Google Apps email using wrong FROM address when sent from CFMAIL - email

Okay, so this is a really weird issue that's really just confusing the crap out of me...
I have a number ColdFusion sites running on the same dedicated server and have been noticing some really strange issues with mail sent from some sites using the <cfmail> tag.
Here is an example of a mail tag being used with a form on one of the websites:
<cfmail to="#cfmail.clientEmail#" from="#form.email# <#form.email#>" replyto="#form.email#" server="#cfmail.server#" username="#cfmail.username#" password="#cfmail.password#" subject="Request for info - #form.propertyName#" type="HTML" port="#cfmail.port#" useSSL="#cfmail.useSSL#">
(All of the cfmail scoped vars are being set in the Application file)
I do it this way so that the individual sites are not all using the in-house mail server, and instead use their own Google Apps account (DNS is set up properly).
Form submits, email sends, email is delivered...no problem, right?
Well...that's when things get funky.
Notice the FROM looks like this in the code:
from="#form.email# <#form.email#>
When delivered, it looks like this:
FROM : bob#someaddress.com <info#somerandomdomain.com>
When it SHOULD look like this:
FROM : bob#someaddress.com <bob#someaddress.com>
So, I checked - and re-checked the code. Everything is correct. Then, I checked the ColdFusion mail spooler...the text file generated there before the email actually leaves the server is CORRECT.
This leads me to believe that something is happening after the actual data reaches the google servers - somehow the email addresses are getting swapped out.
If it's any help, the mixed up from addresses are always email addresses that were set up a long time ago and then closed/abandoned for other sites I host on the same server.
And, another bit of funkyness to add...
This is happening to the TO addresses in some cases as well. Meaning, emails sent from different sites on the same server (using different Google Apps accounts and credentials) are ending up in the correct inbox AND other, unrelated, sites inboxes as well.
I've determined that the emails are correct as they leave the building on their way to Google (via the ColdFusion mail spooler) - but things seem to go all wonky after that.
Does anyone have any advice on this? The solution I've decided on for now is to move the clients to new mail providers...but this is not an ideal solution because of all the hassle involved in migrating their email over.

Related

Outlook Not Receiving Emails Sent From Django Website

My Django website has several forms which users fill out and when they submit them an e-mail is sent to my email address. This works when I use my Hotmail address as the receiving address, but not when I use my Outlook email address (the address I'd like to use). I also tried another Outlook address and it worked. So it's just my Outlook that's not receiving them. The Outlook address is also the sending address.
I have no idea why my Outlook address won't receive e-mails from my website, yet it receives e-mails sent from other sources. It displays no error messages so I really have nothing to go off. I have Googled a lot but can't find exactly what I'm looking for.
I know my question is vague, but I'm hoping someone can at least point me in the right direction or give me something to look into, because there are no error messages or anything for me to go off. I have also been through the settings in Outlook and can't find anything that would be blocking it.
PS I didn't include any code as I really don't know how it would help, though I can if you think it would be useful.
Thank you.
Have you checked your SPAM/JUNK folder. This might be possible that emails are getting delivered to your SPAM folder instead of INBOX.
Check your Firewall Settings might be your Firewall is creating the problem.
Check out some possible fixes mentioned here: https://www.tipsoverflow.com/why-outlook-not-receiving-mails-but-can-send-fixed/

I am creating an email spammer, for an outstanding cause [closed]

