Gmail blocking

[iandoug]

Hi

I replied to a message from a Gmail user.

Gmail rejected it is likely spam.

From the headers:

host gmail-smtp-in.l.google.com [142.250.102.27]
SMTP error from remote mail server after pipelined end of data:
550-5.7.1 [169.1.1.74 12] Our system has detected that this message is
550-5.7.1 likely unsolicited mail. To reduce the amount of spam sent to Gmail,
550-5.7.1 this message has been blocked. Please visit
550-5.7.1 https://support.google.com/mail/?p=UnsolicitedMessageError

This is not something I can fix ... Afrihost needs to get out of the BUCE market so that these problems go away. Dunno what they were thinking getting into it in the first place....

Cheers, Ian

 

[Guest 290922]

Add your domain to Postmaster Tools.

Postmaster Tools – Google

 

[sensus communis]

Google updated there security settings

from which account did you send

If your outgoing SMTP is different from your mail , Google blocks now

 

[Heisenborg]

Ok

 

[iandoug]

You tried to reply to a bulk mailer?
Just because it says it comes from Gian doesn't mean it's sent from his mailbox.

Was there an unsubscribe link? Did you use it?

I never said it was a bulk mailer. I said "I replied to a message from a Gmail user.".
That user was replying to a mail I sent to my Google Groups list.

This is nothing to do with Gian's campaign. I've been on the net since the mid 90s and was a small ISP myself, so I do know what I am doing

Cheers, Ian

 

[iandoug]

Add your domain to Postmaster Tools.

Postmaster Tools – Google

Thanks for that, but Google is being ridiculous ... they are trying to take control over all email. Do they seriously expect every domain on the planet to go and register with them?

They lost me here:
Enter the domain used to authenticate your mail with SPF or DKIM. Refer to the Help page for more details.

Help page says,

1. Enter your authentication domain.
   Tip: You can add either the DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) domain or the SPF (Sender Policy Framework) domain.
2. Click Next.
3. Verify your domain:
   • To prove that you own this domain, click Verify.
     Tip: After verification, it may take some time before your domain’s verification status updates to “Verified.” Learn more about how to verify your domain.
   • To skip this step and continue without verification, click Not now. You will need to verify your domain at some point to view any data related to that domain. To go back and verify, point to the domain you want to verify. Then, click More
     
     
     Verify domain

I have no idea what to enter there ... I send mail via smtp.afrihost.co.za which I don't own. But I do own several domains that I send mail from. I used to send via my own SMTP server but they were marked as spam (according to Afrihost, because they originated from an IP on Afrihostis network, which was on assorted blacklists, so I was told to use smtp.afrihost.co.za instead.)
But that still has issues with Microsoft/Outlook-hosted clients.

So I am lost...

Thanks, Ian

 

[iandoug]

Google updated there security settings

from which account did you send

If your outgoing SMTP is different from your mail , Google blocks now

So every domain must now send it's own email?

Did they issue a new RFC about this?

Mail was from my movieite.co.za account, via Afrihost SMTP.

Thanks, Ian

 

[iandoug]

@Pixies Thanks, I looked at that, I'm not a bulk mailer (except for a weekly email to a Google Group, and I only send one mail, Groups explodes it)

I think it may be misconfiguration on New Shiny at Gmail.

Probably others on the net will scream and shout and they will fix.

Cheers, Ian

 

[InvisibleJim]

Thanks for that, but Google is being ridiculous ... they are trying to take control over all email. Do they seriously expect every domain on the planet to go and register with them?

They lost me here:
Enter the domain used to authenticate your mail with SPF or DKIM. Refer to the Help page for more details.

Help page says,

1. Enter your authentication domain.
   Tip: You can add either the DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) domain or the SPF (Sender Policy Framework) domain.
2. Click Next.
3. Verify your domain:
   • To prove that you own this domain, click Verify.
     Tip: After verification, it may take some time before your domain’s verification status updates to “Verified.” Learn more about how to verify your domain.
   • To skip this step and continue without verification, click Not now. You will need to verify your domain at some point to view any data related to that domain. To go back and verify, point to the domain you want to verify. Then, click More
     
     
     Verify domain

I have no idea what to enter there ... I send mail via smtp.afrihost.co.za which I don't own. But I do own several domains that I send mail from. I used to send via my own SMTP server but they were marked as spam (according to Afrihost, because they originated from an IP on Afrihostis network, which was on assorted blacklists, so I was told to use smtp.afrihost.co.za instead.)
But that still has issues with Microsoft/Outlook-hosted clients.

