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ARG! Mail is blocked! HELP!


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I have a few email addresses, they all run out of Outlook Express. Two of them are hosted with IXhosting and only those two are blocked by spam cop. I DON"T SEND spam. How do I get this block lifted?? It can't be my ISP, if only those two emails are blocked. I have ebay emails too, I dno't want them blocked! How do I fix this!

I emailed the host for the two affected emails, they are not much help. They said I have to contact spam cop! HELP ME UNBLOCK MY EMAIL!

I appreciate what you guys are trying to do, but this is a real pain for someone like me!! This is crazy that you can come in and just block my mail. Even real cops can't just take over your computer!!

This just started this morning, it was working fine last night.

Sarina

Here is the error info:

The message could not be sent because one of the recipients was rejected by the server. The rejected e-mail address was 'mrsbwayne[at]hotmail.com'. Subject 'test', Account: 'Fuzzy', Server: 'mail.thecats.com', Protocol: SMTP, Server Response: '451 Blocked - see http://www.spamcop.net/bl.shtml?209.181.18.177', Port: 25, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 451, Error Number: 0x800CCC79

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It is not your email address that is blocked it is any email coming from 209.181.18.177.

This IP/Server is also listed in other places including the cbl/xbl at Spamhaus.

http://www.spamhaus.org/query/bl?ip=209.181.18.177

There is a lot of spam coming from this server recently.

Last day 4.4 1386%

Last 30 days 2.6 -75%

You will have to talk to Direct Airnet to secure this machine.

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It is not your email address that is blocked it is any email coming from 209.181.18.177.

This IP/Server is also listed in other places including the cbl/xbl at Spamhaus.

http://www.spamhaus.org/query/bl?ip=209.181.18.177

There is a lot of spam coming from this server recently.

Last day 4.4 1386%

Last 30 days 2.6 -75%

You will have to talk to Direct Airnet to secure this machine.

So this number: 209.181.18.177 is direct airnet? But why are only two emails blocked?

Sarina

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So this number: 209.181.18.177 is direct airnet? But why are only two emails blocked?

FAQ = Frequently Asked Questions

SpamCop FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions about SpamCop

Why am I Blocked? - an entry in the SpamCop FAQ and as a stand-alone Pinned item

As seen in the FAQ (and in countless numbers of other discussions on this Forum) .. SpamCop.net cannot block your e-mail. However, the receiving ISP can use the SpamCopDNSBL, and in this case that ISP has chosen to use it in a blocking mode .... and again, it's not "your e-mail address" .. it's the IP address that your e-mail is leaving from that's at issue, compunded by the selection of the receiving ISP.

http://www.spamcop.net/w3m?action=checkblo...=209.181.18.177

209.181.18.177 listed in bl.spamcop.net (127.0.0.2)

If there are no reports of ongoing objectionable email from this system it will be delisted automatically in approximately 10 hours.

Causes of listing

System has sent mail to SpamCop spam traps in the past week (spam traps are secret, no reports or evidence are provided by SpamCop)

SpamCop users have reported system as a source of spam less than 10 times in the past week

05/20/06 11:31:17 IP block 209.181.18.177

Trying 209.181.18.177 at ARIN

Trying 209.181.18 at ARIN

OrgName: Qwest Communications Corporation

OrgID: QCC-22

Address: 1801 California Street

City: Denver

StateProv: CO

PostalCode: 80202

Country: US

NetRange: 209.180.0.0 - 209.181.255.255

CIDR: 209.180.0.0/15

Network Owner: Direct Airnet LLC

Registered on: 2001-03-09

Updated on: 2001-03-09

Expires on: unknown

Netblock(s): 209.181.18.176/28

and in the time between Merlyn's post and now, the traffic 'seen' from that IP address has increased ....

Volume Statistics for this IP

Magnitude Vol Change vs. Average

Last day ........ 4.4 .. 1393%

Last 30 days .. 2.6 .... -75%

Average ........ 3.2

There may be other reasons, but these kinds of numbers usually mean that spammer is abusing this server ..

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So this number: 209.181.18.177 is direct airnet? But why are only two emails blocked?

Sarina

Either only those two addresses travel out through that IP server or they have several outgoing servers and it is only random that any of them are blocked. Also, the blocking is being done by the receiving ISP using a list of servers that have sent spam recently.

Causes of listing

System has sent mail to SpamCop spam traps in the past week (spam traps are secret, no reports or evidence are provided by SpamCop)

SpamCop users have reported system as a source of spam less than 10 times in the past week

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Thanks for the replies.

