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Proofpoint, Inc.

Inbound Email: Not receiving emails from specific senders or sending domains

Situation You are not receiving emails from particular senders or sending domains.
Solution Check for Filters, incorrect MX Records, or Blocklisted IP addresses.

 

If Proofpoint Essentials users are unable to receive email from certain email addresses, it is most likely an issue with the sending mail server. However, there are a few possible areas where this may be a Proofpoint level filter or a configuration issue on the Proofpoint Essentials platform.

Proofpoint Essentials Platform configuration

Please see this KB for Mail Flow Scanning & Filters Order of Processing

There are two specific connection level items that can happen where we drop the connection.

  • IP reputation using the Proofpoint Dynamic Reputation (PDR) or Cloudmark Sender Intelligence (CSI)
    • A bounce error is provided back to sender indicating one of these.
  • Service level DNS checks
    • Most common issue is a sender domain does not have an MX and we reject based off of this.

Timeout drop

Here are a few other types of connection drops that may occur.

  • Proofpoint Essentials service has settings in place to prevent attacks from any MTA. We will force a timeout if DATA is sent prior to Proofpoint being ready to accept.
  • End of DATA issue. If the sending server cannot terminate properly, we may not get the entire DATA stream and the connection will drop.

Proofpoint Essentials Interface configuration

An email message may have been properly delivered, but an item blocked the message for delivery to the mail server. A standard log search and review is required.

  1. Check the logs 
  2. Review the details for a triggering filter.
  3. If a triggering filer is found, click on this to see the exact entry.
  4. If there is no trigger filter, review other items like the Scan Information and Delivery sections.

If messages are not found in the logs, see the next section.

 Further Troubleshooting

Proofpoint Essentials support can review logging based off data we have access to. We can attempt further data analysis but need some minimum amount of information to look further.

If further assistance is required, please contact support with as many details as possible, such as:

  • Full Non Delivery Report (NDR) or bounce error sent back
  • Sending Server IP address
  • Sender's email address
    • Not to be confused with the FROM header email
  • Time and date the email was sent (with corresponding timezone)

 If possible, attaining the sender logs and providing to support would be best, as it may determine what MX/IP they are handing off to.