kshymkiw
join:2004-12-21
Columbus, OH
| reply to techie68
Re: Emails not getting through to my email account
said by techie68  :I finally got an answer to this question, which actually kind of surprised me. Now, to let you all know, I work for Verizon dsl tech support (yeah, I know... we're all a bunch of idiots), and we were never informed about this change. Apparently, Verizon is blocking email coming from open relay mail servers. Essentially, this means that all email coming from servers that don't have an authentication process are being blocked. Open relay mail servers are typically hotbeds for spammers, as no authentication is necessary. Unfortunately, many email servers in Europe (and the rest of the world for that matter) are open relay. This is yet another brilliant idea that some idiot who doesn't know jack about computers making decisions for the company. I expect this to blow up in their faces sooner rather than later. Good luck to all of you. I would definitely email security@verizon.net and complain heartily about this. He is correct, being a Verizon tech as well, this was just explained to us. It is to block Scams and Spam. You have to call us and we have to Verify the e-mail address it is coming from, this can take up to 2 weeks to do.
From Verizon:
In Brief:
VOL has changed its Blacklisting policy as part of our constant goal to reduce spam, viruses, phishing and other email threats. Security has been inundated with notifications of abuse during the holiday season. Due to the increase in abuse and email threats that VOL has experienced, some VOL customers’ email service may be partially disrupted.
Blacklisting:
VOL reserves the right to block IPs or Domains of suspected spamming sources. If a customer calls in and is able to send email to a customer but is not able to receive email from the email recipient (more prevalent from countries outside of the USA), the following troubleshooting steps should be completed:
Process for Blacklisting:
1. Have the customer verify that forwarding is not enabled on the account.
2. Have the customer log in and check their Block Senders List.
3. Ensure that the customer inputs the domain into the Safe List.
4. The customer should then be informed that, due to security issues, policies are in place to protect all VOL customers. There is no ETR for these issues, but they will be resolved as soon as the recipient’s email domain has been validated (at least 2 weeks).
5. Then create a ticket using the OSC template that includes the domain, the mail server’s IP addresses, email servers and other pertinent information. |
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techie68
join:2004-11-17
Columbus, OH
| kshymkiw: In regards to another thread you and I had a discussion on, you're not the person I thought you were. You sound a lot like a gentlemen I USED to work with on days (yes, today was my last day).
At any rate, it seems that once again, the cure for this issue is worse than the issue itself. I don't think VOL realized just how many customers this idea was going to affect. I'm all over the idea of having less spam, but much like the good folks here, I want to be the one to decide what is spam and what I want to keep.
Good luck to all of you folks out there who have to continue dealing with this. Like I said earlier, today was my last day with VOL (leaving for greener pastures). I'll still be posting answers to the usual questions from time to time. You know, all the fun stuff like routers, DNS issues, versalink issues, and all that rot, but after today, I'm officially no longer a "VOL" tech.
HTH |
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kshymkiw
join:2004-12-21
Columbus, OH
| said by techie68 :kshymkiw: In regards to another thread you and I had a discussion on, you're not the person I thought you were. You sound a lot like a gentlemen I USED to work with on days (yes, today was my last day). At any rate, it seems that once again, the cure for this issue is worse than the issue itself. I don't think VOL realized just how many customers this idea was going to affect. I'm all over the idea of having less spam, but much like the good folks here, I want to be the one to decide what is spam and what I want to keep. Good luck to all of you folks out there who have to continue dealing with this. Like I said earlier, today was my last day with VOL (leaving for greener pastures). I'll still be posting answers to the usual questions from time to time. You know, all the fun stuff like routers, DNS issues, versalink issues, and all that rot, but after today, I'm officially no longer a "VOL" tech. HTH Congrats on getting out man.
Verizon has specifically targeted FOREIGN IP adresses/domains, because that is where they say 93% of all e-mail scams come from, is outside of the US. If you look at the facts it is true, i don't think Verizon accounted how many people this would effect. |
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zoom314
Superman
Premium
join:2001-04-30
Yermo, CA
| said by kshymkiw : said by techie68 :kshymkiw: In regards to another thread you and I had a discussion on, you're not the person I thought you were. You sound a lot like a gentlemen I USED to work with on days (yes, today was my last day). At any rate, it seems that once again, the cure for this issue is worse than the issue itself. I don't think VOL realized just how many customers this idea was going to affect. I'm all over the idea of having less spam, but much like the good folks here, I want to be the one to decide what is spam and what I want to keep. Good luck to all of you folks out there who have to continue dealing with this. Like I said earlier, today was my last day with VOL (leaving for greener pastures). I'll still be posting answers to the usual questions from time to time. You know, all the fun stuff like routers, DNS issues, versalink issues, and all that rot, but after today, I'm officially no longer a "VOL" tech. HTH Congrats on getting out man. Verizon has specifically targeted FOREIGN IP addresses/domains, because that is where they say 93% of all e-mail scams come from, is outside of the US. If you look at the facts it is true, i don't think Verizon accounted how many people this would effect. And whomever endorsed doing this is a JACK-ASS, Verizon may have good intentions, But It's done more harm than good If You ask Me. The Guy ought to be banned from even working near a PC. It's like trying to kill a terrorist with an A-Bomb, Sure It'll do the job, But at what cost? |
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pog
Premium
join:2004-06-03
Kihei, HI
 ·Hawaiian Telcom
| said by zoom314:
And whomever endorsed doing this is a JACK-ASS...