I live in the sticks, of course the ISP is closed for the weekend. I already left them a message. Supposing they get to work on this on Monday, how long is it going to take to get this cleared up?

This is insane. My livlihood depends on email (ebay). How do I prevent this from happening again?

Sarina

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My livlihood depends on email (ebay). How do I prevent this from happening again?

Email is not and never has been a guaranteed method of communications. The only way to prevent ever being on a blocklist is to control your own IP address (i.e. get a static IP and run your own server). Then you are not relying on other people. As long as you are using a shared server, you are relying an all the other users of that server to not be sending email to people who did not ask for it. This includes spam and "bounces" sent to the return address rather that the connecting server.

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That's still crazy. That's like if the neighbor is making crank calls and my phone service is shut down because of it, and not even by the phone company. By someone driving by who sees that the neighbor is making prank calls, so they flip the switch and drive off. Or my neighbor murders someone and they (not the real cops, but someone who thinks they have the right to do it) take the whole block to jail. No recourse for me whatsoever. Stupid. And guess what? The spammers are still spamming. You can see that on your report. And *I* have no email. How about that!

Email was working fine before 'spamcop' stepped in, however noble your cause. And the answer is I should pay $100 a month for a dedicated server. How about you refine your technique before you go throwing innocent people into turmoil!

SW

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Email was working fine before 'spamcop' stepped in, however noble your cause. And the answer is I should pay $100 a month for a dedicated server. How about you refine your technique

No one "here" stepped in. As you have not taken the time to look at any of the FAQ data, how about showing just a bit of courtesy and take a look at the "user-to-user" note ... as the FAQ is too much hassle, then at least try this page (apparently you slid by it on the way to 'here') ... Start Here - before you make your first Post

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I am late to work already, I don't have time to read it, perhaps I will later.

The point is, through no fault of my own, I am unable to send emails, and spamcop.net is all over the error message. So who is responsible? I have left messages for the ISP, contacted hosting servers and been leaving messages here. All this takes time out of my day. It's like having your identity stolen.

I appreciate what you are trying to do, I mean that. The two emails that are blocked are CONSTANTLY being bombarded with spam. I will sign up as a mole later and help get rid of them. But if I do, then some innocent person is probably going to end up like me! In the meantime, this is incredibly frustrating. I sure hope my ebay emails don't get blocked also.

Last but not least, if spamcop.net is going to be able to block servers from sending email no matter who is doing the spamming, it should have better ways to get the mess cleaned up. No wonder you solicit for lawsuit donations, there must be a line around the block!

SW

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That's still crazy. That's like if the neighbor is making crank calls and my phone service is shut down because of it, and not even by the phone company.

It is nothing like that. It is more like a cab company refusing to pick you up in a bad neighborhood after dark. The ISP is using the available information spamcop provides to block the messages coming from your server. That server is listed because a higher percentage of spam comes from it that would normally be expected. Get directairnet.com (or quest.net wo is probably their provider) to "clean up the neighborhood" and the problem goes away. There are also other mail providers, some which actually worry about being on blocklists. Find one.

Again, spamcop is not blocking you. There are millions of blocklists available on the internet. Spamcop is aggressive because it is designed to catch spam runs while they happen. It also delists automatically (unlike most other lists) when the spam stops. ISP's choose blocklists that they find effective in reducing the spam and limiting (not eliminating) unneccesary blocking.

How about you refine your technique before you go throwing innocent people into turmoil!
The only informaton that can not be forged during an email transmission is the IP address the message is coming from. It is the only reliable information available to make a determination whether to accept or deny a connection before incuring the cost of that transmission. My small company saved half our internet connection costs in a year simply by not receiving the almost 80% of messages sent to our server which were spam. At least with these messages you knew your mesage did not make it through. Many people use blocklists to simply drop the connection or message and not notify the sender, but your message still does not go through (again that no guarantee thing).

And while your ISP was "off for the weekend", they have ended up on another blocklist. http://cbl.abuseat.org/lookup.cgi?ip=209.181.18.177 and there is almost a 1400% increase in the amount of messages seen coming from that server in the last day. There is something wrong and you may not be able to use that server again for a long time.

A related server (mail.directairnet.com) is currently seeing a 400% increase as well. There is something wrong on their network.

Spamcop is an "Early warning system" for ISP's to detect problems. Your ISP apparently ignored those warnings.

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I am late to work already, I don't have time to read it, perhaps I will later.

