Email bouncing

[Nermal]

As some of you know, my new iPod isn't behaving itself, so I've been talking to the reseller I bought it from via email. I've been emailing him and he's been receiving the messages, then he replies and I receive them. No problems whatsoever.

Today, I tried to reply to one of his messages, and I immediately got a server-generated bounce notification saying "host his mail server's DNS name [his mail server's IP]: 550 Rejected message because my mail server's IP is in a black list at bl.spamcop.net"

Presumably he hasn't received my message. I of course haven't been spamming, so I don't see how this could've happened.

So, I have two questions.
1. How could this have happened?
2. How can I fix it?

Thanks.

 

[angelneo]

I am assuming you have subscribed to some shared hosting and you are sending your email using that domain name. Most likely, one of the other customers using the same server is spamming.

I think there's a way to whitelist your ip. Try
http://www.spamcop.net/bl.shtml
http://www.spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/297.html

 

[Nermal]

Most likely, one of the other customers using the same server is spamming.

Surely somebody wouldn't block an entire ISP because one person spammed!

There's a "delist" option on that site, but it seems to be targetted at the server administrator, not innocent users like me. Do I need to talk to my ISP?

 

[CanadaRAM]

Surely somebody wouldn't block an entire ISP because one person spammed!

Yes, of course!
How else is the spam going to get blocked?
If someone is using the mailserver of your ISP to push spam through (whether they are a subscriber, or whether it's zombied machines on the ISP's subscriber population) all spam is going through that single mailserver IP address. Mail from You and mail from MrSpammitis cannot be distinguished.

Either the ISP deals with it and shuts off the tap to the rogues, or the mailserver IP gets listed. Spamcop communicates with the ISP/mailserver owner immediately, the ISP's response and the cessation (or continuation) of spam determines the length of time of the listing.

Get on your ISP to fix this (with Spamcop AND with the offending users on their system) -- you cannot do anything as an individual. If your ISP is unable or unwilling, then start shopping for another host.

 

[angelneo]

In most cases, if you are using shared hosting, all the users in the same server uses the same ip. You can try checking it with your web site. use your ip address as the url instead of your domain name.

It's a pain trying to get delisted, as most likely, there are other email blacklist to take care of....

 

[Nermal]

I've sent an email to the hosting provider (is it correct to call them an ISP? After all, they are providing an Internet service) so I'll see what happens.

I also managed to get in touch with the iPod reseller via their online contact form, and they basically repeated what you both said, that the mail server has been blacklisted. Notably absent from the reply is something to the effect of "I've unblocked your address." However, I haven't tried to reply yet.

 

[pdpfilms]

I've sent an email to the hosting provider (is it correct to call them an ISP? After all, they are providing an Internet service) so I'll see what happens.

I also managed to get in touch with the iPod reseller via their online contact form, and they basically repeated what you both said, that the mail server has been blacklisted. Notably absent from the reply is something to the effect of "I've unblocked your address." However, I haven't tried to reply yet.

Are using A Small Orange, by any chance? Had the same issue with their servers sometime in the past few days.

 

[Nermal]

Are using A Small Orange, by any chance? Had the same issue with their servers sometime in the past few days.

No, Digital Space.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Notably absent from the reply is something to the effect of "I've unblocked your address." However, I haven't tried to reply yet.

The only way the recipient could unblock a SCBL'ed address would be to have THEIR ISP disable spamcop blocklisting entirely on their account, (or perhaps on the whole server if accounts aren't customizable). Resulting, presumably, in a huge increase in their spam reception rates. The SCBL is an option offered by the ISP that operates at the mailserver level.

Suffice to say it's far easier for you to sign up for a Yahoo/Hotmail/whatever webmail account to communicate with this recipient, than it is for either of you to make changes from your end. It's like pushing on a rope.

 

[Nermal]

OK, so (assuming that I'm following this correctly) the emails are being blocked because my webhost's SMTP server has been blacklisted. What would happen if I were to use my broadband provider's SMTP server instead? Would that fix the problem, or would it further screw things up due to my address not matching the server?

 

[angelneo]

OK, so (assuming that I'm following this correctly) the emails are being blocked because my webhost's SMTP server has been blacklisted. What would happen if I were to use my broadband provider's SMTP server instead? Would that fix the problem, or would it further screw things up due to my address not matching the server?

Do you mean using your broadband provider SMTP server while trying to retain your old email address from your shared hosting? It is very rare if your broadband provider allows this as it would be a big security hole in your broadband provider SMTP server. (unless you are talking about the email address your broadband provider has given you, then it would be ok). I think CanadaRAM suggestion of using yahoo/gmail so on would be the easiest right now.

 

[Nermal]

I tried it anyway, and it didn't bounce. I don't yet know whether it made it to the other end or not though.

Edit: It worked

 

[Nermal]

The host got back to me, it turns out that I've been using an old mail server. In Internet terms, I've had this account for an eternity, and I've been using an eternity-old server

They've provided details for a different server that uses SMTP authentication to try to keep the spammers out. Now I'm looking for a recommendation. Should I use my host's other server, or should I continue using the broadband provider's one? Or will there be no difference?