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In Cuba, web access is extremely censored, so I created a tool that allows more than 50,000 people to browse the Internet through email. Cubans send me an email with an URL in the subject line, and I email them back with the response. Read more at https://apretaste.com.
It was working like a charm, till the communist government of Cuba started blocking my emails. My solution was rotation.
I started with Amazon SES, and I was changing the domain each time it was blocked, but Amazon adds a header to all emails, and once they blocked the header no email from SES was able to reach Cuba any more. The same happened with Mailgun and others, they all add headers.
Currently I am creating Gmail accounts and sending via SMTP, but Google blocks me for no reason and only allows to send 100 emails a day per account. Also I can only create few emails using the same IP address/phone, so I was forced to use anonymous proxies and fake Chinese phones. Now I am fighting a war on two fronts.
An email can be blocked by three parameters: IP address, domain, and email address.
It will be terrific if I can set up my own Postfix server at a VPS that auto-rotates the IP address. Even better if I can simulate "gmail.com", to avoid purchasing a new domain every day.
All the intents to create what I call "the ultimate sender" just either reach the spam folder or add unwanted headers making it too easy to block. I feel exhausted. I hit a knowledge barrier here.
I know I am crossing to the dark side, but this is for a very good cause. Thousands count on this service as their only source of unbiased news, social network and to feel part of the 21st century.
Can you please help me implementing "the ultimate sender", or pointing to another solution that I may be missing?
I have a few suggestions for you.
The first one relies on The Onion Router also known as Tor.
Since you are crossing to the dark side, why not also take a look into the darknet?
Take a look at this list of Tor email providers. If you have your own email server that can be accessed through Tor, it becomes much harder for anybody to stop people from using this service. After all, Tor was developed to offer people uncensored access to the web.
You can read about Tor in detail here, it uses Onion Routing and this is how you would set up your server to use Tor.
Here is an example how you could use it:
The steps that involve the setup, receiving an URL request and sending back the reply are as follows:
Set up an email server.
Configure your email server to use Tor.
Publish the public service name. (e.g. "duskgytldkxiuqc6.onion")
Deploy a client that takes the service name and a URL, and let it send an email with a request to your server.
The client now waits for a reply.
You send a reply and the client receives it.
You can change your service name on a regular basis, but you need to make it accessible to those who will use this service.
Having an own email server means being able to control the email header.
Here is one example how you could make use of it:
Configure your email server so that it receives and recognizes
emails which contain the requested URLs.
Before you send a reply modify the email header so that it shows a random IP address and a random sender email address including a random domain name.
Send your reply.
Sending an email that way means that you cannot be replied back to. But since your reply already contains the requested information there is no need to.
I hope this helps.
Crowd source it.
Find a way that volunteers can send some emails for you. This is the only long term approach that I can think of. A simple web interface with mail to links would be be enough to get started although there are other potential problems with this approach too.
Because you are talking about low numbers of users, you could also use crowdsourcing to create the single email address per person approach. They can create an account on a specific set of email providers and give you the credentials. This would allow the single email per user approach or could be used to rotate through a large set of email accounts to send emails.
The simplest solution is perhaps to set up a local SMTP server on your own computer. You don't even need a server per se.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/winsmtpserver/
There are many other such applications. They are usually used to test SMTP functions during local development, but there is nothing against actually sending spam through them.
I know this would be quite a large task, but how about pairing the users with one or just a few emails so they always receive an email from that email.
I'd assume people wouldn't have more than 100 queries per day, if so they could start receiving them from a backup email
I'd imagine it would look less suspicious for them to appear to be in constant contact with one unique email rather than 50,000 being in contact with one
I know this would be a huge undertaking, but I feel like it solves your issue.
Since the users are willing to receive emails form you then your shouldn't be blocked.
When you mentioned you are getting block does it mean your mail is going in spam or is getting lost in between sending and receiving or it is getting bounced back??
My suggestion would be to setup your own mail server and follow as below:
-Get approx 25 or more ip to rotate. (IP is the most imp part which is tracked and is accountable for the reputation of your mail server)
Don't start sending emails in bulk from the word go it is better to gradullay increase the email volume so that mail server reputation nicely built
keep changing the format of the email often
encourage user to add yourself to there contact list
your best part is user are willing to receive emails from you and you would reply to revived email is the USP of yours but still i will recommend you to register for FBL so that you would know which user is reporting you as spam and you can remove him from your list and never send him email again.
using best practice to send emails like dkim, SPF, dmarc are also vital.
Hope my answer was of some help to you. If you need step by step guide to step up mail server let me know.
My friend, do you remember what made Hillary Clinton lose the last elections to Trump?
It was the "mail" affair. And what was it? People discovered she shared confidential information through a non-official, non-governmental email account (i.e., she used some Gmail, Yahoo or another of a kind). Until here, nothing new with direct relation to your matters. But there is an small particularity on this history, and this can put, maybe not a solution, but maybe a light on a new path you could follow: Clinton actually never sent those emails; the email account she used had the password shared and the communication between people (Clinton-someone) occurred only using the drafts of the account.
How? One side logs in and accesses the drafts folder. There he/she reads the last message and edits it, cutting and writing new data - then save the draft message. On the next turn, the other side of the communication line logs in and do the same. And so forth, so never really sending those messages, but instead just updating the drafts (this "Hillary" method does schooled people... Dilma Rousseff, impeached ex-president of Brazil, actually did this method down there in Brazil too).
So, maybe if you could establish a pact with your user that he/she doesn't delete the account's password, you could pass those information by this method - without "really" exchanging emails. Maybe a "parent" email account (some that could reset a lost password) could be useful too.
Alternative: aren't you able to contract a regular HTTP webserver? You could rely on FTP to publish data to your user, he/she asks for it and you publish a page with that content.
Salvi, have you tried something with Telnet? OK, we are talking here about a text-only environment, but if nothing more would rest in the future, this could be better than nothing. Maybe you could implement a podcast-like, or push-like service based on it. Look what people do with it with references to your walk on the dark side...
If in Windows, open your command prompt.
Type telnet and press Enter.
Type "o" without quotes and press Enter.
Type "towel.blinkenlights.nl" without the quotes and press Enter.