Exactly
When blocking spam from user accounts, the first responsibility is to eliminate false positives... the second is to minimize false negatives.
said by kshymkiw:
4. The customer should then be informed that, due to security issues, policies are in place to protect all VOL customers. There is no ETR for these issues, but they will be resolved as soon as the recipient’s email domain has been validated (at least 2 weeks).
LOL! 2 weeks! Good grief... it takes less time to sign up for another ISP. I also like the logic here:
•My friend sends me an email from Spain (for eg)
•This email doesn't make it to my account
•My friend doesn't know any other way of contacting me
•No further contact is attempted
•My psychic calls to tell me about the email I was supposed to get but was blocked instead.
This is wrong on so many levels.
A question for Verizon... if you are so concerned about your customers' safety, why is it you haven't installed any AV scanning on our inbound mail? Oh, wait... stupid question.  |
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dholroyd
join:2004-06-22
Sudbury, MA
| reply to Laser0
OK - I'm a Verizon DSL user. I get a phone call from a business partner in Europe who says, after investigation their end, their emails to me are being blocked by Verizon. I call Verizon Technical Support, who says that they had a technical bulletin about this problem yesterday, and that they have a solution.
The solution is as follows: tell them the name of the ISP(s) they're blocking, they'll pass the names up the line to a Network technician, investigate, and if, within two weeks, they decide to accept email from the blocked European ISP's them we're all happy.
OK, so the Verizon customer needs to know who's email Verizon is blocking, call, wait two weeks, and maybe it'll be unblocked. This is a solution?
Dave Holroyd |
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gracie
Geek Goddess
Premium
join:2003-07-15
confusion
| said by dholroyd :This is a solution? no, of course it's not. and i have a good feeling that verizon is starting to understand that!
i just got off the phone with the manager i mentioned in an earlier post. he is NOT with tech, but IS in a position that is concerned with customer satisfaction, and has been in contact about this issue, once i brought it to his attention, with people in a position to actually help.
while he has no definitive answers yet, it being year's end and all, he does seem to feel that verizon may indeed try to come up with a solution that is better all around, allowing for blocking the real nasties without crippling our usability the way the current setup does.
meanwhile, the best most can do is to continue to let verizon know that most of us would prefer a less draconian blacklisting policy, AND would prefer the easy ability to add known correspondents to a whitelist without going through the hoops that kshymkiw's memo indicates (and the 2 week wait).
fingers crossed. things may not move quickly, but i do feel there's reason to be optimistic that they will move. of course, i really believed "read my lips, no new taxes." 
--
graciella! "not tonight dear, I have DSL."
Creating SuperOrganizations Worldwide
Creating & Hosting SuperSites Worldwide |
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littlebird
join:2004-01-25
Carlisle, PA
 ·Verizon FIOS
| reply to Laser0
I am having the same problems as everyone else. I can not get support from my KAV. I can't update or subscribe to MS. I can get No verification or notification emails from any site, including this one.
Verizon support tells me they know that there is a major problem, but their only solution is:
If I don't receive an email (Dah! How would I know I didn't get it, it I don't get it?) I am to call them (a minimum of 1 hour on the phone) and give them the url of the email I didn't receive. They will then add this url to my email allow list. This process will take approximately 2 weeks, until I start getting emails from each or these URLs.
Is this for real? |
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kshymkiw
join:2004-12-21
Columbus, OH | if you would have read the last page you would see i posted the Memo verizon sent to us. Yes it is real |
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pog
Premium
join:2004-06-03
Kihei, HI
·Hawaiian Telcom
| said by kshymkiw:
if you would have read the last page you would see i posted the Memo verizon sent to us. Yes it is real
I believe it was more of a rhetorical question.
The sentiment can also be expressed by "What the @$&! is Verizon smoking?" |
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littlebird
join:2004-01-25
Carlisle, PA
·Verizon FIOS
| reply to kshymkiw
Yes...of course it was a rhetorical question!
I can't believe that any ISP would do such a stupid thing. What about getting emails from MS? Verizon admits this is true also.
Yes, only getting 1/4 of my emails is worse than getting a few spam emails. |
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catseyenu
Ack Pfft
Premium
join:2001-11-17
Fix East | reply to Laser0
Sheesh, youse guys really pay these clowns for this kinda service?
