Spamcop Blacklist: What Is It and How To Remove Yourself From It

What is a Spamcop Blacklist?

The Spamcop Blacklist is a compilation of IP Addresses that are responsible for sending spam (“reported email”) to users.  Once reported, Spamcop quickly and automatically lists sites on their Blacklist.  The “reported mail” can be flagged by Spamcop’s automatic reports and/or by Spamcop user submissions.  The Spamcop Blacklist’s primary goal is to block unwanted, spam emails.    

How does Spamcop Blacklist work?

The Spamcop Blacklist receives reports from direct sources and indirect sources.  A number of different report sources are used, including SpamCop Users, Spamtraps, and websites that use the Spamcop Blacklist.  The Spamcop Blacklist weighs the number of reports referencing an IP address against a sample of the total amount of email sent by that IP address.  Keep in mind, the method used is not perfect.  If you send a significant amount of reported mail, you may not be listed because you also send a significant amount of unreported mail.  

SpamCop also monitors queries from a sample of sites that use the Spamcop Blacklist.  Spamcop Blacklist users query the Spamcop Blacklist servers during every SMTP transaction. We count the total number of queries for each IP address and whether or not that IP address appears on the Spamcop Blacklist, to generate an estimate of how much email is transmitted by each IP. When a sampled site queries the Spamcop Blacklist about an IP address sending mail which is not reported mail, that host is given a reputation point.

How do I find out if I am on the Spamcop Blacklist?

You can check if you are on the Spamcop Blacklist here.  The easiest way for you to determine if you are on a blacklist is to simply sync an inbox under the domain in question to our platform. Every inbox synced to Warmup Inbox gets run by the 24 most common IPv4 blacklists to determine if your inbox and associated domain has been listed on one.

How Can I Remove Myself From Spamcop Blacklist?

You cannot manually remove yourself from the Spamcop Blacklist.  Spamcop is in charge of blocking and unblocking all IP Addresses that have been reported.  If you are continuously in the reports of spam, you will continue to be listed on the Spamcop Blacklist.  If you begin to not appear on the reports, you will be removed from the blacklist automatically in 24 hours.  The Spamcop Blacklist records lists of IP Addresses that are flagged for sending reported mail.  Timeliness is key to the Spamcop Blacklist's value.  Because of the automatic nature of the system, the accuracy of listing spam is high.  Without any additional reports, a reported address stays on the Spamcop Blacklist  for only 24 hours. This limits the amount of damage if users make a mistake and report legitimate mail.  

How do I reduce my risk of getting onto the Spamcop Blacklist?

The best way to avoid getting listed on a blacklist is to engage in proper email practices such as...

• Verify all email addresses before attempting outreach
• Avoid sending unnecessary emails
• Avoid the use of spam words within your email drafts
• Keep your sending volume to a minimum (30-50 a day if your inbox has been warmed up with us for at least 30 days)

Related Terms:

Blacklist: an online database that aggregates email addresses and domains that have been reported on multiple occasions to be sending out spam or malicious content to others on a large scale. These blacklists are used as a reference by mail servers in order to determine how safe it is to accept messages coming from unknown domains and addresses.

Reported Email: mail reported as spam by email user

Spamtraps: email addresses that spammers have harvested or created, but the owner of these email addresses never used them to receive wanted email or to subscribe intentionally to mailing lists.

IP Address: a unique address that identifies a device on the internet or a local network.  IP is the set of rules governing the format of data sent via the internet or local network.