Emails going into SPAM at Yahoo

[sorathia]

Hello,

I recently switched my website from shared hosting to VPS. On shared side, I've had absolutely no issues. However, on the VPS side I'm having a problem where all of my emails are going into the SPAM folder of Yahoo Mail. This issue is not happening on hotmail or gmail - just yahoo.

I've tried a few things:
1) Setup an SPF record for the domian that will be sending out the emails.
2) Installed a domainkey via the shell (/usr/local/cpanel/bin/domain_keys_installer username).

This did not seem to resolve the issue. My only other thought is that my IP address is banned on Yahoo.

Has anyone come across this issue? Anyone able to successfully resolve it? Any assistance on this would be greatly appreciated.

Below is the message header of an email that is going into SPAM:

MESSAGE HEADER:

X-Apparently-To: someone@yahoo.com via xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx; Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:14:31 -0700
Return-Path: <me@MyVPSDomain.com>
X-YahooFilteredBulk: 174.121.xxx.yyy
Received-SPF: pass (mta1024.mail.ac4.yahoo.com: domain of me@MyVPSDomain.com designates 174.121.xxx.yyy as permitted sender)
X-YMailISG: Yh7Cg_QcZAp_cTEWAq5ZYqaeazW_xGVzSHsnkecJ6_SJnn7U q92hyk6dEZivjkV7TWMwqxJrDTOs3GPGqSajaYxl98gS62k8eT I6BY9Kokc. sukEQdj3E2s.vIUCQm8yxRlWwfs1aGkJmAoMNqfPMgfJ0NwM_7 vSdNwMqe_L TxzeiPibEKZcm3joBrydkgRYOlcVyT6YwL_30muccoYw5ga4mv gW.48UpqYH q60mi._y3tOtOT69m9PbI0aMPAJ5kSZCFp751yNnVMb1OFSULK az1.hlqFhb Haf_w3AeSzKJK36tYWUmCS90eB689CE7q_minVkhwbpy103mB8 8p0EKA_x0H bYWXSSWHkdvbDMLQHjCD4iZ8GR8j1mvdLOKfwWjzJSAlqHAljo fuSh7XYoN6 USkJoA8csmiVfB0RSynTtAIDhFN1bSYX8tloJ5T1Rfn3co4B6S 0vmrrvb2J3 FJOtvTKOpc91TbjMxCdIcqKkSR91.EvKk1pSESta4A--
X-Originating-IP: [174.121.xxx.yyy]
Authentication-Results: mta1024.mail.ac4.yahoo.com from=MyVPSDomain.com; domainkeys=pass (ok); from=MyVPSDomain.com; dkim=neutral (no sig)
Received: from 127.0.0.1 (EHLO subdomain.MyVPSDomain.com) (174.121.xxx.yyy) by mta1024.mail.ac4.yahoo.com with SMTP; Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:14:31 -0700
DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=default; d=MyVPSDomain.com; h=Message-IDate:From:To:Subject:MIME-Version:Content-Type:Content-Disposition:Content-Transfer-Encoding:User-Agent; b=nJHRAx1JOxSiOr6oioQbC6Qlus1DYVLm2Qor6zv5tisLouiX F/F7KUtC9MSO0D6n+NIv+8SZWjdWD43rJP7e4b+1ZwVMqFlLZJV4 DnXjapB3cAEqI/d49Aj4kuxA+KA4;
Received: from localhost.localdomain ([127.0.0.1] helo=localhost) by subdomain.MyVPSDomain.com with esmtpa (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from <me@MyVPSDomain.com>) id 1OQoK5-0001UX-MC for someone@yahoo.com; Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:14:29 -0400
Received: from 173.142.182.222 ([173.142.182.222]) by MyVPSDomain.com (Horde MIME library) with HTTP; Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:14:29 -0400
Message-ID: <20100621171429.yfkj9dfu8skogc04@MyVPSDomain.com >
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:14:29 -0400
From: This sender is DomainKeys verified
me@MyVPSDomain.com
Add sender to Contacts
To: someone@yahoo.com
Subject: test3
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; DelSp="Yes"; format="flowed"
Content-Disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
User-Agent: Internet Messaging Program (IMP) H3 (4.1.6)
X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report
X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - subdomain.MyVPSDomain.com
X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - yahoo.com
X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [47 12] / [47 12]
X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - MyVPSDomain.com
Content-Length: 7

[quietFinn]

Does your server's IP resolve to your server's hostname?

[sorathia]

Originally Posted by quietFinn

Does your server's IP resolve to your server's hostname?

Yes it does

[GvilleRick]

We might be able to help more if you can provide the domain name. It would be worth checking to be sure RDNS is set up on the server.

[sorathia]

Originally Posted by GvilleRick

We might be able to help more if you can provide the domain name. It would be worth checking to be sure RDNS is set up on the server.

Sure, no problem. The domain name is "thebookingtool.net" and the server hostname is "sorathia.thebookingtool.net"

Thanks for your help!