(Ducking and running back to my Cox forum...) |
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rideboarder
welcome to the social
Premium
join:2003-07-28
Snohomish, WA
clubs:
1 edit | said by catseyenu :Sheesh, youse guys really pay these clowns for this kinda service? (Ducking and running back to my Cox forum...) I can live with a few problems here and there for a service that costs quite a lot less than cable in my area, (around 10-20 dollars a month)...No big deal as long as verizon straightens this out.... |
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gracie
Geek Goddess
Premium
join:2003-07-15
confusion
| said by rideboarder :I can live with a few problems here and there for a service that costs quite a lot less than cable in my area, (around 10-20 dollars a month)...No big deal as long as verizon straightens this out.... i have to agree with rideboarder (including that last sentence, of course): verizon has been generally VERY reliable, and, at $29.95 for 3/768 service, a bargain to boot. BUT it IS a hassle when such poorly thought out decisions are made, and it takes users to alert them to problems, which take a while to address.
this IS a big deal to many of us, but given the overall quality and value of our verizon connection, perhaps worth it to many of us to give VOL a chance to fix this, hopefully soon!
--
graciella! "not tonight dear, I have DSL."
Creating SuperOrganizations Worldwide
Creating & Hosting SuperSites Worldwide |
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Laser0
join:2003-10-19
| As the guy who started this thread I am amazed at how many problems people are having. I switched from cable to VZ because Charter was having similar problems. In addition, my cable dropped out several times a week. After several months of reliable (very reliable) service with VZ I am disappointed to have this problem, but I have a viable workaround.
I just set up a google mail account with a backup Yahoo mail. This way I can keep my email address whenever I change my ISP and I take advantage of the powerful spam tools those services offer. I have my Outlook just retrieve my mail from my google account and everything is transparent.
Thanks to all who have contributed. I hope VZ does catch up on this and provide a viable solution. |
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castun
join:2004-12-24
Oakdale, PA
| I've noticed this for months now, and have never thought to actually try calling Verizon Tech support about the issue.
My main problem was with registering for forums, believe it or not. I actually had to stop using my verizon account to register for forums because the activation e-mail never shows up! I've talked to an admin from one particular forum, and he says that nothing is bounced back or showing any errors. It just disappears into the internet. I don't know if it's the particular host the forums are on, or if there's anything in the e-mails that cause it to get blocked without any bouncing going on, but it can be annoying.
The problem is, there are so many forums that I am registered to, I really don't care to give them every address so they can research it, if this is indeed what must be done. |
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skidroper
thumbs down from:
catseyenu
| Verizon is NOT blocking foreign IP addresses. I get mail from all over the world from legitimate corporate people and legitimate ISPs. I myself have an account with a French ISP (wanadoo.fr) and after reading this I sent a test message from France to my verizon.net account (which I have had for over 4 years). It went through immediately. No problem.
If verizon is indeed blocking mail from unreliable ISP's, I thank them very, very much! |
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wadonoel
Premium
join:2004-11-16
New York, NY
| I wouldn't speak too soon about this. I know a lot of people are not receiving mail from Japan and Europe. The list of mailhosts includes Sony(So-net), Fujitsu Information Systems, IIJ etc... I wouldn't call them unreliable or unrespectable sources. They are indeed legitimate corporate people and legitimate ISPs.
Good for you if you can receive all of your mails but many of us are still having this problem. |
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rideboarder
welcome to the social
Premium
join:2003-07-28
Snohomish, WA
clubs:
| reply to skidroper
said by skidroper:
If verizon is indeed blocking mail from unreliable ISP's, I thank them very, very much!
So you call a government run server from switzerland unreliable and untrustworthy?? .... if your email address from france works, more power to you, however that isn't helping any of us who are having problems with legitimate and reliable servers from europe/asia |
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gracie
Geek Goddess
Premium
join:2003-07-15
confusion
| reply to skidroper
said by skidroper:
If verizon is indeed blocking mail from unreliable ISP's, I thank them very, very much! but of course, skidroper, that is NOT what this thread is about. it is about a lot of VERY legitimate mail, much of which is not even through an ISP but from reputable businesses, and personal, not commercial in nature, is being blocked by this new policy, because it is an idea with good intentions that has been implemented very badly.
i'm glad your wanadoo mail is getting through; i, too, can receive mail from a number of international sources. and cannot receive mail from quite a few international sources because of this poorly implemented system.
and, unlike almost ALL other ISPs, verizon is not making it easy to 'whitelist' senders. the idea of having to call them, hope you get a good rep in the hit-or-miss sweepstakes, and then wait two weeks is just silly. even yahoo mail (which actually does quite a credible job at spam filtering) lets you whitelist anyone almost instantly.
--
graciella! "not tonight dear, I have DSL."
Creating SuperOrganizations Worldwide
Creating & Hosting SuperSites Worldwide |
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