This also makes it frustrating for those trying to help you. It would be appreciated if you could find the time to do just a little research ....

The point is, through no fault of my own, I am unable to send emails,

Sorry, but you are getting too carried away away here ....

The e-mail server that your (two addresses) ISP maintains has been seen sending spam and hitting spamtraps in sufficient quantity that the mathmatecal formula was met to get itself listed in the SpamCopDNSBL.

You chose to attempt to send e-mail to someone that uses an ISP that chose to use the SpamCopDNSBL in a blocking fashion (which isn't recommended by SpamCop.net itself) ...

At such time as the spam / spamtrap hits / time factors no longer meet the formula trigger point, this IP address of your ISP's e-mail server will drop off the SpamCopDNSBL.

There is nothing that prevents you from sending e-mail to another recipient at an ISP that does not use the SpamCopDNSBL in a blocking fashion, using either of these "two e-mail addresses" ...

You've already indcated that your "other e-mail addresses" aren't being blocked, so one could assume that if contact "has to be made" .. you're already aware of how to do that ...

and spamcop.net is all over the error message. So who is responsible?

Explained above, much more detail offered in the SpamCop FAQ found here.

I have left messages for the ISP, contacted hosting servers and been leaving messages here. All this takes time out of my day. It's like having your identity stolen.

And ... that's exactly why there have been links placed, FAQ entries developed and posted .. one concept being that the answers are already in place for these kinds of questions .. such that a few minutes of research would prevent this type of situation .. you wasting time, several other folks donating their time to respond, you deciding that the answers weren't sufficient, throwing some words around in a bit of a tantrum .. yet, still showing signs of not knowing exactly what's really going on ....

the problem is that if you look at some of the other discussions in this Forum, you'll note that you are not the first to attempt to solve the problem in this exact fashion, you will not be the last, but ... if you can't be bothered with at least looking at some of the data that someone else took the time to write up, post, take the heat because it wasn't good enough, try again and again until the bad remarks stop coming .... then someone else provides the links to make it easy to find those nuggets of data and knowledge ... but you then turn around and expend more time and effort to express your mistaken views and complain about the answers provided directly ... well, one could suggest that part of the problem is at your end ....

I appreciate what you are trying to do, I mean that. The two emails that are blocked are CONSTANTLY being bombarded with spam.

Incoming spam, outgoing e-mail ... two different issues

I will sign up as a mole later and help get rid of them.

Not sure where you may have read that Mole Reporting will stop spam ... again, a bit more research on your part may be required.

But if I do, then some innocent person is probably going to end up like me! In the meantime, this is incredibly frustrating. I sure hope my ebay emails don't get blocked also.

And again, showing that you've not yet got a handle on things .... e-bay has done a lot to prevent the bad use of their servers .. I can't recall ever hearing of one of their output servers making it to the SpamCopDNSBL .. but then again, all you've said is "ebay emails" which doesn't really say anything ....

back to .. SpamCop.net cannot block any of your e-mail .. it's that whole combination of things that has to come together for any of your "e-mail servers" to end up being blocked by the receibing ISP ...

You talk of your time .. I'm sitting here wondering why all this had to be typed up .... nothing here that isn't already in the SpamCop FAQ provided 'here' .. and could note that while your ISP took the week-end off, you've had three people here donating their week-end time to do some research and respond to your query .... yep, that adds to the bad guy image we work so hard to develop, huh?

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That's still crazy. That's like if the neighbor is making crank calls and my phone service is shut down because of it, and not even by the phone company. By someone driving by who sees that the neighbor is making prank calls, so they flip the switch and drive off. Or my neighbor murders someone and they (not the real cops, but someone who thinks they have the right to do it) take the whole block to jail. No recourse for me whatsoever. Stupid. And guess what? The spammers are still spamming. You can see that on your report. And *I* have no email. How about that!

Email was working fine before 'spamcop' stepped in, however noble your cause. And the answer is I should pay $100 a month for a dedicated server. How about you refine your technique before you go throwing innocent people into turmoil!

SW

A better metaphor would be driving to work on the freeway. You may be an excellent driver. It doesn't help you one bit if somebody ahead of you isn't and causes an accident. Not your fault, but there you sit on the freeway.

Spamcop is like someone holding a sign on the entry ramp that says 'stalled traffic ahead' Some people might ignore him and enter the freeway. Others might turn around and take an alternate route. And that's what you can do if your email is blocked. Sign up for a hotmail account and use it temporarily.

