If your account sends out spam emails through our servers, it may be suspended due to spamming to prevent the spamming from continuing. This is because spam is considered an abuse of our Terms of Service and is harmful to other users. This article will help you understand what spamming is, why we suspend your account, and how you can get your account unsuspended.
What is Spamming?
Spam mail, also known as junk mail, refers to unsolicited or undesired emails sent out in large quantities to various recipients. These recipients are normally existing emails belonging to people who have not asked to be sent the emails, or are non-existent email accounts created by combining common names with domains (e.g. commonname@gmail.com). Spamming is the process of sending spam emails.
How Does Spamming Occur?
The main method by which spam emails are sent is through the use of spamming scripts. Spamming scripts are files (mostly .php files) designed to automatically send out spam emails when executed. These scripts are located in a folder in your account and are executed either using cron tasks or are accessed by malicious persons and executed remotely.
What Are the Effects of Spam?
On any shared hosting server, there are several users making use of the services being offered. All emails from a particular server are forwarded using the same single IP address. When your account sends out spam, the spam emails will appear to have been sent from that IP address. This causes the IP to be blacklisted by organisations such as Spamhaus, or blocked by ISPs — affecting ALL users on that server.
Additionally, spam emails are sent in large quantities, clogging the mail queue so that legitimate emails experience delays. For these two reasons, we do not allow accounts to spam on our servers.
How to Fix the Issue
If your service has been suspended due to spamming, follow these steps:
- Remove spam scripts — Start by removing any scripts sending spam from your account. If you are aware of a script you uploaded to send emails or are running an email campaign, remove the scripts responsible. Note: we do not allow email marketing through our shared hosting servers. We recommend services like Mailchimp for this purpose.
- Update your CMS scripts — CMS platforms like WordPress, Joomla, etc. are under constant attack. Update all scripts to the latest secure versions to close security vulnerabilities exploited by spammers.
- Use plugins and themes from trusted sources only — Plugins/themes not updated in 3+ months are risky. Replace components that are no longer actively maintained.
- Use strong passwords — Use a combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols for your cPanel, WordPress, and database passwords. A strong password looks like:
lrp%pML<stz675 - Scan your site for malicious links — Use the Virus Scanner in cPanel and external security services such as Sucuri Scanner.
- Scan your computer — A major source of stolen passwords is infected computers. Scan your local machine using updated antivirus software.
- Check Cron Jobs — In cPanel, under the Cron Jobs icon, check for any cron tasks you did not add and delete them. If uncertain, contact our support team.
- Last resort — If the problem persists, remove all files from the site and redesign it using alternative themes or CMS.
Once you have taken these steps to secure your account, please contact us and we will restore your account's full accessibility immediately.