Wordfence won’t send emails (IONOS host only)

  • ellienowels2

    (@ellienowels2)


    9 months ago

    I have wordfence (free version) installed on over a dozen sites. Some of them do not do well at automatically sending alerts or reports to my email, all of them will send a test email with no issues via the diagnostics panel. Until recently (some time between Feb. 5 and now), this function no longer works on this site in the link, which is on an IONOS server. IONOS links me to this page (https://www.ionos.com/help/hosting/no-sending-of-emails-with-a-different-sender-address/) and says that due to security reasons they are blocking “alternative or empty” email addresses. Wordfence sends in this format: wordpress@domain which IONOS interprets as an invalid address. Does the premium version send alerts differently? While I was on chat with IONOS I did a new install and test email on a different IONOS hosted site, which worked fine which tells me there is either something else going on, or they are applying their rules randomly. They tell me that Wordfence is going to cease to work on all their sites. Is this true? Are other hosts about to make this change that will block all alerts from Wordfence?

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Plugin Support wfpeter

    (@wfpeter)

    Hi @ellienowels2, thanks for your message.

    It’s somewhat confusing to hear them tell you “[email protected]” is invalid (assuming the TLD part at the end is present) and Wordfence specifically would cease to work as a result. The plugin sends emails from your site using your default method (either via an SMTP plugin, or just sendmail/postfix on your server etc.) and uses precisely the same email address that WordPress uses to send its own alerts. So if they’re deciding to block this going forward, WordPress also won’t be able to send emails along with a variety of other plugins.

    I appreciate that in many cases the email address won’t reflect one that can send/receive emails outside of WordPress, but if that’s their requirement you could create a “[email protected]” address in your control panel so that it reflects an email address that actually exists.

    I’d also ensure your “WordPress Address (URL)” and “Site Address (URL)” reflect your website’s domain in WordPress > Settings > General.

    Let me know if you find out any more,
    Peter.

    DerrickG72

    (@derrickg72)

    I am currently having the same issue with Ionos. It worked fine at the beginning of the month and now it has just stopped and left me with an error message: wp_remote_post() test back to this server failed! Response was: cURL error 7:

    I have been on the phone several times with Ionos and just keep getting bounced around from person to person with no resolve. Currently I have been on hold with them for over 45 minutes and holding…

    Thread Starter ellienowels2

    (@ellienowels2)

    I tried the suggestion of creating an email that was wordpress@domain, with no luck, then noticed some of my sites sent alerts via a noreply@domain address and they had WP Mail SMTP installed, configured with the noreply email. Installing WP Mail SMTP and configuring with a noreply@domain worked for me, and it looks like I can get my wordfence & wordpress alerts again! thanks for the suggestions!

    Same here. Quite a few sites having the same problem – all with IONOS. Started using another smtp service.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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