554: system and domain suspended for spam
GMX permanently refused your mail after a massive amount of spam reached its customers through your mail system and domain, and suspended their privileges.
- GMX, WEB.DE
- Provider
- Permanent (5xx)
- Class
- Sources checked
- Author
At a glance
- Code
- 554
- Provider
- GMX, WEB.DE and mail.com
- Temporary or permanent
- PermanentRefused for good: the message comes back to the sender, and resending it gets the same answer.
- Who has to act
- The sender. The fix is on the sending side: your domain, your server or your list.
- What the server says
554 Reject due to policy restrictions
What it means
Cases r2300 and r2301 are the permanent form of a spam suspension. GMX found that a large amount of spam was sent to its customers through your mail system in connection with your domain. It suspended the privileges the system and domain had and now refuses their mail with 554, so nothing is retried. The way back is the same as for case r0409: stop the misuse completely, then contact GMX through the form on the case page with the full error, the DKIM domain you sign with, and your IP addresses, ranges and AS.
Common causes
- Your mail system was used to send spam, through compromised accounts or abusive users.
- A campaign sent under your domain went to recipients who never agreed to it.
How to fix it
- 01Stop sending to GMX, WEB.DE and mail.com addresses until the cause is found.
- 02Remove the source of the spam and secure the accounts and services involved.
- 03Review how your recipient lists were built and drop any that lack consent.
- 04Contact GMX through the case page form with the full error, your DKIM domain and your IPs, ranges and AS.
Sources
What this page rests on, checked on 20 Oct 2026. The explanation is ours; the reply text is the server's.
Related codes
- 451DKIM domain suspended for spam.GMX found a massive amount of spam signed with your DKIM domain and sent through your mail system, and has suspended acceptance of mail from them.
- 421Too much of your mail is spam.GMX is refusing mail from your server for a while because too large a share of its recent mail was classed as spam by the GMX filters.
- 554Transaction failed.The server permanently refused the transaction, often after receiving the message data or straight away when the connection opened.
554 at other providers
- 554Permanent rejection (554).Yahoo or AOL rejected the message for good with a 554. Yahoo uses this code for several problems, from failed authentication to unacceptable content, so the wording of the reply tells you which.
- 554Failed authentication.Yahoo or AOL refused the message because it failed the checks that confirm the sending domain, such as DKIM against the domain's policy. Yahoo lists this among its permanent 553 and 554 errors.
- 554Recipient does not exist.The Yahoo or AOL account you wrote to does not exist. The failure is permanent: check the address with the recipient, and remove it from any list.
- 554No reverse DNS (PTR) record.Xfinity refused the connection because your sending IP has no PTR record. Every server sending to Xfinity needs valid reverse DNS, so the owner of the IP must add one.
- 554No reverse DNS for your IP.IONOS refused your mail because the IP address of your mail server has no domain name assigned to it in DNS (no PTR record).
- 554Reverse DNS does not meet IONOS policy.IONOS refused your mail because the PTR record of your IP does not meet its policy, typically a generic or dynamic-looking provider name.
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