It isn't an exact metaphor because someone is using the information spamcop provides to stop traffic (spam) from entering his space. Some people rely on content filters to stop spam, but if a legitimate email is caught (like yours), then it is lost among all the spam. You don't know that your email wasn't seen. This way you know that your email was stopped and you have other options to reach your customer.

I know you don't like the idea of paying money for a dedicated server, but that may be the price of doing business. You pay extra even for postage to be sure that your letter gets there. Another metaphor I like is that if you were using an offline carrier and the carrier insisted on not only delivering your package, but also several dirty, greasy packages crawling with bugs with your package to your customer, you would be appalled. It is no different if your IP address is also sending spam.

Miss Betsy

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Another interesting thing to note. Several times it has been mentioned that the server is still spewing spam. So obviously all this has stopped nothing but me who does not send spam. Great work!

When my email stops working because of this, I really don't want to read through pages of stuff. I just want my email back on. I mean, I am the innocent bystander in all this. I have done nothing.

As far as find another ISP, I am in the boonies. There is only one other high speed wireless carrier and we can't hit their towers or some such thing. They were going to come out and check for sure but never did.

Besides that, even if I get a dedicated server, I would still have to go through direct air to get to it, so what would be the point.

SW

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1.Another interesting thing to note. Several times it has been mentioned that the server is still spewing spam. So obviously all this has stopped nothing but me who does not send spam. Great work!

2.When my email stops working because of this, I really don't want to read through pages of stuff. I just want my email back on. I mean, I am the innocent bystander in all this. I have done nothing.

3.As far as find another ISP, I am in the boonies. There is only one other high speed wireless carrier and we can't hit their towers or some such thing. They were going to come out and check for sure but never did.

4.Besides that, even if I get a dedicated server, I would still have to go through direct air to get to it, so what would be the point.

SW

1. It has stopped those users whose servers use the spamcop bl from receiving those spam messages from your ISP's server. It is doing it's work.

2. You should be complaining to your ISP that you are not getting the service you are paying for because of spam coming from their servers. If I were you, I would be complaining LOUDLY about not having support on the weekend.

3. I never said to find another ISP. I said find another mail provider. Your connection to the internet need not have anything to do with who handles your email. I use the spamcop email service, gmail, and yahoo, none of which are my ISP. I only forward my ISP mailbox to spamcop to report all the spam coming from there.

4. With your own server, or another email service provider, it would be that IP address your messages would be coming from. It would not touch the SMTP server of directair. You would program your email application to use the alternate server. You are talking about packet routing which has nothing to do with this conversation.

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Re: #3 So it's not the ISP then? It's the mail provider? Because the mail provider is not the ISP. I am not using the SMTP of directair to send mail for anything. They are just providing the connection, just like you said. That's why I originally went to the host for those two blocked email addresses, they are both hosted by the same company. I use their mail servers, not directair.

Now I am really confused. Who exactly am I supposed to be yelling at to get the mail turned back on?

Sarina

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Re: #3 So it's not the ISP then? It's the mail provider? Because the mail provider is not the ISP. I am not using the SMTP of directair to send mail for anything. They are just providing the connection, just like you said. That's why I originally went to the host for those two blocked email addresses, they are both hosted by the same company. I use their mail servers, not directair.

Now I am really confused. Who exactly am I supposed to be yelling at to get the mail turned back on?

There is no "turned off -turned on" thing going on. This is really getting to be a waste of time for everyone involved here if you fail to read what's been said thus far.

You are the one that provided "Server Response: '451 Blocked - see http://www.spamcop.net/bl.shtml?209.181.18.177', " ... and that's what we have all be using for research, pointers, etc.

you say you have numerous e-mail accounts .. try them .. show yourself that you can in fact send e-mail to yourself .... that will prove that your e-mail "still works" ...

http://www.spamcop.net/w3m?action=checkblo...=209.181.18.177

209.181.18.177 listed in bl.spamcop.net (127.0.0.2)

If there are no reports of ongoing objectionable email from this system it will be delisted automatically in approximately 0 hours.

Of course, it now looks like it's about ready to de-list itself ....

on the other hand ... http://www.senderbase.org/?searchBy=ipaddr...=209.181.18.177

Volume Statistics for this IP

Magnitude Vol Change vs. Average

Last day ........ 4.5 .. 1694%

Last 30 days .. 2.7 .... -72%

Average ........ 3.3

still ramping up .... if it's spam involved,, then the listing could be impacted with another spamtrap hit, another complaint ...

