suspended for spamming

chelsea

New member
One of my domains was suspended for spamming, allegedly I sent out 4200 spam mails that bounced back. I did not send out any spam, in fact I never use the email at all so how can I prove I did not send out this spam? Common sense should tell the hosting provider that I'd have to be a fool to send out spam on my own domain and therefore am innocent. I've read on another forum that this has happened before with the same provider. :mad:
 
It would actually be up to a host (if the hosting company employs reasonable people who can do this for a customer) to prove you didn't send out spam. All is needed is to check out the headers of emails sent in detail to see maybe the problem was with mirrowing domains. I've had the same issue before, but it was mostly due to some kind of virus that sends out massive emails from what looks like your domain on the cover, but some other server on the inside.

Have them check email headers, usually they would tell the story.

Best,
 
Do you have an email form or a feedback script on your site?
Many of these can be easily exploited.
It's not going to make much difference to the host if it came from your account via an exploit.

I would think they could be a little more forgiving though as long as they got the problem under control.
 
Artashes said:
It would actually be up to a host (if the hosting company employs reasonable people who can do this for a customer) to prove you didn't send out spam. All is needed is to check out the headers of emails sent in detail to see maybe the problem was with mirrowing domains. I've had the same issue before, but it was mostly due to some kind of virus that sends out massive emails from what looks like your domain on the cover, but some other server on the inside.

Have them check email headers, usually they would tell the story.

Best,

I chatted with some person not fluent in the English language and told him he can tell by the IP # that the spam wasn't coming from me. I don't know if he understood all of what I said. Then I wrote to tech support and hours later a reply came to write to abuse. I did that and I am still waiting now and its been over 48 hours. I asked them to unsuspend my site so I can move it.
They didn't give me any notice that they were suspending my site and I am sure they didn't even try to see if the spam was really sent by me or not.
I am going to find another reseller account and move, if they treat customers this poorly I don't need to give them my business. I have been with them over a year through sluggish servers and downtime, I should have left long ago.
 
Blue said:
Do you have an email form or a feedback script on your site?
Many of these can be easily exploited.
It's not going to make much difference to the host if it came from your account via an exploit.

I would think they could be a little more forgiving though as long as they got the problem under control.

Yes to both! The whole site is an articlebeach.com script to submit ezine articles. There must be an exploit in the script somewhere that allowed somebody to send out all that spam from my email account.
 
Well at this point, why would you want to get your account back. If the provider you are with indeed stated you were spamming when infact you were not...why stay with a provider who is quick to accuse? This would also weed out any liars in the situation.
 
chelsea said:
I have been with them over a year through sluggish servers and downtime, I should have left long ago.

You're probably right. However, they said the 4000 emails bounced back? Bounced back to where? And why didn't you receive any bounce backs?

Very curious indeed...
 
Most likely, one of your php scripts was exploited and used to send spam emails. You need to make sure all your scripts are secure and up to date.
Ask your host to provide exim logs so you can see which script was responsible.
 
Well keep this in mind....A reputable host will provide you proof to back their claim when asked. They won't simply shut your down without giving you the benefit of proof.

It sounds to me that you may have picked an unexperienced company in which to host your site.

Now, however, I noticed that you mentioned that your site is for sending out eZines. There is a possibility that this was misinterpreted as spam.

A lot of people who sign up for ezines forget when they do it, or may not have done it at all, and just had their email submitted by someone else. While sending out ezines is typically a harmless thing, many people who can't remember signing up for it, or those who had their email entered without permission, will immediately scream "SPAM" without asking you anything at all.

If/when your host receives a sufficient amount of these reports from these people, the host is obligated to stop the spam first, and provide answers later, as long as they DO provide answers.

It's very similar to a police officer arresting you for a crime they're not sure if you commited, but they think you may have. They will do a quick initial investigation to make sure there is enough to arrest you on (and it doesn't have to be much). They will then detain you, while they build a case of evidence and facts against you. Of course, if they can't prove you did it, they let you go free.

If you feel your host is reputible.....try to work with them to figure out what happened, how it happened, and what you can do to help.
 
Also remember that if "you" didn't send the spam, it doesn't mean your "account" didn't either. If your account sent out spam, even if you didn't intend to send out spam through a hacked script or other accidents, you will still be held accountable.

If your account is suspended before being notified, the least they can do is to send you proof of why they suspended your domain so you can look it over and help find out what may have been the cause. Most hosts, once you find the source and you promise to fix or remove it, will enable your site.
 
The script wouldn't have to be *exploited* per-say. Simply being avaliable to "guest" users would allow anyone with any knowledge of HTTP and a core language to setup a script which repetitively queries the form. My suggestion is, if you decide to leave comment boxes "open" on your site, you should get it to send the mail to a localhost address (eg an email address that is on the same box/network as your website). That way, the spam wont leave the network and probably wont be spamfiltered.
 
Yeah make sure you get proof and ask them for it. If they don't send you proof, I would get there contact detaisl.. if they don't have that.. well then your screwed.
 
GnomeyNewt said:
Also remember that if "you" didn't send the spam, it doesn't mean your "account" didn't either. If your account sent out spam, even if you didn't intend to send out spam through a hacked script or other accidents, you will still be held accountable.
All customers should highly aware about it.
Content Management System can become a nightmare if used by a newbie users.
:smash:
 
hostfrog.com said:
Well at this point, why would you want to get your account back. If the provider you are with indeed stated you were spamming when infact you were not...why stay with a provider who is quick to accuse? This would also weed out any liars in the situation.

This does not mean anything at all. Most likely his account was compromised so what should the web host do just leave it up?

If it was not his own actions the host will let him know and then he will need to fix his scripts. Why do people always tend to say something like this when the account most likely sent out spam even if it was not his fault.

Dont you guys know that the web host is always right!:rolleyes:
 
Not sure, we usually give our customers the benefit of the doubt and provide one warning. If it continues we then email 10-15 of the emails in a PDF file to the user with the quote from our TOS and that the account is suspended.

Many people think hosting companies do this to scam customers but honestly, I know we'd much rather keep those customers paying than have them suspended. Thats a customer we have to replace and I definitely want the least turnover as possible.
 
chelsea said:
I am still waiting now and its been over 48 hours.

I would have already moved my sites to a new houst by the time hour 6 had passed. Then I'd contact my bank and dispute their hosting fee.

That's what I would do.

That's why I like to have more than one hosting company.

Just incase somthing crazy like that happens.

I can't believe support is making you wait so long.

With my Cpanel/WHM there don't always have the greatest uptime.

But there is always someone there to help me. 24/7 via live chat.

So I guess that's why I stay with them... :cool:
 
I just recently warned a customer for spamming. I usually give them one warning after that i terminate the account. These spammers really take up a lot of resource which put a lot of load on the server.
 
Hello,

The domain is suspended for spaming for sending 4200 mails at a time. when the support people told you about this, you should have asked them to give the proof of the same.

Thank you.

Regards,
 
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