Stopping Fake Sign-Ups on Your SaaS with Email Checks
Free trials attract fake accounts. A layered approach using email checks, confirmation and limits that stops most abuse without hurting real users.
In this article
Free plans and trials are great for growth and a magnet for abuse: throwaway accounts, repeated trials and bots that fill your database.
What fake sign-ups cost
- Compute, storage and support spent on accounts that never convert
- Misleading activation and conversion metrics
- Bounces that damage your sending reputation
- Abuse of free quotas or promotions
A layered defence
- Check the address at sign-up: block invalid addresses and disposable domains with a real-time email checker.
- Require confirmation: do not let an account act before the email is confirmed.
- Rate limit: limit sign-ups and sensitive actions per IP and per device.
- Watch patterns: many accounts from one subnet, sequential addresses or odd domains.
- Add a challenge only when needed: show a CAPTCHA to suspicious traffic, not everyone.
Be kind to real users
Explain why an address was rejected, offer another way to sign up, and never block for slow third-party responses.
Measure
Track the share of confirmed accounts, activation rate and bounces before and after. Mailbite gives every account 100 free verifications a month so you can pilot this on your own sign-up form.
Mailbite Editorial TeamPractical guides on email verification and deliverability.
Clean your list before you send
Verify 100 email addresses free every month. Plans start at $19.90 a month for 25,000 verifications.