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Spam getting around the filter?

SpamHero can only filter the email that it sees.

Following are some common reasons spam might not go through our filter and what you can do to fix each issue:

  • Your domain has an alias that isn't being filtered

    If you have more than one domain name (aka Domain Aliases), and the other domains are not set up to go through SpamHero, all spam that is sent to you through these domain aliases will go straight to your mail server without filtering. To fix this issue, we offer free filtering for domain aliases. You can add them through the SpamHero control panel by going to Settings > Domain aliases. After you have added them there, you will need to switch the MX records over as well.

  • Your MX records are not configured correctly

    If you added our MX records but left your existing one in place, you may see some spam coming through without filtering. Even if the priority of your MX record is a higher number (which is supposed to tell mail servers to only send to your mail server as a last resort), some spammers will sometimes send their spam to all hosts listed in the MX records. Some hosting providers require that you leave their MX record in place (in those cases, set the priority of the record to 50 or something higher). See the Hosting Providers Requiring Special Attention article if you are unsure whether your host allows you to remove their default MX record.

    If you are not able to remove your original MX record completely, you may be able to set up a local filter that blocks emails that have not been filtered: Preventing Spammers from Sending Email Directly to Shared Mail Servers

  • A virus has infected one of your user's devices

    If one of your domain's email users has device that is infected with a virus, that virus will be able to send spam from your mail server. Since email sent from your own mail server doesn't go through our filter, the spam gets delivered straight to your email boxes. There are several freely available virus scanners that should allow you resolve this issue.

  • A contact form on your website

    If you have a contact form on your website that allows people to contact you, it can also be used by spammers to send you spam that would not go through our filter. To reduce the amount of spam sent through your contact forms, add a CAPTCHA feature to the form to block bots from filling out your form.

  • You have whitelisted the sender

    SpamHero has a whitelisting feature that allows you to specify that a sender's emails should not be filtered. If you have whitelisted a popular sender without Impersonation Protection enabled (e.g. PayPal.com, UPS.com) spam coming from these sources would not be filtered. To remove a whitelisting that is causing you to receive spam, go to Settings > approved senders and remove the email address that you are receiving spam from.

  • The spammer is sending spam directly to a dedicated mail server

    If spammers are sending directly to your dedicated mail server's IP address and ignoring the MX records for your domain, those emails will not be filtered. If that is happening, see: Prevent spam from being sent to your server's IP

  • Creating local filters to ignore emails sent directly a shared mail server

    If your email is hosted on a shared mail server, it may be difficult to make some of the adjustments suggested above. In that case, you may be able to set up a local filter that blocks emails that have not been filtered: Preventing Spammers from Sending Email Directly to Shared Mail Servers

Last updated August 8, 2023