Help With Email Problem Please!

BoPeep · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 2:59 pm Post subject: Help With Email Problem Please!

Hi All,

Am hoping that some of the technically-minded people on here might be able to assist me with something...

I have several email addresses set up through Outlook, all with different providers. I also check my email through MailWasher first to weed out the spam. My main email address is "firstname@surname.co.uk" and this domain (surname.co.uk) is hosted through Freeparking.

On Saturday I noticed that MailWasher had downloaded 84+ spammy-looking emails which were all the same - Mailer Daemon failure notices. They were all saying that they were sent from me using the same email address (firstname@surname.co.uk) but the recipient email addresses and subject lines were pure spam - i.e. I never sent any of these emails in the first place and have never heard of the recipients.

I deleted them all from MailWasher and thought it would be OK as I hadn't downloaded them into Outlook and opened them, so should be safe from any viruses. However when I later tried to send an email from firstname@surname.co.uk I had an immediate email back with the following text (the only bit I have edited is the email address):

Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients.

Subject:
Sent: 28/05/2012 14:53

The following recipient(s) cannot be reached:

'firstname@surname.co.uk' on 28/05/2012 14:53
503 Valid RCPT command must precede DATA

Now every time I try to send an email from this email address I get the same failure notice and the email does not send. I can receive emails sent to this email address and I can send emails through Outlook using other email addresses.

I did some research on the internet about the 503 error but this seems to be mostly due to the account settings being incorrect. I have not found anyone having this trouble after also receiving the spam emails (I am assuming they are connected).

I have done the following as per advice from the internet:

1) Checked the account settings - all fine.
2) Changed outgoing port to 26 from 25 - didn't work.
3) Done a virus scan - no viruses found.
4) Checked the size of my .pst file - seems fine, around 484MB.
5) Contacted my domain hosting provider to see if they have any suggestions but they are not good at fast responses!

BTW, my husband's email address also uses the same domain name and is hosted by Freeparking but he has no problems sending or receiving email, so it's not a technical issue with the hosting provider.

I would be grateful for any help!

Laura.
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M8TJT

Hi BP

M8TJT · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 4:15 pm Post subject:

Your ISP has an email setting page at here but you need a username and password to access it. I have known an email supplier that uses SMTP 2626 rather than 25, It still does not explain the bounces though. Sad

BoPeep · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 5:31 pm Post subject:

Hi M8TJT,

Thanks for your reply.

I have checked the ISP email settings and the account settings are all fine in Outlook. The reason I tried changing the outgoing port was that my internet search of this problem seemed to find a lot of suggestions for changing the port number from 25 to 26. Anyway, this didn't work as obviously the account settings then were incorrect for my ISP so it couldn't connect anyway.

My husband sends his emails from a different computer.

I have downloaded MalwareBytes and ran a quick scan which did not find any malicious files. I have set it off running a full scan and will see what that shows.

I'll post back here when it's finished to update you. In the meantime, if anyone has any other suggestions or thoughts, please post them here.

Laura. Confused

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Oldboy · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 6:42 pm Post subject:

I don't use Outlook, but came across This.

It covers some of the things you've done, but it might have some other steps in there.
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MaFt · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 6:59 pm Post subject:

M8TJT · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 7:31 pm Post subject:

BoPeep · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 8:10 pm Post subject:

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies so far.

Have checked the email settings on my host's website and my Outlook settings and all looks OK.

Oldboy, thanks for the link. I have tried the things they suggested and still no luck. Sad

I did a full scan on Anti-Malware but no malicious files found.

Guess I'll have to wait and see if Freeparking reply to me tomorrow. Confused

Laura.
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HTC Desire - Co Pilot Live Premium (Europe)

MaFt · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 8:13 pm Post subject:

My guess is they will point you to their FAQ on the 503 error: http://support.freeparking.co.uk/faq/index.asp?CATE=4#26

Have you checked you have the outgoing authentication turned on?

MaFt

BoPeep · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 8:16 pm Post subject:

Yes, outgoing authentication is definitely ticked. Uses same settings as incoming server.

I hope they come up with something as this is really frustrating, especially how it just came out of nowhere and I can't find any viruses. Confused

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M8TJT · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 8:53 pm Post subject:

Just a thought. Have you tried setting up your email account on Privateer's computer? Or do you think that's a little too risky? If you delete all the emails out of your inbox on the server, there's then nothing there for him to 'catch'. That would prove whether it is your outlook account settings or something to do with your computer? That's what I would do, to at least narrow down the search for a fix.

@ Admin:
Why hasn't this forum got an 'edit' button? I can't think of a good reason, but perhaps there is one?

Admin: it has, we just don't trust you with it!

M8TJT · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 8:55 pm Post subject:

BLX to no edit button.
Laura, have you tried system restore to before the problem arose?

BoPeep · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 8:56 pm Post subject:

Good idea, I will try that tomorrow as he's at work at the moment. Like you say, it will at least narrow it down as to whether it's my PC or my email address. Thumbs Up

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MaFt · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 8:57 pm Post subject:

Another thing to consider is that if your account has been abused for sending a shed-load of spam then perhaps there is a 'block' on outgoing mail?

MaFt

BoPeep · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 8:58 pm Post subject:

Another good suggestion, thanks. Will try this later on.

Thanks for all your help.
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