Linked email account disappeared

[Greygreg]

My linked email, which is my main one has disappeared and I can not recreate it.

Message ‘we have temporarily removed the create/delete function as we are performing some backend maintenance work etc’. This has been up for many days.

Trying to add account through settings also unsuccessful with message ‘No password provided please go to Mail settings and enter password’ despite having entered password I know to be correct. Technical telephone scheduled for 4 days from now. This has been off for a week. I need help now!

[Greygreg]

Thank you. It looks like it is an Easily.uk issue. I have been in touch with them and they are looking into it.

Many thanks for all your trouble and advice. For me this has been a learning experience!

[Gondola]

You've confirmed that there is no problem with your TalkTalk Mail mailbox.

A lack of authentication of mail forwarded from your easily.co.uk personal domain is what you appear to be reporting.

The easily.co.uk mail hosting supports webmail and IMAP server access. Therefore you can access your personal domain mail via webmail or email client. I suggest you access the domain hosting control panel to switch off mail forwarding and collect the messages directly.

Webmail is here: https://webmail.easily.uk/#/login

[Greygreg]

Thank you for your response. I entirely accept what you say but of course it’s technically beyond me.

All I know is that this system has worked without a hitch for 25 years (8? With TalkTalk).until last week.; the domain was a present for my 60th birthday. There have been no changes to settings.

The domain was originally registered with Nominet but is now with a company called Easily.uk. I have no reason to believe it to be other than reputable and technically competent. I would be happy to supply further details but as you suggested on a previous post it is important not to be too free with this sort of information.

[Gondola]

Is there anything else of significance that you're going to reveal? Now you've told me that the issue is with your personal domain mail being forwarded to your TalkTalk mailbox?

What is your personal domain? I'll need to check to see if the domain does have an SPF file correctly set up and if there is a DMARC policy.

Which hosting service are you using for your personal domain mail? It does depend on how that hosting service deals with mail forwarding.

Mail forwarding isn't necessarily reliable if simple forwarding is used. Some mail hosting services will use the Sender Rewriting Service (SRS) to rewrite the mail header so that the outgoing mail is authenticated by the intermediate sender. Others may use the Authenticated Received Chain (ARC) to authenticate the incoming mail and then reseal the email including the original authentication result, with the intermediate sender verifying its authentication also. TalkTalk doesn't use ARC so don't expect any checks on ARC authentication.

What happens at TalkTalk's inbound mail server is that a check of authentication is carried out. Basically, if mail does not pass authentication it can be rejected and it'll be bounced back to your hosting service.

If the original email demands that only the originating servers are authenticated then chances are the mail will be rejected when it arrives at the TalkTalk inbound mail servers. If the original email permits any servers then mail may be deferred for scanning and will usually be accepted for delivery to your mailbox.

A better way of dealing with mail sent to your personal domain hosted mailbox is to collect that mail direct from the hosting service as this avoids the complications of mail forwarding.

[Greygreg]

Hi

I checked my domain to make sure it’s up to date. Can confirm I am registered until November 2024.

Using  ‘Easily’ confirmed it is set up to forward mail to me at email address at talktalk.net.

Anything sent to my domain email including Verifalia bounces back with message suggesting inbox is full.

Verifalia: stated ‘The mailbox for the email address is either over its storage quota or the mail exchanger has insufficient system storage.’

I am a low/ modest user who’s cleared all mailboxes. The message however would be consistent with TalkTalk not accepting/acknowledging forwarded mail.

There is absolutely no problem with talktalk email either with webmail or through the app.

My password did not have a symbol but I’ve changed it to include one so it is now definitely security compliant. However I think it unlikely that was the problem.

With no change to settings which have operated for ages without a hitch, it would increasingly appear that in my case TalkTalk have made modifications which no longer accept email forwarded from my domain. Is this a possibility? Is there a setting anywhere to acknowledge any forwarded email? I appreciate very much your suggestions. In order to avoid making elementary mistakes and to ensure I’m doing what you suggest I have elicited help from someone much more tech savvy than me. They seem just as puzzled.

[Gondola]

Are you trying to reinstall your email account onto an email app or email software on a device and that app is not accepting your last known password?

The message in the customer MyAccount is not relevant as this is about creating new email addresses. 

I really do need you to answer my three questions.

• What happens when you sign in to webmail using the last known password? Signed in or 'Incorrect password'?
• Retry the Verifalia check and say if it says Deliverable or Undeliverable as its initial response
• Try the forgotten password journey and say what you see. There should be up to 3 options and you need to recognise all from the *****hints.

I need the answers to deduce whether you're using the wrong settings on the email app, whether the mailbox has been suspended for security or whether you have a weak password and whether you have password recovery options set up.

I may ask to see a screenshot of the incoming and outgoing server settings you're using for the email app. Screenshot and obscure the first part of the email address before uploading here using the camera icon (desktop browser) or picture icon (mobile device browser) above this reply area.

You could also tell me now if your password is security compliant. It must be at least 8 characters, multicase letters and at least one number and one symbol. Does it meet those requirements or not?

[Greygreg]

Email address in constant use daily for many years right up until problem a week ago.

Went through all your suggestions successfully but Verifalia has the following message

Classification:

 Risky 

Status:

The mailbox for the email address is either over its storage quota, or the mail exchanger has insufficient system storage.

Status code:

MailboxHasInsufficientStorage (What's this?)

However all mailboxes cleared days ago. This is consistent with message received by any sender.

Could this be the result of any Talktalk service modifications.

Recreate was wrong phrase. I meant reinstall my missing email account. This can’t be achieved either it asks for password when one already supplied or message ‘please note we have temporarily removed delete/create function as we are performing some backend maintenance work on our email platform.Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.’

your response much appreciated. Any additional suggestions?
Many thanks

I 

[Gondola]

It is not possible to recreate an email address that has already been used. Are you saying that your email address has been deleted though non-use?  Or just been limited to webmail only access or had the password reset?

Select here:  Sign in to TalkTalk Mail

Enter your full TalkTalk Mail email address, select Continue and enter the password, select Sign in. What do you see when trying the last known password?

Mailboxes are flagged for deletion if the user doesn't sign in at least once every 180 days. The help page  Deleted Email error message explains more.

So first you'd check if the email address is still active. Send the email address a mail message and see if you get an immediate bounceback error message saying 'Undeliverable' that means the mailbox isn't active.

Then  enter the email address at Verifalia, an external website that verifies if an email address exists. Enter the email address, complete the reCAPTCHA and select the Validate button. Does the top line response say 'Deliverable' or something else?

Finally, use the Reset password now button in the Help page  Changing your email password to see if you get a deleted or no domain error message or if you actually do have password recovery options saved.

Let us know the outcome in each case and we'll take it from there.