I’ve Been Accused of Being a Spammer. What Can I Do About It?

Spam is often in the eye of the recipient.

Very little you haven’t already done.

You’re assuming the message means the remote system thinks you’re a spammer. While I suspect that is likely, it’s not always true.

Even if it is, it’s important to realize this isn’t some global database where everyone in the world now thinks you’re a spammer.

On the contrary; it’s likely to be this one email system you’re having trouble with — and perhaps only a couple of users.

Accused of being a spammer?

Email bounces marked as undeliverable can imply many issues, not necessarily spamming. The refusal of your return address could also be a result of address blocks, DNS issues, or a configuration error on the recipient’s server. There’s little to be done other than to make sure you’re following best “I’m not sending spam” practices. Consider using an email service for mass mailings instead of your personal account.

“Return address was refused”

So many email error messages are frustratingly ambiguous. This error could mean many things.

It could mean that some of your readers actively blocked your email address. Depending on the service, this could be entirely separate from spam processing.

It could mean that the mail server was unable to validate your email address. Perhaps the DNS servers resolving “mydomain.co.uk” or the mail records associated with it were having a problem. Again, this is unrelated to spam.

It could mean a configuration error on the part of the recipient’s email server. Particularly for smaller services, this can happen surprisingly easily.

And, of course, it could mean the system has identified your email address as a source of spam.

My assumption

Before I go further, though, I have to be clear about something: I’m assuming you have not been sending spam.

That means:

• All your recipients asked to be sent your email. Adding recipients to a list without their permission is spamming.
• Your email delivers what was promised at the time the recipients agreed to get it. If you start with a newsletter about one thing but then transition it to something unrelated, many recipients consider that spam.

You said you’re not spamming, and I believe you. But if somehow you are — even accidentally — that could be the root of the problem. But even if you aren’t, there are two other ways you could be unjustly garnering a reputation as a spammer.

Spam versus spam

Let’s assume for a moment that the email is being rejected because your email address has been listed as being a source of spam.

Firstly, recipients of your email may have clicked the “This is spam” button. It happens all too often on legitimate non-spam — either because the spam button is too close to the Delete button, you’ve said something to annoy the recipient, or they’re just too lazy to look for your unsubscribe link.

Related

“From” Spoofing: How Spammers Send Email that Looks Like It Came from You

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Your email address could still get marked as a source of spam.

Secondly, it’s extremely common for spam to be sent “From:” spoofed email addresses. This means a spammer could be sending spam looking like it’s “From:” you, even though you’re not involved in any way. The recipients of those messages could legitimately hit the “This is Spam” button.

This is so common that most spam filters should ignore the “From:” line. The information in that line is random these days and has little to do with the source of the message.

However, some may still do so. As a result, you, an innocent bystander, pay the price.

About “postmaster”

It’s not surprising you’ve had no response to your queries to <Postmaster@ispmail.ntl.com>. The email address “postmaster@” is supposed to be valid for every domain capable of sending or receiving email. Most email servers come pre-configured with error messages suggesting you contact that email address for additional assistance.

In practice, it rarely helps.

• Because it’s predefined, the “postmaster” email address probably gets more spam than any other email address.
• Because there’s so much spam and so many spam-related issues, the person(s) handling email sent to “postmaster” are likely overwhelmed.
• The email address is often ignored completely.

That’s not to say that all email servers handle the “postmaster” account poorly, but many do. The work associated with responding properly is just too overwhelming.

One way you could legitimately be at risk

There is one aspect of your description that concerns me. It could indeed cause email services to be more likely to consider you a spammer.

You are sending:

• A single message
• to 150 people at once
• from a personal email account

At best, that’s suspicious. It’s often what spammers do when they hijack an account. As a result, while it may not cause you to be labeled a spammer by itself, it’s a signal spam filters use to increase the odds of doing so.

Instead of sending directly from your email account, consider using discussion groups like groups.io, Google Groups, or others, or mailing list services such as Aweber, MailChimp, etc., to send email on your behalf. This is their job, and they are configured specifically to reduce the odds of your email being labeled spam.