Be Careful With Autoresponders

From the AJT Abuse Department

Spammers use a very effective technique. That is known as "domain name hijacking". They also hijack email addresses and even server names. They do this through the use of spambot and spider software that works 24/7/365 doing the work of collecting information for them. Once obtain they couple the hijacked domain name with a bogus user and now in most instance with legit user names such as "info@", "admin@", "postmaster@", etc. They write this address in the "From" line of the email headers and then of course, write the specific email address in the "To" line they want to send their spam to. They send the mail, millions of them. All the emails that bounce due to filters created by the recipient (email address in the "To" line) will bounce back to the email address in the "From" line which in this case is the innocent bystander's email address that was hijacked.

If this email address is not correct or non-existent in the specific account they it will end up in the "DEFAULT" inbox of your client's account. If you have this account configured to "REJECT MAIL AND SEND AUTORESPONDER" then this auto-responder will most likely reach the other network's spam traps and/or will get caught up in a loop thus generating spam complaints which ultimately end up in server IP blockage. It is very important that you read the following articles. Educating e-mail users will ensure a smooth running operation with minimal interruptions and inconveniences.

Why are auto responders bad? http://www.spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/329.html

There is a link that has an article on this topic that may offer some insight and a little help. Please read carefully: http://news.spamcop.net/pipermail/spamcop-help/2002-July/007903.html

If you have any questions or comments about this information, please contact the AJT Support Team online at www.ajtdesign.com/customer-support.html.