Email 'issues'

[Medlin Software, Dennis]

At least new to me... There are cloud based (claiming to be) spam filters which are increasing in use.  The problem is their customers usually have no idea how to see the blocked messages - if they even can - and not all are bouncing blocked messages.  These cloud filters aggregate all mail washed through them - from al of their customers.  One which is annoying me at present has a rule where any untrusted sender (IP address) which passes more than 20 messages in a day to any combination of their customers, gets blocked for 14 days.  They offer no way to contest their trust status.

I am seeing this mostly on corporate type domains, but the number is spreading to other common domains as well.

I share this as a warning, that more than ever, sending an email, and not getting a bounce, it is no guarantee your message made it to the recipient's account, not even to their spam folder.

This is the same type of issue which makes antivirus programs nearly useless, as over protection blocks good things, and means one has to look at all things to make sure nothing was lost.

Most of my customers who are affected had no idea their mail was being handled in a way which blocks wanted messages... so this is something all should check for themselves if you want to be sure you are not losing good messages.

[Lee B]

I agree, recently I have been finding an increasing number of important emails in my Spam folder.

Now I have to check my spam folder almost every day 

[Medlin Software, Dennis]

For business use, the server should not be doing any filtering at all, other than "maybe" for certain items You setup.  Filtering must be done locally, so it is in your full control, and yes, you must check your spam every time you check any mail.  The message you miss, or do not see as soon as it was received, could be one which costs you a large amount.

While I don't do it present'y, as I have a well setup system (over years of use), I "used" to wash my mail through a test only system, so there was no way to open or click "links", or to have html images link to =the outside.  I would delete unwanted in the text system, then the remainder I would see in a reader which allowed html messages.  It was an extra step, but reduces the change of a loose nut at the keyboard opening something they should not.

I suppose the most practical advice is if you never see a spam message get past your filters, or if you see a good message in your spam folder, your filters need adjustment as they are too strict.

"Greylisting" is not terrible wen available, if your situation can work with slightly delayed incoming messages, since spammers do not usually try to resend.

[Abby Normal]

We run all our email through Gmail accounts, before downloading locally. We put a shortcut to the spam folder on our desktop. Also, when I start my browser, the Gmail spam page is the first page. Overall, we've been happy with Gmail's spam detection, but you still want to check and clear your spam everyday or at least a few times a week.

[Catherine]

On 12/19/2019 at 1:24 PM, Medlin Software said:

I share this as a warning, that more than ever, sending an email, and not getting a bounce, it is no guarantee your message made it to the recipient's account, not even to their spam folder.

I have almost entirely given up using my MIT alumni email, since many servers have decided the entire domain is spam; the messages never get through to me OR to my spam filter.  They just disappear.  Very aggravating; too many online logins are tied to *that* email address.  So I set it up to forward all emails to yet another address I have.  Grrr!  Rant over.

[Medlin Software, Dennis]

And it is always blamed on the sender, since the recipient likely has zero idea how their email gets to them, if at all.

Thinking back on my Moose Lodge customers, the interesting thing is their cloud filter company has full and instant access to the entire content of all messages which pass through their system.  The "tech" who resolved the issue I was having was able to pull up messages I had sent, read them, and white list my information so I do not get filtered.

Another item to consider, is any outside company likely has the same ability, so one must consider all email as being posted on a wall for anyone to read, unless you control the entire process (which is possible if you manage your own domain).

What I have had to do, on the fly, was add a way for my customers to also provide their text message number, and carrier (because of number portability, one cannot "detect" the carrier automatically), so I can send a subset of their receipt by text.  Of course., not all carriers are part of a public list (to know their domain), so for some, I have to send text messages to all text messaging domains I can document (~60), and deal with the rejections...  I could pay for a third party to send the text messages, but I do not like messaging out of my control.