Microsoft is constantly refining its spam filter formula to protect Office 365 customers from increasingly sophisticated attempts to steal your personal information through ransomware attacks and phishing scams.
Internal email, messages sent from @mail accounts to @mail accounts or @hsc to @hsc, now goes through the same spam-rating formula applied to incoming email from external accounts such as LISTSERV or third-party providers.
This could result in legitimate, business-related emails being blocked from distribution when they contain certain elements that are indicative of spam. Your ability to send email also could be suspended automatically.
These filters apply to both the WVU and the Health Sciences Office 365 environments.
If your department regularly sends mass email, you can reduce your spam score by following these steps.
Include only essential links. The more links you add to various sites, the higher your spam score. You can always reference a webpage in your text, but remove the hyperlink.
Keep it short. Avoid sending a full newsletter in an email that includes multiple links and images. If you want to send a monthly newsletter, identify the highlights, and provide one link to the full content on a webpage.
Avoid trigger words. Be cautious with phrasing related to money such as references to gift cards or encouraging someone to purchase or pay for something. Calls to action that express a sense of urgency (Do this now!) are also signs of spam.
Avoid attachments. PDF or HTML attachments should not be sent in mass emails. Be aware that attachments with extensions of EXE, DOCM, XLSM, etc. will be blocked. Creating an Office document with embedded macros will result in an M extension, so resave it as a regular document before sending.
Use a familiar name. Send mass communications from the same person and/or an account that people recognize. A brand-new sender attempting a mass email will get a higher spam score than an established account.
Segment your mailing list. When possible, send targeted campaigns to smaller groups.
Use bcc:. When mass emailing, add recipients in the bcc: field rather than the To: field. This can prevent Reply All spamming, which can lead to individual accounts being locked.
Information Technology Services recommends you conduct a test with a smaller group of recipients before sending to your full audience. If the email does not deliver, review your content for suspicious elements. Please note these suggestions also will help with distribution to MIX accounts, as Gmail has similar filtering and scoring systems.
Never use a personal account for WVU business, especially mass emailing. Use only WVU-approved email services, including paid and licensed versions of products such as Mailchimp that have been reviewed by information security personnel.