Solved

Can I block certain names (spam) from ending up on my profile list?


Badge +1

Every few months I get hit with 20 - 30 new profiles 

All from Mark Mustermann with an email of fake(insert zipcode here) @fakemail.com

 

Is there a way to mass delete them or maybe a way to prevent that name from ending up on the list or maybe anything with fakemail.com addresses?

icon

Best answer by alex.hong 23 May 2022, 20:47

View original

12 replies

Badge +1

Thanks @alex.hong this totally worked. 
I created a segment with the definition “properties about someone” “email” contains “fakemail” and then I was able to just delete all the people in that segment. Got rid of all of the mark mustermanns at once.

Badge +1

Alex, I am going to have to get back to you on that the next time it happens. I spent some time deleting them all individually yesterday so I don’t have one to check right now. 
if someone else currently has a Mark Mustermann profile showing they might be able to help solve this faster. @kjb23  do you have one left?

Userlevel 7
Badge +58

Hi there @AgentisAir and @Molly,

 

I would recommend first following this guide that details what these spam traps are and how to remove them from your account.  In order to delete these profiles, I would first create a segment of all emails coming from the fake email address, and then follow the instructions below to delete the accounts: 
 

If you want to permanently remove a list/segment of contacts from your account, navigate to Account > Settings > Profile Maintenance.

 

Here, you will see a Remove Profiles section where you can choose a list or segment from a dropdown menu. Select this list or segment and then click Delete People. A popup will appear prompting you to confirm this decision; if you wish to proceed, click OK.

 

When you delete people, these profiles will be completely erased and no history will be kept — this is permanent. Be absolutely certain you want to delete these profiles, because this action cannot be reverted.

 

Under Settings > Profile Maintenance, a list is ready for deletion

Spam profiles are usually created by a bot/script so installing anti-bot measures such as CAPTCHA would be helpful. Our Shopify integration will sync any profiles on the Shopify side to Klaviyo, so if the profiles are allowed to get through on the Shopify side, it'll end up on the Klaviyo end. We recommend reaching out to Shopify Support for more insight into how to prevent these profiles from being created.
 
At most on the Klaviyo side, If you are able to identify some spam bots, it's best to suppress those contacts immediately : How to Bulk Delete or Suppress Contacts in Klaviyo. I recommend suppressing them since deleted profiles can still be recreated. However, this won't prevent new profiles from being created, you would still need to suppress any new spam profiles coming in.

Let me know if this helps,

Alex

Badge +2

@alex.hong  All of the “Mark Mustermann” profiles mentioned above have a physical address associated with a Google office, and also include a phone number for Google. Is there a way to find out if these Mark Mustermann profiles being created (in every account I have ever seen) are not actually intentionally created by Google bots to validate/verify the legitimacy of our stores/domains?

My question then is whether or not suppressing or removing these profiles actually may hurt our deliverability because it “invalidates” whatever the google bot is trying to check?
 

Userlevel 7
Badge +58

Hi @Malavate,

After doing some research it looks like this Mark account has actually been around for years. Other users in different communities have stated that this probably isn’t a Google test as they definitely have

the power and tools to do something that won’t jeopardize your emailing and get you spam alerts at the same time register a domain "fakemail.com" for it.

As far as I know, removing or suppressing these accounts + setting up filters won’t mess with some google bot.

 

Thanks,

Alex

Badge +4

Tonight at 10:15pm I also started getting non-stop unique (bot) email subscribers with the domain @fakemail.com. My site is on wordpress/woocommerce. I had to turn on double opt-in to get it to stop but I don’t always want to have double opt-in turned on. This is annoying AF. 

Badge +3

Thanks for posting this! I’m being hit by Mark Mustermann up to 74 times a day for the past two weeks. Shopify does nothing for me on their end, but I’m hoping Klaviyo has a solution for all these added fake emails that then bounce.

I was able to find this article about segmentation; however, it doesn’t address how to delete all the @fakeemail.com addresses that seem to pile up courtesy of good old Mark.

https://community.klaviyo.com/lists-segments-and-profiles-35/blacklist-domains-366#:~:text=Klaviyo%20doesn't%20currently%20have,intitally%20fillout%20your%20signup%20form.

Badge

Yes! The action recorded for all of our Mark Mustermann @fakemail.com profiles is “Started Checkout” . thy only show up as profiles, because we have double opt in on email signup. But it would be great if there was a way to block @fakemail.com profiles

Userlevel 7
Badge +58

Hi there @Molly and @kjb23,

Welcome and thanks for bringing this to the Community’s attention.

Since you are seeing some fake email address I would recommend putting Double Opt in on as it will require subscribers to confirm their email address before being added to a list which will prevent fake email addresses from being added to your account. 

Here is how to enable double opt in: 
1. Click into the list you want to edit
2. Select Settings
3. Under Opt-in Process, check the box next to Double opt-in
4. Click Update List Settings

?name=inline1645229391.png


For more information on the Double Opt-In process and its benefits, please visit our help article: Guide to the Double Opt-In Process

Unfortunately, in regards to how to prevent them from entering, as of right now, we do not have a way to block/ban an email or IP from subscribing. I recommend adding a captcha to your form if you are using a 3rd party form. 

Lastly just wanted to mention, you can make a segment of all the fake profiles created by Mark Mustermann so that you can bulk delete those profiles if you want. Here is a guide that will walk you through this process: How to Bulk Delete or Suppress Contacts in Klaviyo.

 

Hope that helped,

Alex

 

Badge +1

Hey Alex, these fakes aren’t showing up on my lists or segments they just show up under profiles

Userlevel 7
Badge +58

Hi @Molly,

Can you explain what method these users are getting onto your profiles data with? There should be some way for profiles to enter into your Klaviyo account as they do not just appear.

Badge

Thanks I have now done this and it works!  Wish there was a way to block on the Shopify side. 

Reply