All about Abuse!

Today I'm going to talk about the "abuse@" address! When I perform audits, I always check the existence of this address for all domains (or sub-domains). And I have to admit that it doesn't exist every time... And yet, this address is so important! I will explain why 🙂

What is behind the "abuse" address???

The "abuse@" address is a technical address defined by the RFC 2142. This address is generally used to report inappropriate content (or activity) or a phishing attempt to one's ISP or directly to one's advertiser or even to an anti-spam organization. In short, it is used to complain 🙂

Thus, it must exist for any organization having a domain name (whether it is the main domain name or a sub-domain), whether it is you, Badsender, Orange, Ovh, Edf, etc. In addition to existing, e-mails arriving in this mailbox must be picked up and processed.

What is the purpose of the "abuse" address? Is it really useful?

For you, advertiser, this address will be of great use and will allow you to :

• Collect direct complaints from your recipients from your campaigns.
• Set up feedback loops from some ISPs/Webmails.
• Get unlisted (or contacted) by an anti-spam organization or ISP (even if this is not really the address that will be used).
• To set up monitoring tools such as NSDS.

(+) The advantage is that these direct complaints have no impact on your reputation because the ISP/Webmail can't measure them (as long as the "abuse@" address used is yours - it won't be the same if it's your host that receives the complaint, they might ask you for an account).

(–) The disadvantage is that you will have to manage these additional complaint flows manually. You will have to deal with them quickly to avoid that these users use the spam button of their email (unless it is not already done) which would quickly degrade your reputation!

Is it really useful... I think I've stated enough above to say that the answer is obviously: YES 🙂

How to check if the "abuse" address exists?

You have several solutions to find out if this address exists for your domains and sub-domains:

Test the address via the service VerifyEmailAddress.org

There is an advantage and a disadvantage to using this tool:

(+) If the server's response is synchronous (I ask and am immediately told whether the address is valid or not), you know right away if the address exists.

(–) If the server response is asynchronous (I ask and am told it's ok but a few hours/days later I get an email telling me the address doesn't exist), you won't know if the address exists or not at the time you test the address.

Send an e-mail directly

Checking with my Gmail address :

We send an e-mail to the address "abuse@" and we ask for the validation of the good reception:

Here again, you will have an advantage and a disadvantage:

(+) If the administrator is friendly (as in my example) and looks at the emails in this mailbox, he/she will answer you.

(-) If he/she is not (friendly) or does not check the mailbox, you will never get a reply to your e-mail.

The Abuse.net registry!

There is a website called " abuse.net "(which is not a Block List) which gathers an abuse address base. If you follow the good practices of e-mail marketing, your domain should be registered there (not necessarily by yourself but generally by your router if you delegate your domain or sub-domain to him).

You have a lookup to check if your domain is present (here with Ebay.com) :

I conclude...

The Abuse address is an essential address that should not be neglected by the advertiser. If you haven't already done so, set it up and monitor everything that arrives in it because if it can save you some ISP complaints, it's always a win-win. Your reputation may thank you one day 😉

In the next article, we will see what is behind the "Postmaster" address!

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A problem with your settings? An ISP blocking? You want to optimize your technical configuration? We're here to help you, don't hesitate to consult the link below:

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Feel free to share, like, comment... In short, make some noise !!!!!

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Badsender, emailing expertise agitator! Badsender is a team of craftsmen specialized in the various disciplines surrounding email marketing! Our emailing agency intervenes on questions of strategy, design, orchestration and deliverability. We offer this expertise in the form of coachingWe can also provide services such as audits, or act as an outsourced production force. 

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Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash

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