So I am lost...

Thanks, Ian

SPF and DKIM are technologies to verify that an email is sent from a legitimate server/system (as specified by the domain owner) and is not using a spoofed email address from an unauthorised source. Checking inbound emails against these is an important security control against spam, phishing and certain other malicious emails.

If your domains do not have these correctly configured then your mails may be blocked by mail systems which check inbound mail against SPF and DKIM.

I'm not sure what change Google may have made (maybe even requiring a valid spf check altogether) but given the extent of the threat of phishing and Business Email Compromise they are being more responsible in terms of protecting their customers if they lean towards stricter controls.

 

[AfriNatic]

Hi

I replied to a message from a Gmail user.

Gmail rejected it is likely spam.

From the headers:

host gmail-smtp-in.l.google.com [142.250.102.27]
SMTP error from remote mail server after pipelined end of data:
550-5.7.1 [169.1.1.74 12] Our system has detected that this message is
550-5.7.1 likely unsolicited mail. To reduce the amount of spam sent to Gmail,
550-5.7.1 this message has been blocked. Please visit
550-5.7.1 https://support.google.com/mail/?p=UnsolicitedMessageError

This is not something I can fix ... Afrihost needs to get out of the BUCE market so that these problems go away. Dunno what they were thinking getting into it in the first place....

Cheers, Ian

Good morning Ian,

We don't block gmail.

Gmail has recently implemented stricter checks on mails that check whether the email sent from is linked to the SMTP server used. If you are using smtp.afrihost.co.za but an address other than @afrihost.co.za which is our free mail with connectivity packages gmail marks these as spam and they don't deliver.

 

[Guest 290922]

Stop using outlook, especially very old versions. Rather set up your account inside Gmail if possible. I really wish there was a South African cost-friendly paid Gmail solution. It's probably not that expensive for medium businesses. But for a very small team, it could be excessive purely based on dollar/rand conversion.

I have never missed outlook only use K-9 client for testing purposes. I simply can't understand why outlook it is still being used.

 

[InvisibleJim]

Gmail has recently implemented stricter checks on mails that check whether the email sent from is linked to the SMTP server used. If you are using smtp.afrihost.co.za but an address other than @afrihost.co.za which is our free mail with connectivity packages gmail marks these as spam and they don't deliver.

@iandoug - It sounds like Google may now require that a valid SPF record be present for the email domains they are receiving (with spf you specify if you allow, soft fail or hard fail emails from your domain that fail the spf check)

Try adding the following DNS record for your domains:

Name: @
Type: TXT
Value: v=spf1 include:smtp.afrihost.co.za -all

the above value is to hard fail (block) emails from your domain that do not come from your authorised email server: Use ~all instead of -all to specify a soft fail (emails that fail the check are not blocked outright but may be marked as junk mail or similar.)

This assumes that smtp.afrihost.co.za is the correct hostname that the receiving system will see your legitimate emails coming from. If you send emails for your domains from additional servers or services (such as mailchimp or your webserver) you will also need to include the hostname or ip for these in your spf record.

Hope that helps

 

[Guest 290922]

@iandoug - It sounds like Google may now require that a valid SPF record be present for the email domains they are receiving (with spf you specify if you allow, soft fail or hard fail emails from your domain that fail the spf check)

Try adding the following DNS record for your domains:

Name: @
Type: TXT
Value: v=spf1 include:smtp.afrihost.co.za -all

the above value is to hard fail (block) emails from your domain that do not come from your authorised email server: Use ~all instead of -all to specify a soft fail (emails that fail the check are not blocked outright but may be marked as junk mail or similar.)

This assumes that smtp.afrihost.co.za is the correct hostname that the receiving system will see your legitimate emails coming from. If you send emails for your domains from additional servers or services (such as mailchimp or your webserver) you will also need to include the hostname or ip for these in your spf record.

Hope that helps

I have domains with and without SPF sending mail fine to Gmail. Maybe rules are less restrictive if the mail account is sending from within Gmail as well.

