Spamhaus

[dave567]

Ok. So for the second time in a year, Spamhaus are blocking emails I send from my work email address. I am not spamming anybody and need the email account to work fully in order to work. I currently have to use my phone as a hotspot which isnt ideal.Im told my IP is static and cannot be changed but understand that the fix is for my ISP to either instruct spamhaus to remove me from the list and/ or to assign me a new ip address. I really need help with this as it is having a massive impact and I havent done anything wrong! both my laptops are clean following virus checks. the only  other thing I can think of trying but it will cost money is a vpn.Any ideas? please help

[jpeg1]

Is this work email address one of the Virginmedia domains?  They are not intended for business use and VM do not support this. 

In any case, as you are finding, VM email has become extremely unreliable over the past year or so and you really need something better. 

[dave567]

It is NOT a VM email account

[coenoby · Accepted solution]

@dave567 

Actually Spamhaus do not block emails. They only provide the information listing IP addresses sending suspicious traffic (so called Blocklists) to email service and ISPs.

It's usually the receiving email service that blocks the email because the IP is on a blocklist.  However, VM do prevent VM emails from being sent from VM IP addesses on the Spmahaus XBL blocklist. That comes up quite often on here which is what @jpeg1 assumed was happening in your case.

You are seeing something very different.

Do you use a VM email address at all and if so is that also blocked when you try to send a VM email from an email app or client such as Outlook?

"Im told my IP is static and cannot be changed"

In that case I am wondering if you already have a VM business broadband account. The reason I say that is that although in reality VM domestic IP address do not change very often they are dynamic not static. 

If you are a domestic account holder are you using a normal email app/ client to send these work emails or something more bespoke?

Also, how do you know that your work emails are being blocked "by Spamhaus"? :

• Do you get an error message/
• or have you checked your IP address here https://check.spamhaus.org/ ?

It would help if you could say exactly which Spamhaus blocklist your IP appears on. Bear in mind that all VM domestic IP's will be on the Spamhaus PBL blocklist because that is a list of all IP addresses that should not be running email servers.

Finally, if your IP address is on a Spamhaus blocklist such as the  XBL then changing to a new IP address will not solve the problem,  Such blocklists are realtime databases, so IP addresses only get on them when they are sending out suspicious traffic and soon after the traffic stops the IP address automatically comes off the blocklist. If you change IP address that will not stop the suspicious traffic and once that starts your new address will then automatically appear on the blocklist.

If you can identify which Spamhaius blocklist your iP appears on and how you are sending these work emails that would be a good start.

Coenobt

[dave567]

This is what I get every time I try and send an email from my work email address

Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients.

      Subject:     FW: From David Cole

      Sent:  23/01/2024 08:55

The following recipient(s) cannot be reached:

      'removed' on 23/01/2024 08:55

            Server error: '554 5.7.1 Service unavailable; Client host [86.16.84.201] blocked using sbl.spamhaus.org; https://www.spamhaus.org/sbl/query/SBLCSS'

[dave567]

Sent you a private message as it wouldnt all fit in a reply box here

[asim18]

Im guessing you're using IMAP with Outlook or Thunderbird?

A webmail client should bypass this issue altogether. Also better privacy as it usually hides your home IP from the recipient, which in my opinion is good if you are emailing general public.

[dave567]

Hi no its POP3 account and yes the webmail version of outlook does work fine bizzarely but it doesn't look as professional as it doesn't have my mandatory email footer etc - I really need Outlook to work as it should as I havent actually done anything wrong to deserve this.

[coenoby]

---

@dave567 wrote

The following recipient(s) cannot be reached:

      'removed' on 23/01/2024 08:55

            Server error: '554 5.7.1 Service unavailable; Client host [your ip address] blocked using sbl.spamhaus.org; https://www.spamhaus.org/sbl/query/SBLCSS'

---

Thanks for that. So from that error message your IP address is on Spamhaus' SBL list.

If you go to this link https://www.spamhaus.org/sbl/  you will see that Spamhaus explain that the SBL is " an automatically produced dataset of IP addresses that are involved in sending low-reputation email.".

I have just checked the VM IP address you quoted and it is no longer listed on the SBL. Therefore it would seem that, at the time I am posting this, Spamhaus have given your IP address a clean bill of health and  you should be able to send emails without any blacklisting problems.

If you do start getting blocked again, it is because Spamhause have once again detected that someone or something on your home network, (in other words using your IP address) has restarted sending spam.

In that case, until the source of the spam from your network is removed, then with all due respect, Fasthost's advice that you should get VM to change your IP address will not solve the problem because your new IP address will simply get blocked and you will be back in the same position.

There is often a general assumption that when an IP address is blocked it is because it has been added to a blocklist in error or because the customer who previously used that IP address was sending out spam. However when It comes to Spamhaus XBL and SBL lists IP addresses are added and removed pretty much in real time as and when they detect suspicious activity.

The other thing is that as far as I am aware Virgin Media will not change your domestic IP address. At least I have never heard f any case where they have done that. 

Coenoby.

[dave567]

Thanks last time this happened they offered to do it but told me it would take several weeks and when my IP was whitelisted I cancelled the request as it seemed pointless. And that was the email address I used to contact them as provided by them in Swansea. Cheers