Q: Do I have to register all the email addresses at my domain? i.e. webmaster at; info at, etc.

A: You only need to register one email address per host. SpamCop is only interested in the hosts that handle your email, not the email addresses.

Once you register a host, running the Mailhost utility for other addresses handled by that same host will replace the email address shown on the registration, but there won't be any other effect.

See Richard's explanation of how mailhosts works

Q: I have lots of email addresses that forward to one main email address. Everything is forwarded from there to SpamCop. I have registered the main email address with Mailhost. Do I need to register all the others?

A: As long as they are not in the same domain, you have to set up each email address you use to report spam. Think of it as the mailpath rather than mailhost. (for people who have several domains or can set up their own SMTP servers see dbiel's post immediately following for exceptions).

Q: Yes, when I went for "test email", Spamcop offered 5 server names for "test email". I had no idea which to choose...

A: You do NOT make a choice at this point, simply accept all of the them. This is the list of servers that your mail may be going through and which one is used at which time can be simply a matter of chance and/or location. If you were using an ISP like earthlink, the list could seem endless.

Q: I never received the Probe E-mail. Why not?

A(s):
* You may have actually received it, but it's been shuffled off to the Bulk/Junk folder by your ISP's filters.
Check those folders first.

* Greylisting:

Greylisting usually indicates that the first message is rejected with a temporary error code, which indicated the sender should try again and when that retry happens within a certain amount of time, the message is passed through. There is no human intervention required for greylisting. The SpamCop MailHost system is not the typical e-mail server, so there is no machine/software intervention here either. Probe e-mail is requested and sent, end of story.

One Solution: If possible, turn off Greylisting until the MailHost configuration is finshed.

Another Solution: If possible, whitelist the SpamCop 'robot' address and try again. The currently seen data (and subject to change at any time) is (note slight mung): From: SpamCop robot <spamcop[at]devnull.spamcop.net>

If neither of these are an option, run through the process twice, on the premise that the timeframe involved with the second probe e-mail arriving will fit into "the window of opportunity" for the retransmittal.

*Challenge/Response

Solution: If possible, turn off Challenge/Response until the MailHost configuration is finshed. If possible, whitelist the SpamCop 'robot' address and try again. The currently seen data (and subject to change at any time) is (note slight mung): From: SpamCop robot <spamcop[at]devnull.spamcop.net>

Error Messages
One Solution: Post a copy of the entire error message in Mailhosts Forum Mailhost System Configuration

Another Solution for people with email addresses at different domains: Start over.
dbiel's instructions:
Open up the reporting window and click on MailHosts.
Delete anything that shows up. (the delete option is near the bottom of the list)
Now click on "Add new hosts" and enter myname[at] firstdomain.com and enter firstdomain in the next box.
Complete the registration process for that one account before trying to add the second account.
If you receive an error message, follow the instructions contained in the message. If you can not understand the instructions, than post a copy of the entire error message.
But remember, you have to complete each account BEFORE starting to add the next account.

Another solution and if you get both a success and a failure email.:
If you are technically fluent, read the Mailhost FAQ started by Wazoo that is found in the FAQ here.
If you are not technically fluent, contact the deputies at service[at]admin.spamcop.net.

Caution You still need to check your submissions or the Quick Reporting report to make sure your ISP is not being reported (or you if you have your own SMTP server and have made changes). If something changes, it still can happen. see dbiel's post for more info.

Edited by Miss Betsy 6/24/2006 to point to dbiel's clarifications. 7/15/2006 to include start over instructions 7/17/2006 added dbiel's answer to confusion over which server to choose 10/3/2006 to include Richard's explanation; edited by Miss Betsy 10/8/2006 to correct email address that JeffG pointed out.

Not quite acurate.
Example:
A user has multiple domains all registered with the same ISP and all use the same set of SMTP servers to send out mail, then by registering any one address from any one of the domains will register every address.
The key is not the domain name, it is the MailHost used by the domain.

Second example:
A user has only one email address but somehow is using multiple SMTP accounts to send mail through them he will actually have to register that same email address multiple times, one for each unrelated SMTP server set (MailHost).

If SMTP servers are added or changed, it is sometimes necessary to re-register them. If you are dealing with any major ISP, this will happen automaticly and you will not have to do it personally (at least most of the time) But if you are setting up your own SMTP servers then definately make sure you re-register every time you make a server change or you may find that you are reporting yourself if you have not carefully checked each report before it is sent.

An additional note about the displayed email address found under the "Mailhost name", it is there for your reference only and simply indicates the last email address you used to register that particualar Mailhost. Registering more than one address, or re-registering the same address will not cause any problems and may occasionally be necessary to update the list "Hosts/Domains" (SMTP servers) and "Relaying IPs"

In some cases with Large ISPs such as Earthlink, you may find that your single email address appears under two separate Mailhost names, in my case both "Earthlink" and "Mindspring". If this happens, it is not a problem. It is simply SpamCop's way of keeping track of the various MailHosts used to send your mail.

Richard's Explanation of How Mailhosts works (Oct 2, 2006):

When you submit an address through the mailhost configuration tool the system does a mx lookup on the domain and sends an email to you through each of the mx's, regardless of priority. Generally a domain isn't going to have more than three mx servers listed, with all others being internal hops.

Basically, you 'send back' each of the emails received and the system will work through the headers to identify each server involved in the mailpath between the sender (us) and your mailbox. Each server identified is added to the mailhost record for that domain.

If a mailhost record already exists for that domain (i.e. another user on that domain) your account is simply pointed at that already existing record. If any new servers are identified they are added to the existing record.

If a new server is found subsequently, yes we have to manually add it. Similarly, if the domain changes hosts we have to add the new servers and remove the old ones.

For opentransfer.com, the mailhost record contains 11 server/hostnames and 24 IP addresses. It does contain "opentransfer.com" which will act as a wildcard on subdomain names, but only if dns and rdns are correctly set up.

That last bit should be: contact the deputies via deputies[at]spamcop.net and include "Mailhosts" in the Subject.

It has been so long since that was written that I am not positive, but I think that Don is the contact for Mailhosts - unless something has changed, but it should be service [at] admin.spamcop.net. Obviously no one has read it because no one has complained.

Miss Betsy

That bit was in Ellen's early direction/request - http://forum.spamcop.net/forums/index.php?...post&p=7048 - along with reminder to include registered SC address.

Julian started thw whole thing. Ellen was the next 'first contact' .... part of the reason for the "MailHost" in the Subject line ... time has moved on, all of the staff now has access, knowledge, etc. to the MailHost database .. so the address should still be going to Deputies ..... Don dips into that InBox as time allows ....

I believe Jeff's comment was based on the double use of "at" in -> deputies at admin[at]spamcop.net

Of course, one could also go back to pointing to the web-form .....

My assumption also. Miss Betsy's observation that no-one complained during the time the address was "obscure" is understood to include the inference that probably no-one even looked at it until Jeff's eagle eye found it. Or they might have thought that the "real" address was discernable enough. In any event, it is not to say that no others might read it in the future, of course. Thanks for pointing out the background. Anyone with sufficient research skills and the desperation to come this far will have no hesitation in using both email addresses plus the contact form .

Late response - slipped through the "new posts" search