Recently we got blocked because of tnahosting.com who has nothing to do with our company spoofed us. We have no way of getting removed and it blocks our mail server thereby blocking our customers from sending mail. Who handles this so we may explain this situation? How do you handle this? Do you just not give outgoing mail to your customers? If so do your customers agree or complain about this? We get a couple spam customers every month; what do you do about this?

No one handle spam?

Well you have to keep in mind, as I'm sure you're aware, spam is a hard thing to handle.

However, you could maybe configure your mail server, so that any email being sent, must first login, and receive (or attempt a reception) before they can send.

Basically, they must login to SMTP and check for new mail, before they can receive mail.

Outlook does this automatically when it attempts a "Send/Receive." So there would be no real noticable difference.

I remember, com-2.net doing it this way. It basically forces the user to authenticate themselves before receiving or sending mail.

We're using relay blacklists, SMTP authentication (which is what idoogleceo is explaining), and our own filters.

We have eliminated 99% of our customers SPAM using a combination of the above 3 solutions.

mailscanner amd f-prot antivirus

works like a charm.

Yes but has anyone been blocked? And if so how did you get off this block list? We have been blocked but it is not our fault or our customers. Where do you get these blacklists? I know of SMTP auth and I think that is a great idea. Getting spammed is not the problem. The problem lies that users are spamming others and getting our mail servers blocked.

You can look at Qmail and throttle your internal users if that is what your worried about.

If you are blocked at the RBLs then it is your fault because you are suppossed to keep the server secure and limit the potential for SPAM from it. If it is your own users that are sending out the SPAM then you need to stop it one way or the other.

I just checked your mail server and found that you are blocked by several RBLs. Start here:

Go here to http://dnsbl.njabl.org/cgi-bin/lookup.cgi?query=209.50.246.16


You will need to go to each RBL and get yourself removed. You will need to prove to each RBL that you locked down your server before they will clear your server. Not a speedy process!

You can check your server against many RBLs here

http://rbls.org/?q=209.50.246.16

Good Luck and hopefully you will become a better mail admin because of this.

TurboWeb
i have a real problem to stop SPAM to get INTO my company.
we get every day so much spam and we must stop it now
can you advice me how to do it? how can mailscanner stop it?
thanks
Originally posted by turboweb
mailscanner amd f-prot antivirus

works like a charm.

Originally posted by SWD2002
If you are blocked at the RBLs then it is your fault

He says the spam originated from somewhere else, that he was spoofed. Did you read his post before assigning the blame?

hostpath:

just because someone says they were being spoofed does not mean it is true. I actually tested his server. Did you??

The problem is the guy has a problem of being blocked by RBLs in which I clearly detailed his course of action to get removed. I answered that question.

The underlying problem is the mail server is not secure. I tried a few different SPAM mail server testers and they were all able to get mail thru! CDXsolutions also indicates he does get spammers as customers too. CDXsolutions needs to lock down their server and put in policies in place to limit their own customers from sending SPAM

Note: the RBLs do not block a mail server from a result of spoofing. They are smarter than that.

CDXsolutions: the quick and easy solution is to have your users use their ISP mail server for SMTP while your getting this problem solved.

So we've came up with a solution, tell me what you guys think. From here on out, we're only going to offer outgoing email for a premium fee, like an extra $2-3 dollars. We'll require password auth as well as having spam software on the server to block some of it. What do you guys think?

I think that's a ludicrous solution...

I do not get any spam yet.:) But I guess I can expect it sooner or later.

Do you think that will have an impact on sales?

Originally posted by dthigpen
I think that's a ludicrous solution...

Why is that? Lots of hosts don't offer smtp access to their clients. Besides, with more and more ISPs blocking outbound port 25 anyway, the point is soon to be moot.

Thank the spammers.

.

Originally posted by CDXSolutions
Do you think that will have an impact on sales?

What, not offering smtp access? Maybe, but the impact will be negligible, particularly if you offer a webmail alternative. Concentrate on things like overall quality of service and being honest with your clients, and you'll have more business than you'll know what to do with.

.

Yep. We do not currently offer SMTP access except to our largest email hosting client for the exact reason to protect our selves. And most of our clients have no issue with using the SMTP their ISP provides.