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I just tried to send email to myself, I still get the spamcop message. Anything going out of those two email accounts is blocked.

I provided that information because that's what outlook express is telling me. Outlook says it's spamcop. Spamcop says it's the ISP. Now it's the mail server.

I host with storefront (1 email account - sends mail) , with domain direct (2 email accounts - both sending) and with IXWebhosting (2 email accounts - both blocked). I do not send any mail through stmp.directair.com, never have. If it's the ISP, shouldn't they all be blocked?

You didn't answer my question. Who do I contact about this spam problem? The ISP or the mail hosts?

SW

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Look, everyone has been very nice about answering your questions. The simple fact is, the server your mail is going through is being abused by spammers. It is gaining its way into many blocklists. No one wants to receive anything from this server. Your ISP (mail.directairnet.com) is the one that is responsible for this. no one else. Spamcop just runs a list of IP's where spam has been reported. Other ISP's use this list beacuse they do not want spam. Spamcop does not block your mail. But, your mail server is getting itself into many reputable blocklists widely used on the web. Spammers spoil it for everyone and lazy isp's do not help.

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UPDATE. I talked to the email server host people. I can send mail if I do it directly through the H-SPHERE mail thingy with both accounts. For some reason it only doesn't send if I'm using Outlook Express.

What a pain in the [at]$$. Quite frankly, I'd rather have spam! haha!! Spamcop is worse than spam!! At least the spammers don't take down my whole email system. Oh, I forgot. Spamcop didn't do annnyyything. So sorry guys!

And all this BS about not using email for business. Come on. It works fine without spamcop sticking it's big dumb block lists in there.

SW

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Maybe Meg Whitman should call me 50x a day every time I sell something on ebay, that would be oh so convenient. And customers can call in their questions and call me when they make payment so I have to sit by my phone 24 hours a day. Yes, you're right, soooo much better than email! What WAS I thinking!

I have a whole new respect for spammers after this. I get lots of spam mail and I always thought I wish I could get rid of it. Now that I know what THAT entails, I'd rather just hit delete! Thank you computer gods for the delete button! That is way easier than dealing with the spamcop blacklist! I will enjoy hitting delete after this ordeal.

Not only that, the spammers seem to be the only ones that can still send mail through that server!

Your service stinks.

SW

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Oh, and one more thing. I love how this is eeeeverybody's fault except spamcop. It's the ISP, it's the mail server, it's the spammers. Spamcop didn't do a thing! Oh, well, except put out some magical list that blocks everyone except spammers and can only be undone by who knows who because I still can't send email through outlook express. I get to wait until Monday because my lazy ISP is closed weekends. Hmmm... well, if this stupid spam block list didn't exist, (hey genius! You can hit delete and get rid of spam, did you know that? It's MUCH easier!) it wouldn't be an issue.

Oh, and did you read our 450 volume FAQ? the 'before you post' post? How about War and Peace? You can't get your mail and you're losing money by the second, but who cares? Read it anyway! It's not going to help a thing, but it will keep you busy long enough, hopefully your email will be working again - excuse me - maybe your ISP, or mail server or local wizard will have called the magic fairys and it will be three weeks from now and you might be able to send mail through that server again and you won't come in to the forum and complain!

Then you say there are so many like me that come in with the same issue. Well, maybe we have a point. Ever think of that? Maybe your spamcop BS doesn't WORK. You're BLOCKING the WRONG PEOPLE. According to your own site, the spammers are still spamming away!

You say you have a right not to get spam. That's nice. I have a right to send email! How about that!

When I signed up for this forum, the authorization ended up in the 'spam' folder. Pretty ironic, isn't it.

SW

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UPDATE. I talked to the email server host people. I can send mail if I do it directly through the H-SPHERE mail thingy with both accounts. For some reason it only doesn't send if I'm using Outlook Express.

And all this BS about not using email for business. Come on. It works fine without spamcop sticking it's big dumb block lists in there.

That would be because you have Outlook Express configured to use your ISP for outgoing email (SMTP server) and that is the one listed for spam. If you configure OE for another SMTP server, your problem should be solved.

And I don't think we told you not to use email for business, we all rely on email every day...just know that there is no guarantee that any single message will actually reach the intended target and no one to really complain to if it doesn't. Servers can drop messages for any reason and you may not even know it. There are stories of messages sitting on broken servers for months or years and being delivered when those servers were returned to service. It may work 99.99999% of the time, just know there is that chance.

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