How can I stop someone from using my email address to send spam?
Summary
What email marketers say12Marketer opinions
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests setting DMARC to quarantine or reject, as setting it to 'none' will not stop the spam.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains you can limit spam by implementing DMARC on your domain and ensuring your SPF record contains '-all'.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that the first step is to secure your domain by using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These help verify that emails are actually sent from your domain.
Email marketer from SparkPost highlights the importance of DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) as it protects your domain from being used for email spoofing, phishing scams, and other malicious email activities.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests implementing DMARC with a policy of 'none' (reporting only) to monitor the spam activity without risking legitimate email delivery.
Email marketer from Quora suggests regularly monitoring your domain and IP reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools, Sender Score, and Microsoft SNDS to identify and address any issues quickly.
Email marketer from Spamhaus details that checking your domain's reputation in blocklists (like Spamhaus' own) can help you understand if your domain has been flagged for spam-like activity, and then you can take action to get removed from those lists.
Email marketer from EmailVendorSelection shares that combining SPF, DKIM, and DMARC gives the most protection against domain spoofing. It makes it much harder for spammers to pretend to be you.
Email marketer from Cloudflare explains that SPF (Sender Policy Framework) records specify the mail servers authorized to send email from your domain. This makes it harder for spammers to send messages from your domain because their servers will not be authorized.
Email marketer from Proofpoint explains that DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a digital signature to your outgoing emails, which verifies to receiving servers that the email was indeed sent from your domain and hasn't been tampered with.
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that implementing email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM and DMARC are the main mechanisms for preventing email spoofing and protecting your brand's reputation.
Email marketer from Email Security Forum recommends to regularly check your domain's reputation with tools like Google Postmaster Tools and Microsoft SNDS to see if it is being used for malicious activity.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise emphasizes the necessity of continually monitoring your domain's reputation across various blocklists and reputation services. Promptly addressing any listings or negative feedback can help prevent deliverability issues and ensure legitimate emails reach their intended recipients.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) reporting is essential for monitoring who is using your domain to send email. Analyzing these reports allows you to identify unauthorized senders and take corrective action by adjusting your SPF and DKIM records, and refining your DMARC policy to reject unauthorized mail.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that one way to protect your addresses from being harvested by spammers is to avoid posting them on web pages in plain text format. Using images or obfuscation techniques (like adding spaces or characters) makes it harder for bots to automatically collect them.
Expert from Email Geeks recommends crafting a 'wasn't us, guv' boilerplate for CSRs to use as a short-term response.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records can help prevent spammers from forging your domain in email messages.
Documentation from RFC describes how SPF uses a DNS record to list all the IP addresses that are permitted to send email on behalf of your domain. Receivers use this information to verify the sender.
Documentation from Microsoft Learn explains that email spoofing can be prevented by enabling SPF, DKIM, and DMARC in your DNS records for your domain. These records help email servers verify the sender's authenticity.
Documentation from IETF highlights that SMTP mail requires proper authentication as a key component to prevent unwanted use of email servers and spoofing of email domains for malicious purposes.
Documentation from DMARC.org specifies that a DMARC policy allows you to tell receiving mail systems what to do with messages that fail SPF and DKIM checks (e.g., reject, quarantine). It also provides reporting so you can see who is using your domain.