Short answer: SpamCop has no manual removal request: once spam reports stop, the listing usually expires on its own within 24 hours. Your job is to find and stop whatever sending is generating the reports.
How SpamCop works
SpamCop users report the spam they receive; the system extracts the sending IP from the headers and attributes the reports to it. IPs that collect enough reports in a given period, or that send to spam traps, are listed. When the reports stop, the listing expires automatically.
Because of this design, a SpamCop listing usually points to a real problem: somebody is reporting mail from your IP as spam.
What to do
- Confirm the listing with our blacklist check or on spamcop.net. SpamCop's lookup also shows when the listing will expire.
- Review the last 24-48 hours of sending logs: unusual volume, unfamiliar recipients, or hundreds of messages from one user point to a compromised account.
- Reset the suspicious account's password, sign out its sessions, and enable multi-factor authentication.
- If you send newsletters, send only to people who opted in, and include a working unsubscribe link in every message.
- Once the source stops, the listing expires by itself; no request is needed.
Good to know
- If the source isn't stopped, every new report resets the clock and the IP stays listed.
- SpamCop doesn't show you which messages were reported; your sending logs are your only source of information.
Even with a legitimate newsletter, recipients hitting "Report spam" damages your reputation. For ways to keep complaint rates low, see why are my emails going to spam?
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Frequently asked questions
Can I request removal from SpamCop?
No. SpamCop doesn't do manual removals; once spam reports stop, the listing usually expires within 24 hours.
How much does a SpamCop listing matter?
Fewer servers reject outright based on SpamCop than on Spamhaus, but many spam filters use it for scoring. More importantly, the listing indicates a real spam problem.