 

[InvisibleJim]

I have domains with and without SPF sending mail fine to Gmail. Maybe rules are less restrictive if the mail account is sending from within Gmail as well.

Please share your domains that do not have spf records. They sound perfect for my upcoming social engineering campaign aiming to relieve corrupt officials of their ill gotten gains.

 

[Guest 290922]

All of that is besides the point. Outlook support Gmail quite nicely but the issue is sending from a domain not connected to the SMTP server.

The problem here is not sending from a Gmail account, it's is a problem sending to a Gmail account. As you stated. Send from your domain's mail server SMTP instead.

The reason for not using Outlook is it is outdated, cumbersome and basically irrelevant. It's basically like still using Paint Shop Pro from Windows 95 era for graphic design.

If your domain mail server is set up in the Gmail account you use a client you aren't limited to your network SMTP servers and settings.

Then you can be on any network and always send via the same network (Google's network) no need for your ISP's SMTP...

Throwing out Outlook solves a lot of issues. I really hate Outlook just discussing it engraves it even more. However, using a cloud based client has it's downsides like that one Google outage when nobody could sign into Gmail or any Google services. Also if you live in China or someplace where Google is restricted.

For general use there is no reason to still use outlook instead of setting it up in Gmail account with free 15gb storage.

Then you have access to more options replace Outlook calendar with Google's Calendar and you have easy access to drive to send very large files to contacts.

Pro's outweigh the cons.

 

[Guest 290922]

Bulldust
That's only relevant if you use Outlook 95.

"General use"? Tell us how that works for you when you're on a long haul flight with no internet. What about UX? A desktop app always trumps yet another browser tab for productivity. And 15Gb? Funny that's exactly what you get with a free outlook.com account. And I don't have to have a new tab open for each email account I use. I can use outlook in the browser or on the desktop. Outlook allows me to use the same UI for multiple email addresses including Gmail.

I have access to anything I please from Outlook, not just google drive lol. Dropbox, one drive and that abomination called Google drive. Outlook calendar is far more intuitive and I can see multiple timezones, see when my colleagues are available to chat instead of blindly hoping for the best.


Not for me.

Gmail app/browser works offline you can reply to email offline and they are sent when you connect to a network.

You can set up multiple email accounts in one Gmail account.

 

[quovadis]

I have no idea what to enter there ... I send mail via smtp.afrihost.co.za which I don't own.

Those SPF/DKIM records simply indicate, as the owner of your domain, which mail servers you designate to be allowed to send mail on your behalf and how to treat mail which is received from servers which do not match those records amongst other things such as reporting and authenticity etc. @InvisibleJim's post above covers it.

I have domains with and without SPF sending mail fine to Gmail. Maybe rules are less restrictive if the mail account is sending from within Gmail as well.

Each mail provider have their own reputation systems which vary on how mail originating from mail servers is handled or scored.

 

[iandoug]

Gmail has recently implemented stricter checks on mails that check whether the email sent from is linked to the SMTP server used. If you are using smtp.afrihost.co.za but an address other than @afrihost.co.za which is our free mail with connectivity packages gmail marks these as spam and they don't deliver.

Sorry for delay in response.
So noted. Once upon a time I used to send via my own server at Hetzner, but had issues with it being labelled as spam at various places, including corporates using Outlook.

Afrihost told me to use their server instead to prevent this. (Something to do with my IP being detected as being on Afrihost network.) Did not really, clients had to whitelist my addresses.

No one said anything about changing DNS entries.

 

[iandoug]

@iandoug - It sounds like Google may now require that a valid SPF record be present for the email domains they are receiving (with spf you specify if you allow, soft fail or hard fail emails from your domain that fail the spf check)

Try adding the following DNS record for your domains:

Name: @
Type: TXT
Value: v=spf1 include:smtp.afrihost.co.za -all

the above value is to hard fail (block) emails from your domain that do not come from your authorised email server: Use ~all instead of -all to specify a soft fail (emails that fail the check are not blocked outright but may be marked as junk mail or similar.)

This assumes that smtp.afrihost.co.za is the correct hostname that the receiving system will see your legitimate emails coming from. If you send emails for your domains from additional servers or services (such as mailchimp or your webserver) you will also need to include the hostname or ip for these in your spf record.

Hope that helps

Thanks, will try that. Will probably be possible to revert to using my own server as well to send.

Cheers, Ian