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I didn't know quite where to put this, as it's not really a broadband issue, but I'm sure somebody will know.
I need to send an email to a government department, but I'm getting a bounce from [email protected] saying that my email to them was blocked.
I sent myself a quick test message, but that didn't get blocked.
Is it likely to be an issue at the government department, or has my Gmail account somehow been flagged for spam (possibly due to someone else spoofing it)?
If it was flagged, who do I appeal to to get it unflagged?
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OK, seems the IP address is blacklisted at Spamhaus, among others.
It's a dynamic address, so I don't think I am the culprit. Just running some AV to be sure.
Hopefully it can be fixed by just disconnecting for a while and hoping to get a clean address when I reconnect.
Why is it always when you have to do something urgent?
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I got a new dynamic IP, and checked its blacklist status.
It was ONLY listed at Spamhaus, who said this was a general policy exception common to most domestic broadband connections; it doesn't mean I've done anything wrong, and won't mean I can't send emails.
So why can I still not mail the government department?
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So why can I still not mail the government department?
Have you tried using a different email provider that isn't Gmail?
24 years of broadband connectivity since 1999 trial - Live BQM
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I would, but I haven't got one. I might have an old Hotmail address still kicking around, but not used it in decades.
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I would, but I haven't got one. I might have an old Hotmail address still kicking around, but not used it in decades.
Any entity can refuse to receive email from anywhere. It is unusual but possible that the specific dept has a policy to ignore gmail accounts.
You can get an outlook.com (sucessor to Hotmail) or Yahoo account for as easily as you created gmail, or you can go more obscure and look at ProtonMail, or loads of others.
24 years of broadband connectivity since 1999 trial - Live BQM
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Managed to dredge up the Hotmail address. It bounced from there too, but with a bit more info.
It looks like it's failing because the receiving domain doesn't recognize the recipient's email address.
Edited by TLM (Sat 11-May-24 19:24:30)
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Are you sending via Gmail/Hotmail's webmail?
Oliver.
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Yes!
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Yes!
Can you paste the bounce message you get, redacting personal info?
Oliver.
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It looks like it's failing because the receiving domain doesn't recognize the recipient's email address.
Then the mailbox you are trying to reach either doesn't exist (person has left organisation) or there is a different spelling.
24 years of broadband connectivity since 1999 trial - Live BQM
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@TLM,
I used to work for a company that had a blanket ban on all emails from AOL.com, outlook.com, hotmail.com, googlemail.com and gmail.com. As well as others. Individual employees had to ask Tech Support to allow individual email addresses to be whitelisted. Maybe you need to contact the government agency via phone to ask them to whitelist your email address??
Just my 2 cents worth...spend it wisely!
Cya,
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I used to work for a company that had a blanket ban on all emails from AOL.com, outlook.com, hotmail.com, googlemail.com and gmail.com.
I've seen similar, one of our clients had this sort of setup. In security circles there is a belief that "free web email" providers are a source of malware. It isn't true as the free providers go a lot further than many ISP provided POP/SMTP accounts.
24 years of broadband connectivity since 1999 trial - Live BQM
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I've seen similar, one of our clients had this sort of setup. That reminded me of something- some years ago I came across an organisation (can't remember who) that wouldn't accept unsolicited emails from anybody unless you first registered an "account" on their website which would then send a confirmation email that you had to respond to before they'd accept emails from you.
Seemed a bit OTT to me, but I suppose it made a reasonable spam-blocker. The rejection message was a bit more informative than the one TLM is getting too iirc!
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or spammers will target insecure websites, and the said domain then sends out several million spam emails.
The days of free email providers being the home of spam sending has long gone
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Some vendors can be really strict these days, outlook e.g. is especially strict. I dont know what vendor the government uses.
Usually one wouldnt expect gmail to be blocked as they are such a big player, but recently when I was in contact with CityFibre, their generic email address was blocking emails from gmail, but I was able to email staff directly fine so ended up having to do that. Thats the first occasion I have seen Gmail outright blocked, greylisting is better practice but its becoming more and more of a thing to just not deliver at all, not even to a spam box.
Also bear in mind its also not uncommon for organisations to close email inboxes, if staff member leaves or just to change it to something else (perhaps it became too publically known or something).
Edited by Chrysalis (Sun 12-May-24 10:44:04)
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I dont know what vendor the government uses.
Not a single one; different depts/agencies have their own IT strategies. Similar to NHS where each trust can do its own thing.
24 years of broadband connectivity since 1999 trial - Live BQM
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Maybe you need to contact the government agency via phone to ask them to whitelist your email address??
Indeed, but it is absolutely unacceptable for a government department to block emails based on sending domain.
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Then the mailbox you are trying to reach either doesn't exist (person has left organisation) or there is a different spelling.
Seems like it. There was no value in the OP putting their ISP's IP address into blacklist checkers, since only the IP address of the SMTP server matters.
Oliver.
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Indeed, but it is absolutely unacceptable for a government department to block emails based on sending domain. I would guess it depends if it is a service department (facing end tax payers, such as HMRC) or a more internal dept.
24 years of broadband connectivity since 1999 trial - Live BQM
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Maybe you need to contact the government agency via phone to ask them to whitelist your email address??
Indeed, but it is absolutely unacceptable for a government department to block emails based on sending domain.
It seems the address TLM that is sending to is the problem: It looks like it's failing because the receiving domain doesn't recognize the recipient's email address. See also this earlier reply.
I suppose it could be a spam protection device blocking posts to redundant addresses.
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Connections: Pixel 6a on Three 4+ (LTE)/5G, OnePlus 8 Pro on EE in reserve. At home Three Mobile, with (Three)ZTE MC888 router giving 5G most of the time..
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Where did you get the email address from? Are you absolutely sure that it is correct and there is no misspelling?
TBH, it sounds like a simple matter of an incorrect address.
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TLM
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