# The abuse status

URL: https://email-validation.org/docs/statuses/abuse/
Updated: 2026-10-20

> Documentation index: https://email-validation.org/llms.txt

**Abuse** (`abuse`) means the person behind the address often reports legitimate mail as spam; the reason is
`complainer`. Complaints weigh heavily on your sender reputation, so the action is `remove`. It costs 1 credit.

## What to do

- Remove the address from marketing lists. For mail the person asked for, such as a receipt or a password reset,
  decide case by case.
- Make unsubscribing easy and honour it quickly: many complaints come from people who could not find the way out.

## Reasons

### Frequent complainer

`complainer`: The person behind this address often reports legitimate mail as spam.

- **Recommended action:** Remove. Remove the address from your list or ask for another one.
- **Credit:** 1 credit when it comes from a completed check.
- **Test address:** `complainer@sandbox.email-validation.org` (free)

<details><summary>Example response</summary>

```json
{
  "email": "complainer@sandbox.email-validation.org",
  "status": "abuse",
  "reason": "complainer",
  "action": "remove",
  "account": "complainer",
  "domain": "sandbox.email-validation.org",
  "did_you_mean": null,
  "free_email": false,
  "role_account": false,
  "disposable": false,
  "catch_all_domain": false,
  "mx_found": true,
  "mx_record": "mx.sandbox.email-validation.org",
  "smtp_provider": "other",
  "domain_age_days": 3650,
  "processed_at": "2026-10-20T09:30:00.000Z",
  "credits_used": 0,
  "request_id": "req_7Hq2LmX9cV4bN8tR1zK6wD"
}
```

</details>