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

[coenoby]

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@dave567 wrote:

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

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Out of interest when was that? If I recall correctly VM closed their Swansea support centre in 2019 and these days  VM have a policy of not accepting email requests for support from their customers.

VM can only whitelist an IP address in respect of emails that they receive, they cannot whitelist for all your recipients. However, as an ISP they can request Spamhaus to delist an IP address from the SBL. However, my understanding is that before they delist an IP address from their blocklist Spamhaus normally require evidence that the cause of the spam has been removed, before complying with the request.

However that is all academic because although your IP address is currently not on the SBL, if you enter your IP address into thsi link https://check.spamhaus.org/  you will see that it says this:

I have redacted you IP address but you will see there that Spamhaus are regularly detecting what they consider spam activity from your IP address.

So this blocking issue will continue to occur with whatever IP address you use - even if you switch IP provider, until you can identify the reason how why suspected spam is coming from your home network and take steps to stop it.

As a responsible ISP, VM don't want their domestic IP addresses to get a reputation as senders of spam. So based on that evidence from Spamhaus I would expect VM to be, at best, very reluctant to issue you with a new IP address until they have evidence that your new IP address is not going to appear on the SBL.

I would suggest that you need to wait for the Forum Team (VM staff members who support this forum). One of them will contact via this thread (hopefully tomorrow) and take the details and if necessary pass it to the relevant support team. When replying to the member of the team you need to stress that you are seeing this problem with a non VM email address although I would expect it to also occur with your VM emails that you send via Outlook.

Coenoby

[dave567]

• The Swansea email address was last September so 2023 way after 2019. They have only blocked me on nice this month and I have only requested to be unblocked once. I’m honestly not sending spam and have no virus or malware so I’m stumped as to why they keep blocking me! Totally stumped. Sometimes I get enquiries where clients put fake email addresses and when I email they bounce back -could a high volume of those cause the issue? I’m totally frustrated. How can I prove I’ve stopped doing something I havent done?  I’ll log on tomorrow and see if it works but I need a permanent solution. Back to my question-would a Bon that changes the Ip address protect my own?

[Graham_A]

You may not be knowingly sending spam emails but can you be sure that no devices connected to your broadband connection have been compromised?  In the past culprits have been found to be devices such as Firesticks with side loaded add ons that allow 'free' access to restricted content and some free VPNs that are compromised.

[coenoby]

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@dave567 wrote:
They have only blocked me on nice this month and I have only requested to be unblocked once.

As per the screenshot I posted, Spamhaus say that your IP address has been blocked twice in the last month and you can take that as the gospel truth. You may not always be aware your IP is blocked, for example, perhaps not all the your work email contacts use email services that employ Spamhaus blocklists. As I said earlier, it's the email providers of your work contacts who are actually blocking your emails based on advice from Spamhaus.

  " I get enquiries where clients put fake email addresses and when I email they bounce back -could a high volume of those cause the issue?" 
The answer is a definite yes because a lot of the emails spammers send out will be to non existent addresses. So if your work email account receives a lot of Non Deliverable reports back that makes you look like a spammer.

Also if you do not have the correct SPF DMARC and DKIM records set up for the domain name you use for your work then you run the risk of your genuine emails being flagged as spam. That is especially the case if the SMTP server settings for your work email in Outlook use the VM email server. Most responsible email services check those 3 records on all incoming emails to ensure that the sending email server is authorised to send emails for that domain, If the SPF, DMARC and DKIM records for your domain name are missing or are incorrect then your emails will look as if the sender has spoofed (falsified) the sending address and they will almost certainly be flagged as spam.

" I need a permanent solution."

Of course,  but the solution is not to whitelist your VM IP address or to keep changing it all the time. The permanent solution is for you to review the set up for your work email account and the procedures you use with your work email.

Also, as @Graham_A  intimates you need to check for malware on all the smart devices on your home network not just the device you use for sending your work emails.

To be honest, the solution lies in your court not, as Fasthost advised, in VM's.

Coenoby

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[dave567]

Ok so I have been with VM for ten years and this company for 2years and out of 16 advisers I’m the only one with this issue. Fasthost changed my server settI he today and port numbers not sure if it will help. I have no control over the “set up” by fasthost but as no one else is affected it seems strange. Would a vpn help when email the bogus email address and getting bounce backs as at this point I’ll try anything. My tablet and  two laptops are clean -not sure how to check fire sticks for viruses /malware so any advice is appreciated please. I get you saying it’s down to me but I’m not doing anything wrong and have no control over people submitting enquiries with fake email addresses as that’s parr for the course. So would a vpn potentially  help me avoid my IP being blacklisted as that is clearly what’s happening but it only affects my email address -not my wife’s work email and not either of our Hotmail accounts. Again, I’m not doing anything wrong and I’m not a tech genius and I’ve no control over the mail configuration so what can I do? Again would a vpn help -my wife’s work laptop has one and she’s had no issues on our VM WiFi 

[coenoby]

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@dave567 wrote:

Again would a vpn help -my wife’s work laptop has one and she’s had no issues on our VM WiFi 

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It would simply mask the problem by getting the IP address of the VPN blocked instead.

"have no control over people submitting enquiries with fake email"

No you don't but if it is a regular problem with people giving you fake addresses you could consider running a check on any new email addresses that your clients provide. There are a number of online email address checking sites which enable you to submit an email address and they confirm whether  the email address is genuine and accessible. There is no actual email sent during that check so there is no issue of your IP address getting blocked if the result comes up negative but if it comes up negative there is no point sending an email to that client.

"I have no control over the “set up” by fasthost"

The thing is that if you use a private domain for your email address you need to understand that there are things you must consider and be very aware of. I mentioned SPF, DKIM and DMARK records earlier and if those are not set up correctly or missing for your domain you will be much more likely to have problems with your genuine  emails being flagged as spam or even blocked

Here's a post that explains SPF. DKIM and DMARK and covers the things you need to do.

Also here is another post about the whole issue of sending and receiving emails using a private domain   Sending-email-using-your-own-domain 

And here is another long post that it would be a good idea to read

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Email/Ravenstar-s-Email-FAQ 

Coenoby

[jpeg1]

I've had my own domain, with several several email addresses for business and family use, for many years. It's properly registered of course (as described above) and there has never been any such problem with mail in or out.  With or without use of VPNs. 

[dave567]

Hi thanks for this

Do you have a link to any of the reputable email checking sites? that would be useful?

Re vpn- if the vpn IP got blocked I assume I could then switch to another so at least I could still work, yes? Surely thats the point?

re fasthost/ private domain- I have no control over the email provider my company uses but no one else has had a problem ever and the company is a big, multi award winning company that has been running over ten years

[dave567]

Incidentally i tried this email checker- https://hunter.io/email-verifier

it sioad my personal email address doesnt exist and it does so it isnt very reliable!

[coenoby]

There are lots of others or there might be an issue with your email account 

Coenoby