Facing an influx of automated and fraudulent signups exploiting their free tier, a company implemented several strategies to combat the issue, including adding Google's Recaptcha to their signup flow, which initially reduced but did not eliminate fake accounts. When attackers shifted from using hotmail.com to gmail.com addresses, the company blacklisted the former and anonymous email signups, yet the problem persisted. Ultimately, they introduced an email confirmation step and leveraged Clearbit's data to verify email legitimacy, which proved more effective without impacting conversion rates. However, the company remains cautious about future tactics if attackers adapt by using valid email addresses, considering options like credit card authentication, phone number validation, or removing the free tier.