HTML email going to spam

Not sure if this is in the right place, but it's all stemming from a PHP email send script that isn't working.
I have an email server for my clients that exists at email.thoughtspacedesigns.com. I run multiple domains from this server (e.g. pittsburghphotography.co). I've set up SPF and DKIM for these external domains, and plain text messages are going through just fine, but anything that contains an HTML attachment (even if it's accompanied by plain text) is going directly to spam when sent to any gmail account. So for example, if I send an HTML email from contact#pittsburghphotography.co, regardless of the client I use (Mac Mail, WordPress, pure PHP script), it goes into spam. I'm not sure what I can do to circumvent this issue as I've already set up just about all of the verification factors I thought were possible. Any insight?
Emails can get sent to the spam folder for a variety of reasons. Here are some things you might look into:
Every email server has a numbered rating and that can effect how your email is delivered. Check that at senderscore.org.
Another thing you might look into is if your email server is on any "Black lists" meaning that you tanked your senders score and got put on a list as a know spammer. Don't feel bad if you are, it's easy to wind up on one. Check for that at blacklistmonitoring.com.
Also, a simple way to check for spam keywords is isnotspam.com. There are other spam checkers out there but that's the one I like.
EDIT: I also forgot to mention gmail can be a bit more fickle than other email clients when it comes to spam. It's just something in their spam filtering algorithm that is more sensitive than other applications.
Best of luck!

Website is not sending emails to email add on MS Exhange

Having problems with setting up my website to use MS Exchange to send emails. I dont want to use the hosts email system.
The MS Exhange has been set up, with email addresses created.
My webpages are using Persits.MailSender which the host supports.
Do i need to change MX records? A records?
Sorry, im not clued up with network side of things, any help would be appreciated
When i email direct, the email address on the exchange picks up the emails. BUT if i email through the website, it goes to the annoying webmail the host is provinding, and not to the exchange
I find this strange, the same email address receiving emails at different places!
Im using ASP, and I have a website set up, which has been sending emails for the last 12 months, the host has messed up (again) somewhere, but doesnt know what is wrong (as usual)
There are no errors, the email always gets sent.... but to the wrong place.
I would look into actually trapping and knowing your errors. That way you can see precisely why it fails and have something to work with. As it stands, your question isn't really answerable. No language nor framework is provided. We don't know if the mail server is confirmed to be working or accessible outside your netowrk; we don't know how your are referencing it or if you are passing user credentials; we don't know what error you're getting...
At this point, you're not debugging, you're just sort of swinging in the dark. Find the point of failure and then research that data point to get a solution. Debug, catch errors, log, step through your code. All good ideas.
Ok i figured it out, I deleted the mail domain on the host as that was the first place the website looks to send an email. Once the mail domain was deleted the emails were sent to the external hosted mailserver MS Exchange email address. Yay!

Sending locally sent email (with sendmail) to Google Apps Mail Server

I have a domain, call it mydom.com.
A while ago I started using Google App's email server. I set up MX and the rest of the stuff records as Google wanted, and all is working well since.
On www.mydom.com I have a website, DNS and still running mail server (which basically doesn't do much).
Among other things, on www.mydom.com, I have some contact form - basic php page that takes user's input and sends it to predefined email address at mydom.com. It sends it with php's sendmail function.
My issue is - all those email that get sent from localhost to *#mydom.com (by php's function, or possible by some cron jobs reporting some issues) DO NOT go to Google's email servers but instead get picked up by localhost and it's mail server.
So far, I was resolving this issue by setting up a new mail account at Google account, which was basically calling my local mail server by it's IP address, logging into old, abandoned email account and pulling those misplaced emails to the new, #mydom.com account at Google App.
Obviously I'm missing some entry either in local DNS, host file or something..
Does anyone know how do I fix it?
Hey, the same question was asked here: https://serverfault.com/questions/102647/sendmail-to-local-domain-ignoring-mx-records-part-2
and the answer to it works for me, don't forget to include the dot after the domain!
If it doesn't work to the test call and see how the mail traces.
best of luck, svullo