Definition
Role-based address: A mailbox tied to a function rather than a person, such as info@, sales@ or support@. It is often read by several people or routed to a ticketing system, so no single reader may have opted in.
Common role-based prefixes
The usual ones are info@, sales@, support@, admin@, billing@, hr@, legal@, press@, marketing@, webmaster@ and noreply@. RFC 2142 also reserves service names such as postmaster@ and abuse@, which every mail domain is expected to accept.
Patterns vary by language and company, such as contact@, hello@, office@ or team@, so detection works on groups of patterns rather than a short fixed list.
Why role-based addresses hurt deliverability
Several people read the same inbox, and any one of them can mark a newsletter as spam even if a colleague signed up. A distribution list multiplies that across everyone on it.
Some role addresses are never read at all. noreply@ mailboxes often discard mail, and ticket systems may open a ticket for every message you send.
When it is fine to email a role address
When the role is the right recipient: invoices to billing@, partnership requests to a published partners@, or a small business where info@ goes straight to the owner.
Keep role addresses out of newsletters and promotional sends unless that exact address opted in, and watch complaints from them closely.
How RocketVerifier handles it
We detect role accounts with pattern groups such as info@, support@, sales@, billing@, hr@, legal@, press@ and noreply@. A role-based address that accepts mail comes back as risky with sub_status role_based, not undeliverable, so you decide per campaign whether to include it. RocketShield can block role-based addresses at the signup form, and our free role email checker flags them in bulk.