Forum Discussion

geraldo99's avatar
geraldo99
Tuning in
10 days ago
Solved

IMAP server connection problem - blacklisted IP address

I am using iPad and iPhone mail app and this morning I could no longer retrieve emails thru my virgin router. 4G connection and webmail are both ok. Outbound smtp is ok.

message is

Server code “ALERT”, server message “Temporarily blacklisted IP Address - try again later “

The IP Address is clearly from my VM-supplied router.

I have verified using spamhaus that my IP address is indeed on their Policy Block List and that outgoing emails will still function.  But I feel VM need to stop blocking me because of the PBL entry. They should surely not be referencing this for incoming emails!

Comments/explanations welcomed 
thanks

 

 

 

email
  • geraldo99's avatar
    geraldo99
    2 days ago

    This got escalated with VM security team and finally seemed to acknowledge and accept that it was blocking INCOMING messages via VM router that is the issue.

    viz

    “Based on your description, this appears to be related to security filtering or temporary IP-based blocks that are affecting traffic between your email client and the mail server, specifically over your VM broadband connection. This could be due to a dynamic IP being periodically flagged for suspicious behavior (even if unrelated to your use).”

    They advised again to restart router, (again!), but can report that the problem has not recurred since Wednesday. 🤞

    still no proper explanation as to how/why my IP address was blocked …but solution seems to be in place.

    Thanks again for your help

11 Replies

  • coenoby's avatar
    coenoby
    Very Insightful Person
    8 days ago

    geraldo99​ " my IP address is indeed on their Policy Block List"

    All VM domestic IP addresses are (or should be) on the PBL. If you put your IP address into this link https://check.spamhaus.org/  Spamhaus explain all about the PBL.

    This is what I see when I check my VM  IP address with Spamhaus:

    As long as you are using an email app or client (such as Outlook  or the Mail app) to send your emails then your emails ARE NOT being blocked due to your IP address being on the PBL. 

    You IP may be on another blocklist (such as the XBL) and if the problem persists you should report it directly to VM via their Netreport option:

    Go to https://netreport.virginmedia.com/netreport/ and:

    • select an abuse type of Email Sending Errors from drop down list
    • select an abuse form of Other from drop down list
    • paste the complete error message into the Log Evidence area
    • enter your name into My name field
    • enter your email address into Email address field
    • select Submit button

    That report will go direct to the VM staff who will take t e necessary acction.

    Coenoby

     

  • Matthew_ML's avatar
    Matthew_ML
    Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
    8 days ago

    Hey gerlado99, thank you for reaching out and we are sorry to hear about your email issue.

    Also a very warm welcome to the community. 

    Please reboot the router and delete the emails from the phone and put them back on here this should fix the issue. Cheers 

    • geraldo99's avatar
      geraldo99
      Tuning in
      8 days ago

      Thanks Matthew

      . Regrettably Rebooting the router does not assign me a new IP address, and so I still have the issue.

      i do understand what @coenoby said above and I had as explained been on the spamhaus site and read their explanation as to why my IP address is correctly on there, and yes, I can still send emails. The issue is why VM are blocking INCOMING emails and which blocklist is being used???
      How can I get VM to remove my IP address from that blocklist and/or explain how I can regenerate a new IP address.

      PS yesterday for a period of time everything was back to normal so this is clearly an intermittent but recurring issue with IMAP

       

      • coenoby's avatar
        coenoby
        Very Insightful Person
        8 days ago

        geraldo99​ "yesterday for a period of time everything was back to normal so this is clearly an intermittent but recurring issue with IMAP"

        Sorry in my excitement I forgot to cover that point.

        Actually, that's completely normal with spam blocklists. 

        An IP will get added to  spam blocklist such as the XBL when a considerable amount of suspicious traffic is detected coming from that IP address.

        After a suitable period of normal activity the IP address will get delisted,

        That's all a dynamic / automatic process. That's why VM say "Temporarily blacklisted" in the error message.

        Coenoby

    • coenoby's avatar
      coenoby
      Very Insightful Person
      8 days ago

      geraldo99​

      Apologies. in the past the error message your reported has always been in relation to OUTGOING emails SENT via email apps or clients when connected via their VM home network. (Sending over a mobile data network, a VPN or via VM webmail is not affected.)

      I'm a bit bemused as to how you are getting that error message in relation to incoming emails.

      VM do block incoming emails for all sorts of reasons but I have never seen a case where VM block emails TO a VM email account because the recipient's  VM IP address is on a blocklist.

      When an email service such as VM, Gmail etc, blocks incoming emails the normal protocol is for them to send an error massage back to the sender to say their email did not get to their intended recipient.

      Email services don't send an error message to the receiver saying that an email INTENDED for them has been blocked. 

      It would be useful to see the full error message that you are getting but make sure that any  personal information (emaill addreses etc) are redacted.

      .So when you get that error message does it:specify which email it relates to  the sending address, subject etc? 

      I'm really intrigued, I have never seen the error message in relation to an incoming email myself or seen it  reported here so any more information would be useful.  

      Coenoby

       

       

       

      • geraldo99's avatar
        geraldo99
        Tuning in
        8 days ago

        I filled in the reporting form as you’ve suggested (thanks) and I’ve had a number of responses from the VM Customer Security Monitoring Investigations Team, telling me about SMTP, using webmail etc which was not the issue(!)

        finally they recommended resetting passwords (which I’d already done) and deleting the email client which I did reluctantly (given vm’s track record). I reconnected using 4G. It all came back but the problem re blocking still existed. Access via WiFi/ISP outside the home was not causing the issue.

        now lo and behold it’s working again (maybe temporarily, who knows?) I asked virgin to explain why my IP address WAS blacklisted FOR INCOMING MESSAGES and why can’t they simply remove the entry. No response so far …

        the message I was getting on iPhone and iPad mail app as well as thunderbird on wintel laptop was

        Server code “ALERT”, server message “Temporarily blacklisted IP Address - try again later “

        To reiterate the smtp service has always worked fine, as has retrieving mail over both 4G and using a non-VM ISP.

        thanks for your efforts to help on this - much appreciated.