Emails Sent From PHP Mail() Get Marked As Dangerous By Hotmail?

[GingerApple]

Hi,

 

I've recently purchased a PHP script and the only problem with it is that when emails are sent by it they end up in my junk folder in Hotmail and then get marked as dangerous. I think this is because the from line reads as follows:

 

email@ (mydomain.co.uk [email protected])

 

which is a very dodgy sender!

 

I have uploaded the code for my script here: www.appleyardscomputer.co.uk/email.txt

 

I have very little knowledge of PHP and have spent the day playing with it and learning about mail() trying to fix it. If anyone could help me so that the mail doesn't get marked as dangerous I would be so grateful!

 

Thanks, Will

[carrotcake1029]

You would want to look at what filters Hotmail is using when they judge incoming emails.  I use another service so I don't know where you would look, but try to see if Hotmail has some kind of Settings page in your account.

[GingerApple]

@CarrotCake: Thats not the issue. I have users visiting my site and I don't want their emails from me to end up marked as dangerous as it might deter them.

 

[carrotcake1029]

Well, then you need to look at how you are forming your emails to be sent and research what in it's contents may be alarming the server.  We can't help you unless you show us how you are making your emails.  Even then it is still hard to tell.  There are a lot of factors that go into spam filtering.

[GingerApple]

What information do you need? The emails are sent automatically when a user signs up to the website and uses the mailing script in my original post.

[revraz]

Is that just an example of the sender address or is that really what you use?

 

The FROM: line should be a valid address.

[GingerApple]

When I gave the example email@ (mydomain.co.uk [email protected]) that was just an example of what the from line looked like when it arrived in my hotmail account. The actual one is in the exact same syntax, just with my real domain instead of '[email protected]'.

 

I understand that the from line should be a real address, I just don't know how to make it so its a real address

 

I also found out that Hotmail blocks by means of Sender ID verification or something like that. From the hotmail site:

 

How Sender ID Works

Sender ID seeks to verify that every e-mail message originates from the Internet domain from which it claims to have been sent. This is accomplished by checking the address of the server that sent the mail against a registered list of servers that the domain owner has authorized to send e-mail. This verification is automatically performed by the Internet service provider (ISP) or the recipient's mail server before the e-mail message is delivered. The result of the Sender ID check can be incorporated into the filtering tasks that are already performed by the mail server. After the sender has been authenticated, the mail server may apply conventional content filters and consider past behaviors, traffic patterns, and sender reputation when determining whether to deliver mail to the recipient.

 

To use SIDF, e-mail senders and domain owners must publish or declare all of the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses used by their outbound e-mail servers, or the IPs authorized to send e-mail on their behalf, in the Domain Name System (DNS). These IPs are included in a Sender Policy Framework (SPF) text file.

[revraz]

The FROM address is set in one of two places, either in the PHP.INI file as a Default address or in the FROM header in your MAIL() function.