Overview
The UCEPROTECT blocklist is used by members located in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, and Australia. This blocklist mainly impacts email in Europe.
- Listings occur at the IP level.
- The impact on deliverability is low.
The UCEPROTECT blocklist provides blocklisting three levels of increasing severity:
- Level 1: Primarily reports only single IP addresses.
- Level 2: Primarily reports multiple IP addresses.
- Level 3: Primarily reports all IP addresses within a group of IP networks. It corresponds to several hundred abusive IP addresses at smaller providers as well as thousands of abusive IP addresses at mid-sized or large email service providers.
Reasons for getting listed
Listings on the UCEPROTECT blocklist lists are typically caused by:
- Sending email to UCEPROTECT spam traps
- Sending spam from a server configured as an open relay or proxy
- Attacks against UCEPROTECT servers, port scans, and probes
- Reported spam from a UCEPROTECT member
- Having no, or a generic, reverse DNS (PTR) record for your IP address from a network known to send spam
Per UCEPROTECT's website, clean and approved IP addresses registered at Whitelisted.org do not get listed on the Level 2 or Level 3 list to help prevent false positives.
How to get off this blocklist
First, you need to check your listing status at the UCEPROTECT website. The process for getting off the blocklist depends on the level of the listing:
- Level 1: Your IP address is automatically delisted 7 days after the last receipt of spam.
- Level 2: Only your email service provider can request that your IP addresses be delisted.
- Level 3: Your email service provider will be automatically removed, as soon as there are fewer than 0.2% of abusers from all of their IP addresses in Level 1 within 7 days.
Automatic delistings are free. If you do not want to wait 7 days, there is a payment option. However, unless you resolve the cause of the listing, it is likely that your IP address will be relisted.
Tips for staying off this list
- Use opt-in or confirmed opt-in permission methods for new subscribers
- Practice good list hygiene and suppression to avoid spam traps
- Make sure servers are properly configured and have no open relays or open proxies
- Conduct regular security scans on your servers for viruses and spambots
- Ensure all IP addresses have a non-generic and unique reverse DNS (PTR) record
- Do not use dynamic IP addresses to send email
