One of the most interesting set of statistics we can pull out of the Trap25 databases is the prefixes of emails getting the most spam. By prefixes, we mean the part of the email before the @ i.e. yourname@yourdomain.com. yourname is the prefix.

Common webmaster lore suggests that certain types of prefixes get the most spam because they are prevalent on many websites. Especially those that are selling a product. i.e. sales@yourdomain.com, support@yourdomain.com, webmaster@yourdomain.com, abuse@yourdomain.com. We aactually have an FAQ recommending that customers do not use certain email addresses should they wish to avoid spam.

We compiled a report from the Trap25 database for the last 3 months (top5).

info@ – 109,448 emails blocked
sales@ – 61,304 emails blocked
mail@ – 45,832 emails blocked
enquiries@ – 28.048 emails blocked
admin@ – 23,408 emails blocked

In terms of spam ratio i.e. total spams to the amount of sites/domains with the corresponding prefix:

mail@ – 462.7 spams per domain per month (average)
enquiries@ – 389.6 spams per domain per month (average)
admin@ – 300.1 spams per domain per month (average)
sales@ – 292 spams per domain per month (average)
info@ – 218.4 spams per domain per month (average)

Thus, if you don’t have a decent Spam Filter, avoid the above prefixes if at all possible.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 9:35 am and is filed under Web Hosting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.