Re: [cobalt-users] spam - uncontrolable email being relayed [RaQ3)

["Steve Werby" <steve-lists@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Luke Cousins" <lukecousins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Im getting around 40 emails an hour sent to the administrator email from
the
> 'Mail Delivery Subsystem'. They are all telling me that 'the following
> addresses had permanent fatal errors' . The failed emails are all junk
mail,
> things such as 'you have won....' and 'GREAT BUSINESS OPPURTUNITY...'.
>
> Im guessing that these emails a being sent through the server because of
my
> relaying settings (basically allowing anything, so set up because users on
> the server wanted to be able to freely email to any address).

If you don't have a POP before SMTP package or another outbound SMTP
limiting mechanism it's quite likely someone you don't want to be is
relaying through the server.  But that might not be what's happening.  You
haven't provided enough detail to eliminate the possibility that someone is
forging their return address as one on your machine and a small percentage
of the recipients are not valid and are bouncing back to your server, which
hosts the forged email address.  This happens to my server from time to
time, worst was about 2 years ago when someone in China sent out so many
spam messages that I received something like 3,000 bounced messages per hour
for 3 days IIRC.  TO diagnose examine the email headers of the bounced email
and lines within /var/log/maillog.  In any case if you're an open relay I
recommend resolving that ASAP, even if that's not the cause of the current
problem.

--
Steve Werby
President, Befriend Internet Services LLC
http://www.befriend.com/