[GvilleRick]

The RDNS looked fine but one check I ran on the SPF record said that there was a problem since the sorathia.thebookingtool.net hostname was used as an include but there is no SPF record for that hostname.

[sorathia]

Thanks GvilleRick!
I went ahead and added a SPF record for my hostname and ran a test... It's still going into Bulk...

[quietFinn]

root@finn0 [~]# telnet sorathia.thebookingtool.net 25
Trying 174.121.249.181...
Connected to sorathia.thebookingtool.net.
Escape character is '^]'.
220-the.thebookingtool.net ESMTP Exim 4.69 #1 Tue, 22 Jun 2010 08:03:09 -0400
220-We do not authorize the use of this system to transport unsolicited,
220 and/or bulk e-mail.


and DNSreport for thebookingtool.net tells:

WARNING: One or more of your mailservers is claiming to be a host other than what it really is (the SMTP greeting should be a 3-digit code, followed by a space or a dash, then the host name). If your mailserver sends out E-mail using this domain in its EHLO or HELO, your E-mail might get blocked by anti-spam software. This is also a technical violation of RFC821 4.3 (and RFC2821 4.3.1). Note that the hostname given in the SMTP greeting should have an A record pointing back to the same server. Note that this one test may use a cached DNS record.

thebookingtool.net claims to be non-existent host the.thebookingtool.net: <br /> 220-the.thebookingtool.net ESMTP Exim 4.69 #1 Tue, 22 Jun 2010 08:01:00 -0400 220-We do not authorize the use of this system to transport unsolicited, 220 and/or bulk e-mail. <br />

[sorathia]

That's weird, I'm not sure why it says "the.thebookingtool.net". Would it be getting this from /etc/hosts file?

After I updated the hosts from WHM, I noticed it did not remove the old "the" subdomain, but rather added the new subdomain in front of it...

[quietFinn]

Originally Posted by sorathia

That's weird, I'm not sure why it says "the.thebookingtool.net". Would it be getting this from /etc/hosts file?

After I updated the hosts from WHM, I noticed it did not remove the old "the" subdomain, but rather added the new subdomain in front of it...

You can change your server's hostname in WHM-> Networking Setup-> Change Hostname.

But in a VPS that's not enough, but you must ask HG support to change the hostname also in the container configuration, or it will revert back after the next boot of the server.

EDIT:
Remember also that you must have an A record for the hostname.

[sorathia]

quietFinn, this makes perfect sense because after I update the hostname, I did issue a reboot... I never had HG support update the container. I will do that now. Thanks!

[sorathia]

Still no luck!

Here is where I stand:

DomainKey Verfied - YES
SPF Record - YES
Hostname - changed to sorathia.thebookingtool.net

My other thought is that my server's IP address is banned at yahoo. I opened a ticket with HG support and they said:

"Your IP address is not banned on Yahoo, or your emails would not be going through to their servers at all."

I'm not sure what else to try...

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[GatorDavid]

Sorathia,

Your IP probably isn't banned at Yahoo, since as the support person said, they'd outright reject your emails. But, you could be greylisted in some fashion. Try to fill out http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mai...M594NEX2o24w--
and see what they have to say. I couldn't find any other form than just the bulk sender form, but it should be fine. Usually they make you enroll in their spam fighting service before they remove the greylist- takes about 10 minutes.

I know for Microsoft (hotmail), newly allocated IPs from ARIN have to do the same thing, since their rep basically told me "This is a newly allocated IP, so we deem it untrustworthy by default". The same thing might be what's happening here.

[sorathia]

GatorDavid, I filled out this form before I posted to the forum.

Yahoo came back with the following statement:

"Based on the information that you have provided us, we cannot systematically deliver your email to the Inbox at this time..."

"If you significantly change your policies, please feel free to contact us again to submit a questionnaire in 6 months, and we will re-evaluate your answers and mailing practices at that time."

I've updated my Privacy Policy, but it seems like they want us to wait 6 months before re-submitting a questionnaire.

How hard would it be to get a new set of IP's?

[Tarosic]

This is the form you need to fill out:
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mai...ter/index.html

They may give you some resistance, but keep replying back until you get this from them:

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Mail.

We have made appropriate changes to the IP address you have submitted
within our database. However, we cannot fully exempt your mail server
from our SpamGuard technology. This should help with delivering mail to
the appropriate Yahoo! folders.

Please be aware that Yahoo! Mail users are able to set their own
preferences for the manner in which they receive your mailings. If the
recipients of your messages want to ensure they receive your emails in
their Inbox, you may want to ask them to set up a filter in Yahoo! Mail
specifically for your emails, or have them add your email address(es) to
their Yahoo! Address Book.

Please refer to the Help page below for more information on our
recommended best practices for sending mail from any mail server to
Yahoo! Mail users.

http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mai...prctcymal.html

Please contact us at your earliest convenience if you still need any
assistance.

Your patience is greatly appreciated.

You may need to request that it be escalated, but this has worked for me before.