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 Top five Email/Spam problems and solutions:
1. PROBLEM: Your ISP provider is Comcast, and you get rejected email saying "your server has been blocked." Comcast has recently changed their policy on spam, but the most dramatic effect has been to block legitimate email from subscribers, rather than stopping spammers.
SOLUTION: Comcast users
should "pop" rather than "forward" email from a website address to a Comcast address. Detailed instructions are listed here: Comcast and Email.
2. PROBLEM: Using autoresponders causes your email to be blocked by getting you listed with spam watching services such as SpamCop. When any account configured with
an autoresponder receives spam they in turn send misdirected
mail by way of the autoresponder. Because of this, they become
spam sources themselves and are the subject of blockades.
SOLUTION: One World Hosting
strongly recommends the removal of all email autoresponders.
Many providers are removing autoresponders altogether, and
most recommend against using them at all now:
http://www.spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/329.html
"Do not use these systems. Inform your normal correspondents of your absence before you depart. Or let a co-worker answer your email in your absence. Publish FAQ information on a web-site."
So please! Remove your autoresponders!
3. PROBLEM: Complaints come to us from America Online (AOL) that your account is spamming. In the majority of these cases one or more email accounts in your OWH mail manager are configured to forward mail to an AOL address. As good mail is forwarded from your OWH email accounts, so is spam. You then report the spam to AOL unaware of the fact that AOL will see that the mail originated from your OWH account. AOL then proceeds to block your OWH account and IP address.
SOLUTION:
1. Stop reporting
the spam with AOL and thus stop
self-reporting.
2. Don't forward
email to an AOL address. Configure your account to "POP" your
mailbox, and pick up mail from the
server
For instructions on this check Setting Up
Email
3. Visit
http://postmaster.aol.com/tools/fbl.html
and fill in the AOL “Feedback Loop Request Form” on your
domain(s). This way if anyone complains against your account
then AOL will forward the complaints to your
email address. This will (according to AOL) greatly help
in keeping your account from getting blocked.
4. PROBLEM: Email from your mailing list is called SPAM by an outraged recipient.
SOLUTION: In
order to avoid spamming, mailing lists must implement a secure
opt-in procedure. Many so-called "opt-in" lists are nothing of
the sort. Beware anyone who wants to sell you lists. Sending
bulk mail requires careful record-keeping and responsible
management. If you do not have the technical ability or time
to do this, you can outsource the process through a free
service such as Yahoo, where you provide the content, and they
provide the list-management and distribution.
If
you have a mailing list with many AOL users, submit your list
to AOL at http://postmaster.aol.com/tools/whitelist_guides.html. AOL will then add the
list to their 'Whitelist'. This will prevent email from
getting rejected.
5. PROBLEM: A script, program, or form
on your site gets hacked by spammers and used to gain
access to your files for general mischief or to send out
spam.
SOLUTION:
• Only download software from
trusted web sites. Freebies have made the internet a
great place to work, but don't take chances with your
site.
• Keep your tools and scripts
current. A script or application that was flawless last
month might be a hackers playground today.
• Never use
Formmail from Matt's Script archive. We have
found it necessary to disable nearly every version of this
script we find - it's simply not safe. Your control
panel version of Formmail is safe and secure
and works just as well.
• Always be extra careful of
using software that invokes any of the following. These are
not security risks per se but are often the point of entry to
a badly written script for the crafty
hacker
- Executes system commands
from within the script
- Sends email
- Accesses and manipulates
files on a server
- Receives information from
the internet e.g. name, email address etc.
- Deletes files or
directories
- Accesses and manipulates a
MySQL database
• Always search for more
information on the background of the particular script
you want to use or are using. Look for sites that do software
and security reviews and see what you find. Our favorite site
for script security information is Security Focus - http://www.securityfocus.com/.
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