Unable to report by forwarding spam

[mountforddrive]

I normally report spam by forwarding the spam to "submit...[at]spamcop.net" and a while later I get an email back with reporting links. Just recently however nothing seems to be coming back or only intermittently. Co-incidentally I have also changed my MX to a provider who offers SpamAssassin and I wonder if the problem is with false positives so mail from Spamcop is being deleted. All mail from Spamcop is whitelisted though so this should not happen but you never know...

Anyone else experiencing this or should I let the Spamcop administrators know? Thanks.

[Farelf]

Just recently however nothing seems to be coming back or only intermittently.

Intermittent returns afflict many of us, I think. When it affects me, I go to my submission page (via http://www.spamcop.net/mcgi?action=loginform) and usually find "Unreported spam". Have you looked there? If you do so, and there is unreported spam, it is indeed "merely" the notification/confirmation emails that are going astray. Wazoo put together a whole "diagnostic" some time ago at Emailed spam Submissions Disappearing?, No Confirmation e-mails?. I would suggest you work through that to see exactly where the problem lies.

... Co-incidentally I have also changed my MX to a provider who offers SpamAssassin and I wonder if the problem is with false positives so mail from Spamcop is being deleted. All mail from Spamcop is whitelisted though so this should not happen but you never know...

Co-incidence rules the universe, with the notable exception of computers in general and networks in particular. I would suspect something in this change might be the cause¹.

Anyone else experiencing this or should I let the Spamcop administrators know? Thanks.

As above, it happens but, if it is peculiar to you at this time, it is something for you and your provider to address rather than the SC people, I think. FWIW, some incidence of missing confirmations I have been seeing over the past four days or so now (last 24 hours) seem to have "come good" - no problems now, knock on wood.

[¹And not necessarily are such causes all that technical. Multiple submission accounts can be confusing. The email address for notifications/confirmations can be another stumbling block.]

[mountforddrive]

Thanks for the various suggestions.

I think I have more or less found the answer. I am relaying outgoing mail via my ISP's SMTP host and it appears that their anti-virus software is finding malware in the spam that I am trying to forward, and therefore stopping it from being sent, so it never got forwarded to Spamcop in the first place.

While it is good to know that ISPs are pro-actively stopping malware, it raises questions like why my anti-virus software does not flag it as infected and/or whether the filters at my ISP is giving false positives and why aren't I being informed or my mail bounced when my mail is trashed, and how I am going to forward spam in the future (other than submitting it direct).

Regards.

[Farelf]

...I think I have more or less found the answer. I am relaying outgoing mail via my ISP's SMTP host and it appears that their anti-virus software is finding malware in the spam that I am trying to forward, and therefore stopping it from being sent, so it never got forwarded to Spamcop in the first place. ...

Well done. But they may simply be preventing spam sending, the greater part of spam being simply spam without malware. The control of spam ultimitely relies on preventing it being sent. This is not uncommon, see the list (and discussion) at E-Mail spam submittals blocked by your ISP. If your provider has a forum you may find confirmation and solutions there. In any event you should address the blocking issue to them. They should allow SC reporting. That is an issue on which the deputies/SC admin might give you some support should the ISP require official contact.

...While it is good to know that ISPs are pro-actively stopping malware, it raises questions like why my anti-virus software does not flag it as infected and/or whether the filters at my ISP is giving false positives...

As above, actual viruses/worms/malware are only a small part of all spam (unless you are an infected "sender" which is possible but not the highest probability). You need to find out whether they are detecting viruses/malware coming from your PC (and why they are keeping stumm about that if so - that would be unusual behaviour on their part).

... how I am going to forward spam in the future (other than submitting it direct).

As above, the primary answers would be sought from your ISP. Ask them.