal "bad domain" list to prevent future sends. Learn more about handling spam using your domain.

Always communicate transparently with your email service provider. Explain the situation, provide the evidence of false positives, and outline the steps you are taking to prevent recurrence. This proactive communication can help mitigate any negative impact on your account or sender reputation. Remember, their primary concern is maintaining a clean sending environment, and demonstrating your commitment to best practices can go a long way.

Maintaining deliverability in a complex landscape

Dealing with false positives from security vendors like Netcraft and navigating the complexities of typo-squatting spam traps is an ongoing aspect of email deliverability. While these incidents can be frustrating, they serve as crucial reminders to consistently review and reinforce your email sending and list management practices. By combining robust proactive measures with swift and informed reactive strategies, you can protect your sender reputation and ensure your legitimate emails reach their intended recipients.

It's a continuous effort, but one that is essential for long-term email marketing success. Remaining vigilant, adapting your strategies, and understanding the nuances of how various systems interact with your email program will empower you to minimize risks and maintain high inbox placement rates.

Views from the trenches

Best practices

Always implement and enforce double opt-in for all new subscribers to ensure explicit consent and reduce unverified entries.

Proactively monitor your email lists for suspicious or typo-squatted domains and add them to a suppression list.

Regularly clean your email list by removing inactive or unengaged subscribers to reduce the risk of hitting recycled spam traps.

Configure and monitor DMARC, SPF, and DKIM records to authenticate your emails and prevent spoofing.

Maintain open communication with your email service provider regarding any abuse complaints or false positive reports.

Common pitfalls

Ignoring reports from security vendors like Netcraft, assuming they are always incorrect, can lead to severe deliverability issues.

Failing to track subscriber engagement and not sunsetting inactive addresses, increasing exposure to spam traps.

Not identifying the IP address of opt-in confirmations, which can hide automated sign-ups from security scanners.

Assuming double opt-in alone is sufficient protection against all types of spam traps and malicious reporting.

Lacking a clear process for disputing false positives with reporting organizations or email service providers.

Expert tips

Use a domain permutation engine to proactively identify potential typosquatting domains related to your brand.

Leverage advanced email validation services that specifically identify and flag known spam trap domains.

Segment your list based on engagement and consider reducing sending frequency to less active segments before sunsetting them.

Automate the suppression of addresses that generate bounces or complaints, even if they appear to be legitimate addresses.

Educate your team on the importance of email list hygiene and the risks associated with various types of spam traps.

Marketer view

A marketer from Email Geeks says that Netcraft's tendency to send large volumes of reports can trigger automated actions by providers, regardless of the report's validity, causing issues for senders.

2022-04-23 - Email Geeks

Expert view

An expert from Email Geeks says that the gmai.com domain, a common typo, behaves like a spam trap due to its suspicious MX records and association with parked domains. Mailing to such domains, even with double opt-in, is risky because the domain owner often shares mail with Netcraft.

2022-04-24 - Email Geeks