Plusnet emails - 550 Bounce messages.

[#1]

Now in the same boat. Mails on domain, mostly from Thunderbird, outgoing messages from relay.plus.net getting a 550 bounce message (domain "blacklisted by local policy"). Has started this morning, was working fine previously (but was away last weekend so no idea if it was happening then as well).

Phone support seems to have gone into a loop running unnecessary connection tests (connection is working just fine). Yay for boring dystopias. 

[#2]

@AlbertHerring Are these emails to Microsoft hosted addresses (Hotmail/Live etc.)?

[#3]

@jab1 Not MS domains. The bounce messages are from PN (relay.plus.net) itself. 

[#4]

@AlbertHerring Do you still have the bounce messages? If so, can you post them, in full, redacting the recipients identity?

[#5]

@jab1 Slight correction - the bounce message is from my own local relay, reporting the bounce from relay.plus.net

This is the mail system at host [my local server].

I'm sorry to have to inform you that your message could not
be delivered to one or more recipients. It's attached below.

For further assistance, please send mail to postmaster.

If you do so, please include this problem report. You can
delete your own text from the attached returned message.

                   The mail system

<xxxxx@xxxxx.com>: host relay.plus.net[212.159.9.107] said: 550
    <xxxxx@hugh.es> sender domain rejected (blacklisted by local policy) (in
    reply to MAIL FROM command)

Reporting-MTA: dns; [my local server]
X-Postfix-Queue-ID: 020ED1B825F7
X-Postfix-Sender: rfc822; xxxxx@hugh.es
Arrival-Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2025 10:39:37 +0100 (BST)

Final-Recipient: rfc822; xxxxx@xxxxx.com
Action: failed
Status: 5.0.0
Remote-MTA: dns; relay.plus.net
Diagnostic-Code: smtp; 550 <xxxxx@hugh.es> sender domain rejected (blacklisted
    by local policy)

which looks to me like very much the same issue other users on this thread had last weekend (when I was in a blissfully disconnected campsite somewhere, so no idea if it would have affected us then).

[#6]

@AlbertHerring Is the 'hugh.es domain yours (hosted by another entity other than Plusnet)?  If so, I'm guessing that trying to use the PN  relay for it is the cause of your issue.

Maybe @MisterW  or @Townman  could confirm/deny my suspicions. (I'm no expert). 

[#7]

@AlbertHerring 

This is not the same issue, I have asked the mods to split off your posts into your own topic, after which we can give you focussed responses and not confuse @Sick_of_PN 's thread.

[#8]

@Townman OK, thanks, will hold fire for the moment. 

[#9]

Moderator's note:
Thread moved to it's own topic.  https://community.plus.net/t5/Email/Plusnet-emails-550-Bounce-messages/m-p/2018621#M52266

[#10]

@AlbertHerring it looks like you are running your own mail server for the hugh.es domain. The MX record is pointing to what appears to be a Plusnet static IP. The domain is not hosted by Plusnet and has no SPF record.

Its not surprising therefore that mail sent from hugh.es is being rejected. At a minimum you should set your mail server to send using relay.plus.net as a smart host and add an appropriate SPF record to your domain DNS  

[#11]

@MisterW I am indeed (I accept that running my own mail servers was a very bad life choice, but not one I want to unravel right now, as it's been working for a couple of decades until this morning, the last few years on here). Will update the DNS and see if that sorts it.

[#12]

@MisterW Added SPF records including the servers mentioned in https://community.plus.net/t5/Email/SPF-record-2022-update-please/td-p/1882388 for the domain, plus relay.plus.net - no immediate joy but I assume I will need to allow the changes to propagate before I can tell whether I've done it correctly. 

[#13]

@AlbertHerring I'm afraid the email world is changing, now you need at least SPF and/or DKIM and preferably DMARC to reilably send from your own domain.

Try setting an SPF of v=spf1 +a +mx include:_spf-internal.plus.net include:_spf-internal2.plus.net that should cover both your own server (the mx) and Plusnets relays. If sending from your own server still deosnt work, quite likely as your IP may well be on the PBL , then as I said earlier you need to set your server to smart host via relay.plus.net 

[#14]

Hi Guys,

I'm also suffering this problem with domain emails not sending for the last 6 weeks (although working for the last 10+ years) but also through webmail with the following error:

SMTP Error (550): Failed to set sender

"xxx.xxx@pinaret.co.uk" (<xxx.xxx@pinaret.co.uk>

sender domain rejected (blacklisted by local policy)).

The domain is (currently) hosted by Plusnet, but they've been completely unable to resolve the issue for the last month and don't really appear to have a clue how to fix it either, so hoping some real experts might be able to help here?

Let me know if there's any more detailed technical info I need to provide to assist.

Cheers and fingers crossed

Malcolm

[#15]

@MadDogPikey 

Hi Malcom,

A warm welcome to the forums.  This does look odd!

Your domain is hosted in the Force9 space and there is the correct SPF configuration on the domain, so nothing to do there.

Is this the default mailbox or a secondary mailbox you are sending from?

Are you running your own mail service or are you sending from an email client direct to relay.force9.net?

How are you logging on to the server - account name, force9 email address, or an email address on your domain?

The other possibility is that there has been suspicious activity associated with the account and it has been black-balled.  @plusnettony - is that something in your space you can explore please?