Emails sent to Gmail addresses bounce back - Anyone?

[RichB]

For the last 3 or 4 months any emails I send to a Gmail address bounce back, I've not changed anything on my email settings but coincidentally every couple of months my mobile phone (Android) pops up a message to say that there is a 'Missing Certificate' for my email. I cannot see how to add a certificate but I click on 'Trust anyway' and it is happy for another few months. Obviously I wonder if the two issues are related.

The issue with Gmail is present regardless of whether I send from my Windows PC or Android phone. My email service provider is Easynet which I've used for 22 years and although the company has changed hands several times (now owned by GTT) it works fine for me (usually!).

I've tried Googling it but cannot find much and the Support page from Google just says common faults are incorrectly spelt email addresses or sending too many mails and getting blocked as a spammer, which I don't do.

This is the bounce back message I get from Gmail:

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:

[e-mail]
host gmail-smtp-in.l.google.com [173.194.76.27]
SMTP error from remote mail server after end of data:
550-5.7.26 This message does not have authentication information or fails to
550-5.7.26 pass authentication checks (SPF or DKIM). To best protect our users
550-5.7.26 from spam, the message has been blocked. Please visit
550-5.7.26 https://support.google.com/mail/answer/81126#authe... for more
550 5.7.26 information. j22-20020a05600c485600b0039751e35bc6si521953wmo.149 - gsmtp

[markiii]

Google recently started enforcing authentication and it broke anything sent to gmail addresses from my domain. it needed a mail record amendment on my domain.

Do you know anyone else on easynet who can see if they get the same error?

[mw88]

I think something has changed in GMail recently, we've been seeing an increase in this at work.

It could be that
- Sending domain is lacking the proper DNS records for either SPF and/or DKIM.
- Sending domain/ip may be blacklisted (mxtoolbox.com is useful)

I would have thought your provider would already have the correct SPF/DKIM records in place, but if it's a legacy thing maybe not.

[bitchstewie]

Are you sending from an @easynet domain or from your own domain?

Who owns and controls the email domain you're sending from as that's who you need to speak to.

[RichB]

Sending from an @easynet.co.uk domain.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll dig into it base don those suggestions. Part of my problem is that GTT don't provide support Easynet any more so it's difficult to contact them. But I'll give it a go. I'm reticent to change my email provide after so many years.

Edited by RichB on Tuesday 31st May 10:29

[deckster]

This is an easy one to fix but it has to be done by whoever manages your domain.

Forward them the email and get them to add the necessary configuration (ideally both DKIM and SPF) and it should all work. If your domain admin is also your email provider then they should have done this automatically and it's pretty poor that they haven't. If you bought your domain from elsewhere and are using your ISPs mail servers then it will get a bit more complex and you'll need to read up on proper DNS configuration records.

[Ronstein]

This may point you in the right direction:

Make sure your messages are authenticated
Authenticated messages are less likely to be marked as spam. Authenticated messages:

Help protect recipients from malicious emails, such as phishing messages.
Are less likely to be rejected or marked as spam by Gmail.
These authentication methods are set up at your domain provider, not within Gmail. If you use a domain hosting service or an email provider, use the provider's instructions for setting up authentication. Set up authentication for each of your sending domains.

To minimise the chance of your messages being marked as spam, set up these authentication methods:

Publish an SPF record for your domain. SPF prevents spammers from sending unauthorised messages that appear to be from your domain.
Turn on DKIM signing for your messages. Receiving servers use DKIM to verify that the domain owner actually sent the message. Important: Gmail requires a DKIM key of 1024 bits or longer.
Publish a DMARC record for your domain. DMARC helps senders protect their domain against email spoofing.
For SPF and DKIM to authenticate a message, the message From: header must match the sending domain. Messages must pass either the SPF or the DKIM check to be authenticated.

Send emails to engaged users

[bitchstewie]

RichB said:

Sending from an @easynet.co.uk domain.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll dig into it base don those suggestions. Part of my problem is that GTT don't provide support Easynet any more so it's difficult to contact them. But I'll give it a go. I'm reticent to change my email provide after so many years.

Edited by RichB on Tuesday 31st May 10:29

You need to speak to them then.

That bounce will (should!) make sense to them and I'm amazed they haven't already done it.

There's literally nothing you can do about this.

[RichB]

Thanks chaps, I'll get onto them.

[bitchstewie]

Honestly get your own domain or a gmail address too and start moving to it.

One day you'll get an email from GTT saying they're either doing away with @easynet or want to charge you a tenner a month for an email address.

It's when not if one of those two things happens.

[Julian Thompson]

Thanks for this help.

I was able to resolve the issue for me (ionos) by speaking to them and getting them to add SPF to the domain and outbound emails.

Took one phone call, and then after that now my emails don’t bounce back. I didn’t have to do anything technical as reading this I was rather daunted by it but it has turned out ok.

[Corso Marche]

You should really have 2 authentication methods to prove your domain and email is legitimate and you are who you say you are. Without 2 methods you still risk being marked as SPAM by some mail providers and clients.

Your provider should really have had this in place from day 1. If they've only added SPF chase them and ensure they also add DKIM. It's literally a few seconds of work for them.