Real or Spoof Message from Plusnet

[#1]

Not sent to me but I have been asked to help - is it genuine?

Quote

Your username: **** Dear **** It has recently come to our attention that you have large volumes of email stored on our mail servers. Due to the resources required to handle such high quantities of email, this has the potential to negatively affect other users of the mail platform and cause service problems for customers. It is highly likely that a lot of this email is unsolicited spam. The mail in question may be getting delivered to an address you no longer use or monitor. Please check your mailbox configuration via our website and delete any addresses that you no longer use:- https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=myemail&s=1&redirected=yes&?membermenu=emailsettings Another possibility is that your email program is configured to leave a copy of messages on the server. In Outlook Express this option can be found by clicking 'Tools' then 'accounts', selecting the 'Mail' tab, highlighting the account in question and then clicking 'Properties'. Click the 'Advanced' tab and ensure the 'Leave a copy of messages on server' option is unchecked. For other email clients please consult the software documentation for instructions on how to disable this feature. It is quite likely that excessive amounts of spam email are being sent to your default mailbox. When your account is first created you have a single 'catch-all' mailbox. This mailbox will receive all email irrespective of the prefix before the '@' sign. If this is the case then we suggest that you 'black hole' this default 'catch-all' mailbox. Before this is done you would need to set up separate mailboxes for the addresses you do use and ensure that these accounts are configured correctly in your mail program. You can remove the 'catch-all' mailbox and set up additional mailboxes using the 'Manage My Mail tool' in the Member Centre:- https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=myemail&s=1&redirected=yes&?membermenu=emailsettings Further details regarding mailbox configuration and black holes can be found on our website:- http://portal.plus.net/support/email/mailboxes/mailboxes.shtml http://portal.plus.net/support/security/spam/blocking_spam_emails.shtml Please note that any additional mailboxes you have already setup will continue to work following the removal of your 'catch-all' address. After 7 days we will reassess the volume of email being stored on the server for your account. If the situation remains unchanged then we reserve the right to delete the contents of the mailbox in question, and at that time a 'black hole' of the default mailbox may be applied. This will not affect postmaster mail. Should you have any questions regarding the contents of this email then please feel free to contact us using the Help Assistant on our portal:- http://portal.plus.net/wizard/index.html?help_action=tdl01 Thanks in advance for your cooperation. Kind regards, Melise Jones Head of Network Operations http://portal.plus.net This email has been sent as it contains important information about your service from Plusnet. Please do not reply to this email, as this is an unmonitored address. PlusNet PLC Registered Office: The Balance, 2 Pinfold Street, Sheffield, S1 2GU Registered in England no: 3279013

[#2]

Possibly genuine, you or anyone else could make their own way to the plusnet member centre rather than click on any links in the email, if in any doubt.

[#3]

Well there is a reply here from Bob Pullen http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,142909.msg1263106.html#msg12631 saying that PlusNet do not impose email quotas.  If PlusNet are going to delete the contents of a mailbox, that is a quota.
Also the message seems to imply that you should not be using IMAP and leaving copies of your messages on the server.  So although everything including the links seem perfectly genuine, it does not seem to resonate with the advice I have read on this forum.

[#4]

You are taking that out of context
They don't apply quotas such that a mailbox reaches a limit and won't accept new mail messages
The do have a total limit on mailbox size (that is the total of all your email addresses) and when it is reached an email is sent.
I believe the total limit is about 1GB - found it
http://www.plus.net/support/email/common_questions.shtml#storageLimit

[#5]

Quote from: ReedRichards

Well there is a reply here from Bob Pullen http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,142909.msg1263106.html#msg12631 saying that PlusNet do not impose email quotas.  If PlusNet are going to delete the contents of a mailbox, that is a quota.

There are no server-imposed hard quotas (I wish there was to be honest, it would make housekeeping so much easier!).
We do manually audit the mail platform though, and the message looks genuine to me.
The OP can check by logging in here and looking for open questions.

[#6]

Thanks Oldjim & Bob, very helpful.

[#7]

Just returning to this issue, I helped to slim-down the number of emails stored on the PlusNet server but I couldn't find any indication of the Mailbox size (either before or after).  Is that given somewhere or do we have to take what Plusnet tell us on trust?

[#8]

You can check folder size by logging into a Mailbox using Webmail and navigating to Personal Settings > Folders tab > Highlight folder > Click 'Click to get folder size'.

[#9]

Thanks, Bob; that's not something I would have found myself in a hurry.

[#10]

Along with all the instructions in the PlusNet letter, it would be no bad thing to include the one Bob gave on how to actually check the size of your mailbox.  Perhaps somebody can pass this suggestion on to Melise Jones? 

[#11]

It would be useful to be able to check the SIZE of other mailboxes on the same account. When you have staff or family members using mailboxes it can be awkward to insist on access in order to check usage.

[#12]

I've been suggesting that for years!

[#13]

Quote from: ReedRichards

Along with all the instructions in the PlusNet letter, it would be no bad thing to include the one Bob gave on how to actually check the size of your mailbox.  Perhaps somebody can pass this suggestion on to Melise Jones?

I've had a go at re-drafting the notices that get sent so they're a tad friendlier and forwarded them to our Marketing/Content folk for approval. I've included mention of the Webmail folder size check.

[#14]

Thanks, Bob.  I'm sure that will be to Plusnet's benefit.