Folks we are having an old problem crop up again

**Steve Ashton** · 14th September 17, 01:06 PM

A few years ago some email servers began an anti-spam campaign. It was not uncommon for people to suddenly find that many incoming emails, that they want, were being blocked without any notice.

It seems we may be experiencing a re-occurance of this problem as, all of a sudden, I am getting a flood of error messages saying that the emails that the forum sends out to keep you informed of new posts to threads that you have chosen to subscribe to are being blocked as spam.

This problem seems to be affecting email addresses through accounts using Hotmail, Comcast, Outlook, and MSN the most.

Would everyone please insure that the email address - "webmaster@xmarksthescot.com" is on your safe list.

Would you also add to your safe list the IP address that these emails will be coming from - 72.52.156.14.

If you do not know how to add email address and IP addresses to your safe list please contact your service provider.

This is affecting mainly members who have recently registered to the forum so it would appear that this is the same problem that plagued the internet a few years ago. If this were a new problem I would expect it to affect all members.

Here is a copy of the type of error message that I am getting.

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

xxx@hotmail
host hotmail-com.olc.protection.outlook.com [104.47.10.33]
SMTP error from remote mail server after pipelined MAIL FROM:"webmaster@xmarksthescot.com"> Size=2080:
550 5.7.1 Unfortunately, messages from [72.52.156.14] weren't sent. Please contact your Internet service provider since part of their network is on our block list (AS3140). You can also refer your provider to http://mail.live.com/mail/troubleshooting.aspx#errors,

**Steve Ashton** · 14th September 17, 03:55 PM

I have now identified this to the Microsoft's SmartScreen program.

This covers all email addresses that end in outlook, hotmail , msn, comcast, live and perhaps a few others.

I have a ticket in with microsoft but have not heard back from them other than a form letter saying that our "IP address does not qualify for mitigation".

I have also contacted our tech guy to see if there is anything on our end that we can do.

Any member with one of these email addresses may notice that you are no longer receiving notifications from the forum. This includes notifications of new replies to threads you are subscribed to, new registration activation codes, and annual anniversary messages.

I'm really sorry about this and hope to have it fixed soon.

**Wareyin** · 15th September 17, 05:58 AM

As a member with a hotmail address, I did notice that I was not getting notifications recently. I did get a group of them yesterday, though. Something like 9 came through within an hour, some for days old postings.

**Steve Ashton** · 15th September 17, 10:52 AM

According to Microsoft, the IP address - 72.52.156.14 was blocked by their anti spam computer program because it suspecting the address was being used to send spam.

This IP address is one, of a block of addresses, that is owned and used by the company that hosts our forum. They are located in Michigan.

In checking around with other places that list known spam sources I could find nowhere else, other than this one Microsoft anti-spam program, who has any evidence that this IP was being used to spread spam.

Microsoft has said that they will clear this IP from their blocked list but it may take up to three days to take effect.

I also sent a ticket to our hosting company alerting them to one of their IP addresses being blocked and got an almost instant reply that they have dealt with the issue.

So - This issue appears to be resolved. It may take two more days for all of the emails to get through and you may get a bunch of them all at once. Do not be concerned if this happens it will just be the backlog sorting itself out.

If there is anyone who sees this thread, who has tried to register to the forum but not received the activation codes, please be patient. They will be sent out again, manually, by me.

I apologize to all of you for this problem.

I guess you could say that this is an example of a job being turned over to a super complex computer system. One that was not designed to check with any other sources to confirm a suspicion is indeed fact before taking unilateral action. One that is not designed to inform those involved or offer any recourse before taking action.