When a mailbox sends large amounts of unsolicited email, our team blocks it to stop the sending and to protect the reputation of our outgoing mail servers, which all our customers share. Most of the time, someone has found out the mailbox password (a password that was too simple, reused on another website, or stolen by malware on a computer or phone) and uses it to send spam. This article explains how to take back control of the mailbox and get it unblocked.
In short: change the mailbox password in the Apanel console (Hosting management, E-mail card, E-mail addresses, key icon), secure your devices, then write to our support team: unblocking is not automatic.
Requirements
- Access to your Apanel console: the password of an email address is changed there without having to know the old one.
- The email address concerned, as given to you by our support team.
Good to know before you start
- Unblocking is not automatic. Our team lifts the block once the password has been changed. To get it unblocked, contact us (step 4).
- Changing the password disconnects every device set up with the old one (Outlook, Thunderbird, phone, tablet). Plan to enter the new password on each of them.
- The new password must be a new one: neither the old password nor a password you use elsewhere. If the password was stolen from another website, it would be stolen again.
Step 1: how do I change the mailbox password?
- Log in to your Apanel console.
- From the dashboard, click your domain name to open Hosting management.
- In the E-mail card, click E-mail addresses.
- In the E-mail addresses list, click the key icon on the right of the address concerned (tooltip Change password).
- Type the new password in Password, repeat it in Password confirmation, then click Save.
The console requires a password with:
- 12 to 30 characters;
- at least one lowercase letter, one uppercase letter and one digit;
- at least one special character, among these:
^ ! , . $ # % ~ * : @ & + _ - ?;
- no space.
The cog button in the form generates a password that follows these rules. The detailed procedure, with screenshots, is in Change the password of an e-mail address.
Step 2: check the other addresses of the domain
In the E-mail addresses list, an address whose name is shown in red, with the tooltip Password too weak, has a password that does not meet the current rules. Change it too, in the same way. Do the same for any address that used the same password as the blocked mailbox.
Step 3: how do I secure my devices?
- Scan with up-to-date antivirus software the computers and phones that connect to this mailbox. If malware stole the old password, it would steal the new one too.
- Enter the new password in every program and device that uses the address.
- If two-factor authentication is active in webmail, reset the application passwords too (Two-Factor Authentication card of the account settings, see Two-factor authentication (2FA) in webmail): they allow a connection without the main password. Then enter the new ones in your programs.
- Check that connections are encrypted: IMAP on port 993 and SMTP on port 465, with SSL/TLS (port 587 with STARTTLS is still possible). All the settings are in Email settings for all email clients (IMAP, POP, SMTP).
- To protect the mailbox further, enable two-factor authentication in webmail if it is not already on.
Step 4: how do I ask for the mailbox to be unblocked?
Write to our support team at support.swisscenter.com, stating:
- the blocked email address;
- that its password has been changed and that your devices have been checked.
Never include the password in your message: our team does not need it. It checks that the unwanted sending has stopped, then lifts the block.
Troubleshooting
| What you see |
What to do |
| "The password entered does not match our password requirements" |
One of the rules in step 1 is not met. Check the length and the special characters, or use the cog to generate a password. |
| Your email program asks for the password again or refuses to connect |
It is still using the old password: enter the new one in the account settings. See Email settings for all email clients (IMAP, POP, SMTP). |
| The mailbox sends spam again after being unblocked |
The new password has probably been stolen in turn, often by an infected device. Change it again, scan every device that connects to the mailbox, then contact our support team. |
| You receive non-delivery reports for messages you did not send, but your mailbox is not blocked |
Someone may be using your address as the sender without going through your mailbox. See Understanding non-delivery notices for spam sent in your name. |
Going further