Greenby migration Suspected spam email?

[#1]

Yesterday I received an email regarding migration of email to Greenby - this was the first time I had been made aware of this move. I have seen on Plusnet site that this move is taking place, but suspect my email to be spam - can anyone clarify the points below which I suspect as they do not seem to be repeated by Plusnet themselves:

Sender email address: plusnet@comm.plus.net  ?!

reply to: mail.nnocvdktepimpzifiv@comm.plus.net  ?!

Subject: Important information regarding your email

Addressed me by name, and my plusnet email address (to which it was sent)

"To continue to send and receive emails, a change is required to your mail settings.
You need to change the inbound mail server to imap.plus.net and the outbound mail server to relay.plus.net. These details can usually be found and amended in your mail client (ie. Outlook / Thunderbird) by going to the account settings option.
This change needs to be made before 31st October 2025." (etc)
"If you don’t use your email or don’t wish us to transfer your data to Greenby, you can opt out of the transfer by clicking here before 19th October 2025" (that link points to https://comm.plus.net/c/111ApyPZOMY... etc etc)

Can anyone clarify why:

• The server settings quoted do not match those I have seen elsewhere.

• If this is genuinely from Plusnet, why am I given only 2 weeks! to decide when this has been known about for months?

[#2 · Accepted solution]

@Plusno It is a genuine PN email.

What are your current inbound/outbound settings?

[#3]

The domain being used (ie comm.plus.net) is legit and the one Plusnet use for many of its comms.  The settings it is saying to use are also definitely correct for Plusnet as well.  What and where have you seen different settings to these elsewhere?

I'd heard that there were some comms to go out to people who had settings that were known to be incorrect.

[#4]

I am relieved! Typical that I can't find where I spotted different settings! may have been on forum I guess.

I seem to have correct IMAP settings already then, but will need to change Thunderbird which I sometimes use as it is POP currently. I was probably spooked by the "change is required to your mail settings" statement and the imminent deadline to decide to keep PN email - forgive the analogy, but I'm sure Plusnet staff wouldn't appreciate a 2 week deadline from the top brass that they were moving offices to Wales! hey ho

Many thanks responders for putting my mind at rest

[#5]

@Plusno 

but will need to change Thunderbird which I sometimes use as it is POP currently.

Just hang fire on changing that for a moment!. If you have a Thunderbird account using POP then its not a good idea to just change it to IMAP. 

[#6]

---

@Plusno wrote:

I am relieved! Typical that I can't find where I spotted different settings! may have been on forum I guess.

I seem to have correct IMAP settings already then, but will need to change Thunderbird which I sometimes use as it is POP currently.

---

This is starting to look like a generic comms message, rather than one focussed on actual necessity.  Questions have been asked.

• Some users are using IP addresses as the server 'names' rather than a DNS name, or names resolved with local HOSTS file, resulting in the wrong server being targeted
• The correct names as published elsewhere are
  • POP3 mail.plus.net
  • IMAP imap.plus.net
  • SMTP relay.plus.net

Previously POP3 and IMAP were distinct servers / IP addresses, so getting the correct server name for a given client configuration was critical.  However as part of the migration strategy they are NOW the same  server / IP address thus either mail.plus.net or imap.plus.net will be fine for EITHER IMAP or POP3.

It would be clearer if inbound were set to mail.plus.net and thereby not worry about which protocol is used.

[#7]

Like @Plusno I received the message regarding the migration, and was given the same deadline. 

I'm aware of the pros & cons of IMAP & POP3 and need to stick with POP3 for the time being if that is still possible, but cannot see reference to POP3 continuing on Plusnet's pages, and Greenby's site is only fully accessible until I register -- only after the migration work is done.

From @Townman's response above It seems that Greenby's servers are going to continue to accept POP3 requests (whether addressed as mail.plus.net or imap.plus.net).

I'd appreciate it if this can be  confirmed. Thanks.

[#8]

@nomisye 

I think that is exactly what I said. mail. and imap. both resolve to the same IP address…

Therefore which name is used for IMAP or POP3 does not really matter: also both server names are in the SSL certificates.

[#9]

Thank you -- reassuring to know that the transition may be more straightforward than it first appeared.

[#10]

If folks are set up correctly in the first place, the transition should be seamless … beyond gremlins in the preparation process.  Where users were being advised that changes are needed NOW prior to actual migration, it would have helped if the comms indicated the characteristics which gives rise to the ore-migration change request.

Referencing mail.plus.net rather than imap.plus.net might have been less likely to scare the POP3 laggards!!

[#11]

Indeed -- point taken! 😉