Spamcop Listed / Host reluctant to help

Forum Moderators: phranque

Message Too Old, No Replies

Spamcop Listed / Host reluctant to help

spam server spamcop blacklist RBL

cyberdyne

6:52 pm on Nov 18, 2011 (gmt 0)

Hello,
A friend's site is hosted on a shared server, the IP for which is listed on Spamcop's RBL. This is causing a lot of bounced emails from systems which use Spamcop as a filter.

Having spoken to Spamcop staff, it appears spam is definitely being sent through this IP, probably due to "an open proxy port exploit".

The host has been informed of this but has simply offered to move my friend's web site to another server - which will mean some downtime - or to provide a dedicated IP but at extra cost.

Surely the host should make more of an effort to ascertain what exactly is going wrong in order for the spam to be getting sent from/through their server or if appropriate, work out which one of their 211 customers on that IP/server is responsible for either sending or allowing the spam to be sent.

Has anyone else had a similar issue or has anyone else managed to deal with a similar problem?

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

Hoople

8:43 pm on Nov 18, 2011 (gmt 0)

A quick fix is to route outgoing mail thru another SMTP server. This could be your friend's ISP connection to the internet or another domain on a clean IP.

A move would not incur downtime if the website was on both servers during the time that the DNS records timed out and refreshed. A non-techie user would not be able to detect the changeover.

Spamcop ends up being abused by end users who are too lazy to unsubscribe from offers they did accept. I report the listing to the host but like your friend they can't/won't always act as quick as we'd like them to. I have a backup host that can send once configured.

cyberdyne

8:52 pm on Nov 18, 2011 (gmt 0)

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have a look at that tomorrow.

My expectation of downtime is only as a result of what the host advised. Presumably they would not, for whatever reason, leave the site at the old server while moving it to the new?

Thanks again.

Hoople

9:01 pm on Nov 18, 2011 (gmt 0)

Spamcop ends up being abused by end users who are too lazy to unsubscribe from offers they did accept.

A portion of the 'spam' reported to spamcop isn't spam at all. It's commercial emails that were signed up for by a user. Instead of unsubscribing they lazily click 'spam' instead (less clicks).

I report the listing to the host but like your friend they can't/won't always act as quick as we'd like them to.

Not all lists are easy to get off of quickly. Some time out in a few hours - one just has to wait.

I have a backup host that can send once configured.

I have my websites spread out and can instantly get my customers a working outbound server because of this.

cyberdyne

9:36 pm on Nov 18, 2011 (gmt 0)

I have my websites spread out and can instantly get my customers a working outbound server because of this.

Does this not cause any issues at the recipients end with your sender domain differing from the smtp domain?

Thanks

enigma1

12:01 pm on Nov 25, 2011 (gmt 0)

A portion of the 'spam' reported to spamcop isn't spam at all. It's commercial emails that were signed up for by a user. Instead of unsubscribing they lazily click 'spam' instead (less clicks).

As far I know spamcop has cross-referencing means to validate the spam submissions. So an IP is not blacklisted just like that.

Not all lists are easy to get off of quickly. Some time out in a few hours - one just has to wait.

You should not subscribe someone because he posts his email in a "newsletter" form. You follow up with a validation email and then you have at least some evidence he indeed subscribed to challenge blacklisting. Otherwise don't expect the recipient to wait on when the spammer goes out of business.

I have my websites spread out and can instantly get my customers a working outbound server because of this.

That's one of the things spamcop should improve to increase the whitelisting timeout, so you would have to have way more servers to move your clients around.

Surely the host should make more of an effort..

True but many hosts size it as income vs investment and unfortunately your case is no different. You should get a dedicated IP, costs way less than going through this trouble.

Hoople

9:12 pm on Nov 26, 2011 (gmt 0)

Does this not cause any issues at the recipients end with your sender domain differing from the smtp domain?

It might only if you don't update the SPF server lists for the From: domain.

Those home based users having trouble with ultra fussy recipients are already using their ISP's SMTP server.

Hoople

9:15 pm on Nov 26, 2011 (gmt 0)

Not all lists are easy to get off of quickly. Some time out in a few hours - one just has to wait.

You should not subscribe someone because he posts his email in a "newsletter" form. You follow up with a validation email and then you have at least some evidence he indeed subscribed to challenge blacklisting. Otherwise don't expect the recipient to wait on when the spammer goes out of business.

My bad - 'not all lists' should be 'not all spam blacklists'. Sorry for not being clearer....