To help stop spam, we monitor the amount of email each account sends that results in bounce backs. If our system detects that 10% or more of the emails being sent from an account are resulting in defers or failures (bounce backs), the system will prevent the account from sending any further email for up to one calendar hour.
You will know this has occurred when you get an immediate bounce back that says:
This message was created automatically by mail delivery software. A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:
user@domainname.com.au
Domain your-domain.com.au has exceeded the max defers and failures per hour (5/5 (50%)) allowed. Message discarded.
There are generally two circumstances under which this will occur:
- You are sending out mass email and some of the addresses in your mailing list are no longer active.
- Your account has been compromised and is being used to send out spam.
What should you do to prevent or fix this?
If you are sending out mass email
If many of your subscribers are no longer using the addresses they subscribed with, you will need to clean up your mailing list and stop sending to those inactive addresses. Within cPanel there is a tool that helps you see what your account has been sending.
- Log into your cPanel
- Click on the Track Delivery icon (shown as Email Trace on some servers)
- Leave the Recipient Mail field blank and click Run Report
- Information about all the emails sent out from your account will be displayed. Use it to work out which addresses you should stop sending to and remove them from your mailing lists
If you are not sending out mass email
If you are not sending out mass email but you are getting the "max defers and failures per hour" bounce back, it may mean your account has been compromised. Before you assume the worst, follow the steps above to see what has been sent from your account recently.
If you do not recognise many of the addresses in the report, change the password on the mailbox that is being used to send them. A mailbox password change on its own is not enough if your website has also been compromised, so work through the articles below as well.
Related articles
- Email accounts: changing passwords
- Email accounts: changing passwords, storage quotas, adding and removing accounts
- Have I been hacked? Signs, first steps and how we can help
- Why are my emails going to spam or being blocked?
- The importance of a good password
If the problem continues after you have secured the mailbox and checked the website, contact us and we will investigate what your account is sending.
