: too many spams from your IP

What it means

Free blocks IPs based on statistics it keeps in real time for every server that connects to its MX servers, using only its own data and no public blocklists. This block means too much of what your server delivered was spam; Free says an IP is blocked when it receives more spam than normal mail from it. The block lasts 24 hours at most and is lifted automatically, but continuing to send spam renews it, and asking for removal before the problem is fixed is pointless. Free does not settle the reply code: its contents list 500, the section heading reads x50 (which would be 450 or 550), and its French 421 section calls the 550 of the next stage a 500. Match on the wording, not the number.

Common causes

• Your server sends or relays spam, for example from a compromised account.
• Your server forwards spam it received to free.fr addresses.
• Your SMTP relay provider is sending spam from the shared IP.

How to fix it

1. 01If you run the server, add outbound spam filtering so it stops sending, relaying or forwarding spam.
2. 02If you send through a relay, contact the provider so it can act.
3. 03Check whether the IP is still listed with the lookup form on Free's postmaster page.
4. 04Wait for the automatic removal, at most 24 hours, after the source is fixed.

Sources

What this page rests on, checked on 20 Oct 2026. The explanation is ours; the reply text is the server's.

• postmaster.free.fr (Free)postmaster.free.fr