Why is Gmail throwing errors and marking my emails as phishing?

Email marketer from Reddit explains that inconsistent sending practices can lead to Gmail flagging emails as phishing. Suddenly sending a large volume of emails or changing sending patterns can trigger Gmail's spam filters.

Email marketer from Mailgun shares that a common reason for Gmail flagging emails as phishing is poor sender reputation. This can be due to low engagement rates, high bounce rates, or being listed on blocklists. They recommend improving sender reputation by authenticating emails, cleaning email lists, and sending engaging content.

Email marketer from EmailOctopus shares that sending emails from a shared IP address with a poor reputation can cause Gmail to flag emails as phishing. They suggest using a dedicated IP address to maintain control over sender reputation.

Email marketer from Gmass explains that personalization is key to landing in the inbox rather than spam. Personalizing the from and reply-to address can reduce getting flagged by spam filters.

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum suggests checking if any links in your email are on a blocklist or are pointing to domains that have been flagged as malicious. Even if your domain is clean, linking to a problematic domain can trigger phishing filters.

Email marketer from Stack Overflow shares that missing or incorrect SPF records can cause Gmail to flag emails as phishing. They advise setting up SPF records to authorize sending servers and prevent spoofing.

Email marketer from SendPulse explains that Gmail might flag emails as phishing if the content contains suspicious links, keywords, or attachments. They advise avoiding these elements and ensuring that links point to legitimate websites.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that Google runs its own private list of bad URLs.

Expert from Spam Resource suggests that emails are being flagged as phishing due to a lack of proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). Implementing these correctly is crucial for proving the legitimacy of your emails to Gmail.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests considering that multiple ISPs reporting phishing in messages likely indicates actual phishing activity using those links.

Expert from Word to the Wise indicates that a sudden spike in email volume can trigger Gmail's spam filters and lead to emails being marked as phishing. Gradually increasing sending volume and warming up your IP address are recommended.

Expert from Email Geeks advises to get rid of the phishing site.

Expert from Email Geeks explains somewhere along the line something has been compromised, likely a page on the brand site hosting a phishing target page. The blocks aren't about the mail itself, but about other mail linking to the page to collect information.

Documentation from Google Security Blog shares that Google has improved its machine learning models to better detect business email compromise (BEC) attacks, a type of phishing. These models analyze signals such as sender authentication, email routing, and content characteristics to identify and block malicious messages.

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that Gmail's phishing detection identifies suspicious characteristics in messages, using machine learning models that evolve to identify new patterns. It analyzes various factors like sender information, message content, and links to determine if a message is phishing.

Documentation from Spamhaus highlights that if your sending IP address or domain is listed on their blocklists, Gmail is likely to flag your emails as spam or phishing. This can happen if your server has been used to send spam or malicious emails. Regular monitoring is advised.

Documentation from Google Developers emphasizes the importance of email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to prevent email spoofing and phishing. It explains that Gmail is more likely to flag unauthenticated emails as spam or phishing attempts because it can't verify the sender's identity.