Email Got Listed On Spam Index - But I Didn't Send The Said Spam

[Hanuman]

So, I send a lot of B2B cold outreach emails, and noticed my open rates were lower than usual. Ran a SPAM test and it turns out that my IP address is blacklisted on SORBS spam database.

This is a Google Workspace email and the IP belongs to Google.

When I reached out to Sorbs, they agreed to delist me, and also gave me a copy of the spam I sent. It looks like this:

Return-Path: <[Email Address]>
Received: from mail-yb1-[Host/Domain Hidden] (mail-yb1-[Host/Domain Hidden] [209.85.XXX.XXX])
        by [Host/Domain Hidden] (Postfix) with ESMTP id AA81C1E3B989
        for <[Email Address]>; Fri,  1 Dec 2023 07:28:37 -0500 (EST)
DKIM-Signature: [Hidden]
MIME-Version: 1.0
From: Koffi Aya <[Email Address]>
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2023 12:28:23 +0000
Message-ID: <CAB0Gp*****************************************TTNA@[Host/Domain Hidden]>
Subject: Re: I NEED YOUR HELP NOW!
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="[hidden]"

But here is the thing. This email screams spam, and I did not send it. I have checked my sent folders and don't see this messag either. So don't think I was hacked into either.

How do I prevent this from happening again? Does Google use the same IP for diferent workspace emails?

 

[Hanuman]

Looks like Google uses shared IP for their Workspace accounts. So anyone from anywhere in the world could be spamming with their account, and your account could be getting blacklisted. That's weird.

 

[Ryuzaki]

This happens with free or cheap tiers of nearly any email program. I've had it happen with MailChimp, Sendgrid, etc. I can completely recommend Amazon SES for a cost effective method that doesn't do this to you. I know that doesn't solve your problem, but for those that may read it, it's the best. Use some kind of interface that sets it up for you too, like Sendy.co.

 

[ryandiscord]

Look into setting up a DMARC policy, this allows you to verify what hosts are allowed to send email from your domain. You'll want to set up DKIM and SPF.

 

[Hanuman]

I can completely recommend Amazon SES for a cost effective method that doesn't do this to you.

Thanks Ryuzaki. Do you mean SES offers dedicated IP? As I understand it, it's an add-on to the regular SES which is shared IP. Am I right?

sets it up for you too, like Sendy.co.

I've considered Sendy in the past for newsletters. but never been a customer. Thanks for the suggestion. Do they work well for cold emails as well?

Look into setting up a DMARC policy

Thanks Ryandiscord. I in fact have DMARC, DKIM and SPF set up for my domain. My cold email tool has a Spam test feature, and according to this, the only problem I had with my domain was it was blacklisted on one of the many spam databases (which happens to be because of spam sent over the shared IP by a different person)

 

[CCarter]

As I understand it, it's an add-on to the regular SES which is shared IP. Am I right?

It's $24.95 per IP address per month, and they recommend you have a minimum of 2 IP addresses.

Your problem is your IP Address and there is no way around this without dedicated IP Addresses. But if you are sending out cold emails, you'll eventually get blacklisted faster with dedicated IPs. In fact you'll probably get kicked off Amazon SES for complaints long before the blacklisting.

 

[ryandiscord]

Do you have a list of engaged subscribers? If so you could warm up a dedicated IP address with that first to avoid issues hitting a cold list.

 

[Ryuzaki]

I've considered Sendy in the past for newsletters. but never been a customer. Thanks for the suggestion. Do they work well for cold emails as well?

Sendy is just linking you up to Amazon SES and providing tracking metrics. Amazon itself is not going to work for cold emails. They watch your bounce rates, spam rates, unsubscribes, and all of that, and have thresholds that, if you exceed, you get booted out of SES. They don't tolerate spam, which cold emailing ultimately is no matter how you chop it up. It's not the worst kind, but it's still in the same basket.