📨 My website is sending SPAM emails: how to clean your server and recover your reputation
There is nothing worse than receiving a notification from your hosting provider saying they have blocked your account for mass SPAM sending. Or worse still: your customers telling you that your invoices and confirmation emails go straight to the junk folder.
If your website is sending emails without your permission, your server has been compromised. At ByteChip we specialise in disinfecting systems and cleaning the reputation of affected domains.
1. Why is my website sending SPAM?
Nobody has "guessed" your email password by magic. It usually happens for one of these three reasons:
- Malicious scripts (PHP Mailer): A hacker has uploaded a hidden file to your WordPress or PrestaShop that uses your server's email-sending function.
- Infected plugins: As we have mentioned on the blog, pirated plugins often include these hidden SPAM functions.
- Form vulnerability: Unprotected contact forms (without CAPTCHA) that are used by bots to send advertising to thousands of people.
2. The collateral damage: your reputation (blacklists)
When you send SPAM, the big providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) record your server's IP address on blacklists.
- Consequence: Your company emails will stop arriving.
- SEO: Google may penalise your site if it detects that the server is malicious.
3. Steps to clean your server
If you are in this situation, this is what we do at ByteChip to solve the problem:
- Mail queue audit: We identify exactly which folder or script the sending originates from.
- Malware removal: We scan and delete the infected PHP files acting as SPAM "relays".
- Update and patching: We close the door through which the hacker entered (updating core, themes and plugins).
- Delisting request: Once the site is clean, we contact the blacklist organisations to report that the server is now safe and recover your reputation.
4. How to prevent it happening again
- Install a CAPTCHA on all your forms.
- Use authentication protocols such as SPF, DKIM and DMARC in your DNS configuration.
- Carry out regular security maintenance.
🆘 Has your hosting given you an ultimatum?
If your server is blocked or your emails are not arriving, time is running against you. Every day on a blacklist is a day of lost sales.
At ByteChip we act immediately:
- Deep cleaning of infected files.
- DNS security configuration so your emails become trusted again.
- Post-cleaning monitoring to make sure the problem does not recur.
📞 Recover your reputation today: Write to us through the contact form or request our Urgent Technical Assistance. We clean your website and save your email!