So, you’ve had a lot of sign-ups lately. The problem is that they’re not from real people who are interested in your business. It could be spam from bots, competitors or scammers.
Perhaps you don’t think it’s a problem because you’ve got more details in your database, but it’s not that simple. If these sign-ups aren’t genuine, they could do a real number on your numbers – and your chances of securing commercial campaigns.
We’ll be explaining what spam sign-ups are, why they’re not desirable and how to prevent them. Read on for more or jump to your preferred section.
What are spam sign-ups?
Spam sign-ups are fake or unauthorised website or app registrations. These users might create an illegitimate account to carry out fraud: posting scathing reviews, collecting email addresses to spam your database later down the line, or committing scams. The latter might trick your users into giving them their personal details. Or, they might simply be out to commit lead fraud in order to generate a lot of fake leads in your lead gen forms to damage your business.
On the other hand, sign-ups could be from competitors who are trying to suss out your marketing strategy.
Why are spam sign-ups a bad thing?
The short answer? They result in useless data and leads. As harmless as this sounds, it could affect your reporting and, in turn, your marketing. If you can’t cite accurate numbers to potential commercial clients, they are less likely to partner with you as they can’t accurately measure how a campaign will perform. Depending on your industry, word could get around and bruise your company’s reputation, opening the door to opportunities being clinched by competitors.
“For small businesses, accurate sign-up data is essential,” Jes Johnson a SmartMove told Small Business. “When bots and fake users pollute your systems, it compromises email deliverability, skews analytics, and erodes trust in your outreach. I’ve seen cases where over 30 per cent of a small business’ email list was made up of invalid accounts, leading to plummeting open rates and entire campaigns being flagged or throttled by email service providers.”
If you have a lot of fabricated email addresses and spammy info on your database, email providers could pick up on this and label your emails as spam. It could also be the case that dodgy users press ‘spam’ when they receive your emails. If this happens enough times, all of your emails will go into your users’ spam folders.
As much as anything else, handling a large email database means you’re going to be paying more for worthless email addresses.
To fix this, you’ve got to trim the fat so that you can get better quality engagement from real followers of your brand. Dealing with faulty sign-ups is time-consuming in that it takes a lot of effort to remove all of the spam registrations – you might even need to hire someone to do if for you!
How do I prevent spam sign-ups?
The good news is that you can slow these registrations down. Here’s how.
Spot the fakes
Look out for more than one sign-up from one IP address; this suggests an individual or spambot is trying to create lots of accounts in a short period of time. They’re more likely to sign up with long-winded or whacky email addresses, too.
Further down the road, emails with a high bounce rate and low open rate could signal fake accounts.
Use the right tools
You’ll recognise these from your travels around the internet. It’ll probably take the form of a CAPTCHA, like the examples below:
“Simple tools like CAPTCHA, email verification, and double opt-ins aren’t just tech add-ons; they’re critical filters for quality assurance. They reduce wasted time, cut down on bounce rates, and help protect your brand’s digital credibility,” said Johnson.
As Johnson says, websites and services often use a separate activation by sending a code over email or SMS. This confirms the account – and that the person signing up is real.
Some business owners worry that additional verification steps will turn users away, but it’s worth it, as Johnson points out: “In reality, genuine customers understand the need for secure interactions, and a cleaner sign-up process ultimately supports stronger, more sustainable engagement.”
Bot detection software
This software is designed to weed out bot traffic from real human users. It observes behaviour and patterns to detect when a bot might be present.
Honeypot
As well as being Winnie the Pooh’s weakness, honeypots entice bots. Honeypots are tools that place traps (e.g. extra fields) that only bots can see. The fact that these get filled out prove that they’re bots. Some platforms can block the registration right after the bot has fallen into the trap.
Limit number of registrations from one IP address
This would place restrictions on the number of registrations within a certain time frame, putting a swift halt to a spambot trying to create multiple accounts.
Request a profile picture or bio
Bots have trouble processing images and with creating a bio that’s even vaguely believable. They stumble over multi-page forms as well.
Email validation service
These services can pinpoint and remove false email addresses from your mailing list.
Keep software up to date
Then your platform will be in better shape to ward off scammers and other sketchy users.
Use third-party providers with these features built-in
Products from some providers have essential tools like real-time email verifiers. They can find disposable emails and domains so you can blitz them straight away.
Shopify has built-in spam protection and Google Analytics can highlight weird goings-on with your traffic while filtering out non-human interactions.
Johnson sums up how to protect your business from spam: “The best approach is layered: implement tools, monitor IP addresses, block suspicious domains, and review sign-up patterns weekly. A proactive stance makes a major difference.
“Protecting your data is protecting your growth. Clean lists aren’t just efficient. All in all, they build better-performing campaigns and more resilient brands.”
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