Slightly OT: How do you deal with domains you forward to who consider you a spammer based in user reports?

[DAve]

Furnish, Trever G wrote:
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: mailscanner-bounces at lists.mailscanner.info 
>> [mailto:mailscanner-bounces at lists.mailscanner.info] On Behalf Of DAve
>> Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 5:01 PM
>> To: MailScanner discussion
>> Subject: Re: Slightly OT: How do you deal with domains you 
>> forward to who consider you a spammer based in user reports?
> 
>> An exasperating situation. We have been dealing with the same 
>> issue for quite a awhile. Our current solution is to use 
>> verp, if AOL returns the message in a scomp report we remove 
>> the users email address and add it to a subscriber black 
>> list. That email address is never allowed to subscribe to 
>> another mail list we host. So far, no client has complained, 
>> AOL is happy, our scomp reports have plummeted.
> 
> Are you using verp only in conjunction with mailing lists?
> Unfortunately my forwards aren't going through any kind of mailing list
> manager -- they're just coming in and getting forwarded immediately back
> out, since each address goes to an individual.  The forwards were set up
> so that outside sales reps who don't pick up mail from out systems could
> still have a "company" email address -- a practice I'm hoping to end,
> but which I expect to continue.

Yes, verp just for the mail lists for now. We haven't had to go chase 
down a forwarding solution, yet. I am hoping we don't have to, but that 
will be my solution if needed.

> 
>> You might see if there is a way to inject something into the 
>> headers that AOL will no redact. Then, if the user reports 
>> their forwarded mail as spam, simply stop forwarding.
> 
> That might actually make a big difference.  Any ideas on how to
> implement it, short of placing a footer in the body of the message?

Not really ;^), but if it comes down to it I will have to find 
something. Likely I will look at removing the forward and letting the 
message deliver locally, then have a cron job read the mailbox, add the 
header, resend the mail.

Ideally, we provide webmail over ssh, imap, pop, and smtp-auth. So if it 
comes up again I will suggest that forwarding is not needed and the 
possibility that business correspondence is subject to family review and 
accidental use. Social solutions are almost always the better choice, 
training the user is harder than programming, but infinitely better in 
the long run.

 >I've noted that aol "redacts" anything that looks like an email address
 > in the headers, but not the body, but if I could insert a header that
 > says, for example, "X-HJ-MailScanner-To: foo at foo dot com", they
 > probably wouldn't redact that.  I suppose I could modify that bit of
 > code in mailscanner that adds that header...hmmm...  Painful for
 > upgrades, but better than nothing...

scomp reports are kinda funny, some are redacted some are not. We have 
even gotten scomp reports from a netblock we don't own.

> 
>> Not the 
>> best solution business wise, but the safe option for certain. 
>> If the user wants the authority to declare spam/not spam, 
>> they should be responsible for the actions they set into motion.
>>
>> In the end we all want to make the client happy, but 
>> protecting your network must come first. You can't make a 
>> client happy if no one will accept your server's mail.
> 
> Good points and it's nice to know I'm not the only one who feels that
> way.
> 

DAve


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