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Determining Why the Personal Blocklist Spam Filter Blocked or Allowed a Message

Author: Luis Fernandes Updated

Overview

If you are questioning why an email was blocked or allowed by the Personal Blocklist spam filter and would like more information, you can find further details in the log file for that filter. Use the instructions provided in this article to find the log and information regarding your message within it, and then use the examples provided below to interpret why the message was either blocked or allowed.

Process

Follow the instructions provided below:

  1. Find the Message ID of the email in question by either gathering it from the headers of the message itself, or by looking for it in the MailEssentials Dashboard > Logs > Details tab.

  2. Open the ase_personalblocklist.gfi_log file in notepad from  ..\GFI\MailEssentials\AntiSpam\DebugLogs folder.

    • This log is for the Personal Blocklist Filter Module and corresponds to the Configuration > Anti-Spam > Anti Spam Filters > Email Blocklist > Personal Blocklist in the interface.

  3. Search for the Message ID from the Dashboard or the email headers.

    • Note: The Message IDs have been removed from the example log files below.

    • Note: The lines formatted in bold blue color are the important ones in the log files for determining what has happened and why.

 Scenario-1 Email was allowed by the module:
  • Log Extract matching the Message ID:
    • Checking message against Personal Blocklist SMTP Recipient [internaluser@gfitest.com] does not care.

  • Conclusion:  Since the sender's email address is not listed in the Personal Blocklist, the email will be received. If an email needs to be blocked for a specific person, add it to the Personal Blocklist.

 

Scenario-2 Email was blocked by the module:
  • Log Extract matching the Message ID:

    • Checking message against Personal Blocklist SMTP Recipient [spammer@gfitest.com] REJECTS message Injecting actioning data since some users blocked/accepted the message ...

  • Conclusion:  The email will be blocked. If an email is sent to more than one user, each user's list is checked, anyone who does not have the sender listed will receive the email. All recipients blocked sender, setting the GFI_ASEMSGPROPS_SPAM Property. If an email is incorrectly blocked for a specific user, have them remove the sender from the Personal Blocklist.
Scenario -3 Module is disabled:
  • Conclusion: Personal Blocklisting is disabled.