Yes. Thank you for that @RealAleMadrid.
Perhaps I should be more explicit in my thinking? So here goes...
Plusnet is in the middle of transferring their email service to a third party, Greenby. Many email users are at present having a wide range of problems with the email service they rely on. Among these, but not the only ones, are reported high levels of spam email being received (which I have not experienced) and also delivery failure to recipients in certain email service domains - mainly Gmail and MS (which I have experienced myself).
The current popular explanation on here for all of these issues seems to be:
"It's all due to that terrible Greenby!"
I may be wrong but I don't think this is correct. At least as it applies to the two issues spam & delivery failure. I think these two issues (spam & email delivery failure) are likely related. How?
Part1
Why are emails being not being delivered to the recipients?
Because the recipient email domains are returning them to senders as 'Likely unsolicited email' (i.e. possible Spam)
Why do the email domains think these incoming emails are likely spam?
Likely because the sending email domain (Plusnet IPs) is blacklisted due to a 'poor reputation'
Why does the Plusnet email domain now have a 'poor reputation'?
Likely because lots of spam emails have come from the Plusnet email domain in the past.
How/why has lots of spam been generated from Plusnet email domains in the past?
I don't know exactly, but there are plenty of options!
This can still be true if nobody who is a current Plusnet/Greenby email account user is guilty of sending any spam now .
Part 2
For spam to 'work' the spammers need to, in the first instance, have a list of valid emails to send their spam to. I am sure there are many ways of obtaining lists of such 'valid' addresses, very likely lists are on sale for a fee on the Dark Web. We also now live in a time of AI Bots, these can go out and for instance, harvest target information from across the Internet. e.g. valid email addresses.
The main idea behind not getting spammed (by email of phone) is to avoid at all cost getting on any of these lists as a current valid user. With email, one sure way of getting on such lists is to publish your email address on the Internet!
As an individual you are setting yourself up to get spam; collectively, all of the above applies. And here we are...
