Why was an email sent to 90 recipients via Contact Groups flagged as spam

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Why was an email sent to 90 recipients via Contact Groups flagged as spam

Janet Swartz 20

What is the reason for an email sent to around 90 receivers through Contact Groups, and marked as spam? Even though I regularly communicate with these stakeholders and they frequently send emails to me. I had to be unblocked by the IT team since I was completely banned from sending any emails. Also, my colleague sent the same batch using the same Contact Group, but his emails weren't flagged. I am perplexed and would love some guidance on this.

SokiGuo-MSFT 31,541 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2024-01-25T06:46:20.0433333+00:00

Hi @Janet Swartz

Just checking in to see if above information was helpful. If you have any further updates on this issue, please feel free to post back. If you think my reply is helpful to you, please remember to mark it as an answer. Warm thanks.

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SokiGuo-MSFT 31,541 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2024-01-25T06:46:20.0433333+00:00

Hi @Janet Swartz

Just checking in to see if above information was helpful. If you have any further updates on this issue, please feel free to post back. If you think my reply is helpful to you, please remember to mark it as an answer. Warm thanks.

Answer 1

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Based on the information provided in the context, there could be several reasons why an email sent to 90 recipients via Contact Groups was flagged as spam. One possible reason is that the email was sent from a mail-enabled security group, which can be treated as an external address by Microsoft 365 groups and blocked by default. Another reason could be that the email content triggered a spam filter, which can happen if the email contains certain words or phrases that are commonly associated with spam. It is also possible that the email was flagged because of the volume of recipients, as many email providers implement filtering and blocking mechanisms to defend against spam and keep users' inboxes clean.

To troubleshoot this issue, you can try the following steps:

Check if the email was sent from a mail-enabled security group and if the Microsoft 365 group's settings allow email messages from external addresses. If not, change the settings to allow external senders to email the group.
Check if the email content triggered a spam filter. You can run a message trace to view specific details about the message and see if it was marked as spam due to the content of the message.
Check if the email was flagged because of the volume of recipients. Some email providers implement filtering and blocking mechanisms to defend against spam and keep users' inboxes clean, so sending a large volume of email could trigger these mechanisms.

It is also worth noting that just because one colleague's emails were not flagged as spam does not necessarily mean that the same will be true for everyone. Individual email clients apply their own filtering algorithms that can filter based on each user's personal history of interactions, which can mean that an identical message that gets delivered to one recipient could get blocked by another recipient's email client.

References:

Janet Swartz 20 Reputation points

2024-01-25T17:46:56.69+00:00

So just trying to understand. If one client flags the email sender as spam, it blocks the account completely from sending any emails at all? I'll have to ask our IT about the mail-enabled security group because I'm not sure what that means. I'm sending from our company domain. Thank you so much!
SokiGuo-MSFT 31,541 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2024-01-26T05:40:34.0866667+00:00

Hi @Janet Swartz

In general, if a client marks an email sender as spam, it won't completely block the account from sending any email. However, it can affect the sender's reputation and deliverability and cause the email to be filtered as spam by other recipients.

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Janet Swartz 20 Reputation points

2024-01-26T18:09:05.8233333+00:00

Thank you... so unfortunately it doesn't explain why my account was completely blocked from sending emails. Still not sure what to do about sending out Contact Group emails if I'm going to be blocked. Thanks much!
Janet Swartz 20 Reputation points

2024-01-26T18:09:31.48+00:00

Thank you... so unfortunately it doesn't explain why my account was completely blocked from sending emails. Still not sure what to do about sending out Contact Group emails if I'm going to be blocked. Thanks much!
SokiGuo-MSFT 31,541 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2024-01-30T02:22:34.2566667+00:00

Hi @Janet Swartz

There are many reasons why an account can be locked, such as detecting that the content of the messages you send contains ads, malware, phishing, and other harmful activities. To unlock your account, follow the steps in this article:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/account-has-been-locked-805e8b0d-4141-29b2-7b65-df6ff6c9ce27
SokiGuo-MSFT 31,541 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2024-02-01T08:51:10.08+00:00

Hi @Janet Swartz ， Is there any update on this case? Please feel free to drop us a note if there is any update.

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Why was an email sent to 90 recipients via Contact Groups flagged as spam

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