Email bounce back

[Mally4]

Hi all.

Hope someone can assist me with a strange issue i'm having.

Just lately i have been getting messages that say an email sent to me gets "bounced back" to the sender.

I can send emails with no problems, i have made NO changes to settings for email but lately i have got messages on my phone ( texts ) from companies that say the email they send does not get through to me and is returned as the account either does not accept emails OR the account is closed ???

I even got an email from talktalk saying that an email sent to me to reset a password to a site was not delivered.

I have no idea what is going on as nothing has changed at my side.

I am using a pc with win11 pro and the built in mail for windows programme if that helps anyone.

Thanks to all in advance.

[Gondola]

OK, all I can say is that it's not usual for TalkTalk to send SMS messages about checking your email settings. PayPal may well send SMS warnings.

When you're ready to upload the email server settings' screenshots I'll be here to check them with you.  Let's make sure those are correct.

If there are issues with the broadband connection, for example, then you or TalkTalk can carry out a line test. Check connection via your MyAccount.

[Mally4]

I only get the "warnings" on my phone via text message.

I use the windows mail app built into win 11 for email, this is where i do not get anything even when organisations tell me they have sent mail to me. Nothing has been messed with or altered in any way, i get mail on my phone ok just not the ones that have been bounced back.

BTW the email from PayPal made no mention of password, in was only updated terms and conditions so why was it blocked ?

I sill say talktalk has something to do with it, i have had lots of problems just lately but they refuse to believe any issues are down to them,.

I am going away for a week from tomorrow so this issue will have to remain until i get back.

Thanks for the advice given, appreciate it.

[Gondola]

OK so we're basically talking about Paypal emails being rejected by TalkTalk as suspicious. There are a lot of fake Paypal emails in circulation so that's not exactly surprising that some genuine ones are picked up by the scam filters especially if the content scanning sees keywords like "password".  TalkTalk can check your mailbox for Paypal mail being rejected so long as Paypal have sent a mail message in the week preceeding any TalkTalk check. i.e. TalkTalk can check back but only over a 7 day period.

An email from TalkTalk asking you to check email settings is because it's been detected that you're not using the correct and up to date email settings. So we need to check those settings with you.

Please take screenshots of the incoming and outgoing server settings for the TalkTalk email account on the 'phone's email app. Image edit to obscure the first part of the email address and upload here using the picture icon above this Reply area. I'll take a look and advise on what changes to make or if you have the correct setup.

We'll follow up with the Sync options for the Windows Mail app on the PC to make sure that's got the correct settings. Either Windows Mail or the 'phone email app or both are likely to have the out of date settings for the email from TalkTalk to have been sent.

[Mally4]

I get text messages about the rejected emails on my phone.

I have had a couple from talktalk informing me about this issue and that i should check the email settings.

I have also had one from PayPal telling me that i had not viewed the updated terms for use of the service, they even told me the email had been returned to them as undeliverable.

I have no other issues with emails from anywhere else, even from my son who is overseas.

I have NOT flagged any messages as spam and have never had a message appear in my spam folder.

If this continues i will drop talktalk email completely and use gmail, just lately talktalk have been falling way down in service.

[Gondola]

That's fine. I was looking for positive and clear confirmation that the mailbox was functioning correctly and that there were no filter rules including mail forwarding in play. Confirmation that the mailbox quota is not full is perfect.

I was specifically looking for evidence of hacking. For example, if the mailbox password had been compromised and filter rules were set up by a hacker to copy your mail messages to the hackers mailbox that then became full that would result in undeliverable bounceback errors for the diverted messages.  Hackers do look for password reset messages with specially crafted filter rules. 

As there's no filter rules defined and nothing obvious stopping mail from arriving in the Inbox the only other issue is that rejected mail has been fingerprinted as spam or phishing emails.  Password reset emails fall into this category and may arrive in the Spam folder or be rejected at the network level before arriving at your mailbox.

Are all of the missing emails password reset emails?

Have you got the bounceback error message from TalkTalk or other parties? Obscure the first part of your email address in any message. There should be a TT error code if mail is rejected by the TalkTalk inbound mail server. It would help to identify what's happening if we knew the type of mail message being rejected, who sent that message and what the bounceback description and TT error code is.

[Mally4]

I did reply earlier.

The message was sent and received with no problems.

I have problems getting emails from companies including talktalk, they have told me that some emails regarding password resets do not get through and are returned, so is it talktalk at fault as i can see no other reason.

[Gondola]

I see you've signed out of Community without replying. Do you think you could sign back in to Community and let us know the outcome of mailbox testing? I appreciate your time to let me know. Thank you.

[Gondola]

Tell us what happened when you signed in to webmail and self sent a mail message.

• Did that message get sent without error?
• Did the sent message arrive in the Sent objects folder?
• Did the sent message arrive in and stay in the Inbox?

This is all to check that the mailbox is functioning as normal.

[Mally4]

I did as stated above and there are no filter rules present.

The mail box is not full either.

So why do i get messages saying that email cannot be delivered to me and is returned to the sender ?

[Gondola]

I've moved your post to the email forum.

Select here:  Sign in to TalkTalk Mail

Enter your email address and password, select Sign in.

Do you get signed in OK?

Compose and self-send the same mailbox a mail message. Check that the message sends without error, is copied into the Sent objects folder and arrives and stays in the Inbox.

Mail not reaching the Inbox could mean the mailbox is full or there's a Filter rule that's blocking the inbound mail.

• To check, select the Main Settings menu icon      triple line icon top right on the blue header
  (Mobile browser? use the desktop version)
• Select Settings from the top of the menu
• Select the inward facing arrowhead by Mail (or Email) in the left side panel
• Select Filter Rules
  If there's no rule defined, that's perfect
• To delete a Filter rule including any Auto forward
  select the Dustbin icon    to the right of the rule
  The icon background will turn red    
• To confirm you really want to delete this Filter rule
  Select the blue Delete button

Let us know of any error message, or if mail did not arrive in the online Inbox