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Role address

published · September 10, 2026

A role address is a mailbox named for a function rather than a person: info@, support@, billing@, postmaster@.

A role address is a mailbox named for a function rather than a person: info@, support@, billing@, postmaster@, abuse@. It is usually a shared inbox or an alias fanning out to several people.

What Spaw answers

role is true and the reason is role. The verdict is risky and the risk score carries +30. The local part is matched against an open list of role names, so the check is about the name before the @ and never about the domain.

A role address is still probed. It nearly always exists and nearly always accepts mail — the caution is about who reads it, not whether it works.

Why it is risky rather than fine

Shared inboxes are monitored unevenly, and the person who filled in your form is often not the person who reads it. For a transactional message that is fine; for a marketing list, role addresses are where complaint rates come from, because whoever opens the mail did not sign up for it.

Nothing here recommends rejecting them. The verdict names the fact and leaves the policy to you.

Related

markdown version: /glossary/role-address.md

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