Outgoing mail from Outlook treated as SPAM

[Peggy]

I have a Verizon.net email address and use Outlook 2003. A few days ago I
started having problems with outgoing mail sent to Verizon email addresses.
If I send an email from Outlook, it is treated as spam by Verizon (on the
receiving side) and either put in the user's spam detector folder or
automatically deleted, depending on how they have their options set. I get
no error or return message. From my point of view, it appears that everything
went fine, but the person I emailed does not get my message or finds it in
their SPAM folder. If I log on to the verizon web site and send an email to
the same address, it goes through fine and is put in the receives Inbox. I
have tried this with several different verizon email addresses and got the
same results. I was able to use Outlook to send email to all of these
addresses until a few days ago. I can send email from Outlook to other
domains (AOL, comcast, etc) with no problems. For some reason, Verizon is
now considering the emails sent using Outlook as spam. I suspect that the
problem is on Verizon's side, but I was wondering if anyone has any ideas of
any settings, formatting, etc. in Outlook that might be causing Verizon to
think this is spam? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[John Blessing]

I have a Verizon.net email address and use Outlook 2003. A few days
ago I started having problems with outgoing mail sent to Verizon
email addresses. If I send an email from Outlook, it is treated as
spam by Verizon (on the receiving side) and either put in the user's
spam detector folder or automatically deleted, depending on how they
have their options set. I get no error or return message. From my
point of view, it appears that everything went fine, but the person I
emailed does not get my message or finds it in their SPAM folder. If
I log on to the verizon web site and send an email to the same
address, it goes through fine and is put in the receives Inbox. I
have tried this with several different verizon email addresses and
got the same results. I was able to use Outlook to send email to all
of these addresses until a few days ago. I can send email from
Outlook to other domains (AOL, comcast, etc) with no problems. For
some reason, Verizon is now considering the emails sent using Outlook
as spam. I suspect that the problem is on Verizon's side, but I was
wondering if anyone has any ideas of any settings, formatting, etc.
in Outlook that might be causing Verizon to think this is spam? Any
suggestions would be appreciated.

I very much doubt that Outlook is the issue.

Verizon will be best placed to tell you why your email is regarded as spam.
Otherwise, you are going to have to do some detective work:

Try sending in plain text a v. simple message.

If that gets through, send further test messages adding "bells and whistles"
in stages, e.g. html, spammy words, attached graphics etc etc


--
John Blessing

http://www.LbeHelpdesk.com - Help Desk software
http://www.room-booking-software.com - Schedule rooms & equipment
bookings http://www.lbetoolbox.com - De-Duplicates MS Outlook
http://www.repeatmail.com - schedule mass individual emails

 

[Peggy]

I tried a very simple message - plain text that simply said "This is a test".
If I send it using Outlook, it is treated as spam. If I send the identical
message from the Verizon web site, it is not treated as spam. There's
something different about the message sent via Outlook that is causing
Verizon to think it's spam. But I have no idea what that is....or whether
the difference is related to Outlook or something else. I have tried
contacting Verizon for help with no luck yet. The problems just started a
few days ago. Another family member (same house, different computer) is
experiencing the same issue.

Peggy

 

[Brian Tillman]

I have a Verizon.net email address and use Outlook 2003. A few days
ago I started having problems with outgoing mail sent to Verizon
email addresses. If I send an email from Outlook, it is treated as
spam by Verizon (on the receiving side) and either put in the user's
spam detector folder or automatically deleted, depending on how they
have their options set.

Is the "spam detector" folder in their mailbox on the Verizon server?

I get no error or return message.

Of course not. Why would you?

I was able to use Outlook to send email to all
of these addresses until a few days ago. I can send email from
Outlook to other domains (AOL, comcast, etc) with no problems. For
some reason, Verizon is now considering the emails sent using Outlook
as spam.

So, what does Verizon say when you tell them this?

I suspect that the problem is on Verizon's side, but I was
wondering if anyone has any ideas of any settings, formatting, etc.
in Outlook that might be causing Verizon to think this is spam? Any
suggestions would be appreciated.

Are you using stationery? Is your sending address also a verizon.net
address? Did you change anything whatsoever just before this started
happening? Did Verizon update their antispam rules?

 

[Brian Tillman]

I tried a very simple message - plain text that simply said "This is
a test". If I send it using Outlook, it is treated as spam. If I
send the identical message from the Verizon web site, it is not
treated as spam. There's something different about the message sent
via Outlook that is causing Verizon to think it's spam.

Not a valid conclusion.

 

[Peggy]

Is the "spam detector" folder in their mailbox on the Verizon server?

Yes, the "spam detector" folder is on the Verizon server. I get the same
result when I send an email to myself. If I send it from Outlook, it goes
into the "spam detector" folder on the Verizon server. If I send it from the
verizon web site, it goes to my Inbox.

Of course not. Why would you?

I wouldn't expect to since the message was delivered. I was just stating
that so others understood that.

So, what does Verizon say when you tell them this?

Verizon simply responded with a link to their "support" page which was no
help. I contacted them again but have not heard back from them again.

Are you using stationery? Is your sending address also a verizon.net
address? Did you change anything whatsoever just before this started
happening? Did Verizon update their antispam rules?

I am not using stationery. My sending address is also a verizon.net
address. I didn't change anything before this started happening. I don't
know if Verizon updated their antispam rules. I'm trying to find that out
but not having much luck.

 

[John Blessing]

Not a valid conclusion.

Correct, not a valid conclusion. When you send via the website, you are
using their smtp server to send and you are doing it from the IP address of
their webserver, which is not necessarily the smtp server you have set up in
Outlook as the outgoing server, and certainly won't be the IP address you
have on your home machine.

--
John Blessing

http://www.LbeHelpdesk.com - Help Desk software
http://www.room-booking-software.com - Schedule rooms & equipment
bookings http://www.lbetoolbox.com - De-Duplicates MS Outlook
http://www.repeatmail.com - schedule mass individual emails

 

[Brian Tillman]

Correct, not a valid conclusion. When you send via the website, you
are using their smtp server to send and you are doing it from the IP
address of their webserver, which is not necessarily the smtp server
you have set up in Outlook as the outgoing server, and certainly
won't be the IP address you have on your home machine.

And it might not even be the same machine on which their SMTP server runs.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Yes, the "spam detector" folder is on the Verizon server. I get the
same result when I send an email to myself. If I send it from
Outlook, it goes into the "spam detector" folder on the Verizon
server. If I send it from the verizon web site, it goes to my Inbox.

Are you sending in HTML, Rich Text or Plain Text format? Have you tried
Plain Text to see if it makes a difference? If the messages are winding up
in the Verizon-supplied spam folder, then clearly Verizon is doing the
categorizing, and I don't see how we can figure out what criteria Verizon
chooses. Only they would know.