We have all probably received e-mail addressed to info@mydomain.com or sales@mydomain.com --even though we have never created or used such e-mail accounts.

So, is it possible to stop or block e-mails addressed to such non-existient accounts?

The answer is "Yes" - and here is one solution that only requires a quick change to CPanel ...

Change your Default Addressl
Go to CPanel > E-mail, and set your default address to either :blackhole: or :fail:

Although both options will end up solving the same problem, there are some differences in the way they work, and so TCH recommends using the :blackhole: option.

From the CPanel online documentation: Any e-mail that is sent to an unknown account at your domain name, such as unknown@yourdomain.com, gets automatically rerouted to your default e-mail account. All web site accounts are automatically assigned a default e-mail address - user@yourdomain.com - which you can change, if required. To set your default e-mail address: 1. Click on the Default Address link in the Mail Menu area. 2. Click on the Set Default Address link. 3. Enter the complete e-mail address of the new default in the field next to your web site name drop-down list. Note: You can enter :blackhole: to throw away all incoming mail, or :fail: to bounce the e-mail back to the sender. 4. Click on the  button. Your new default e-mail address has now been set.

Fail -vs- Blackhole

:fail:

When an e-mail is sent to an address that is set to :fail: no such address here it is blocked from going to your inbox and a message is sent to the party which sent the mail to let them know that there is no one at that address by that name. If the sending party is a legitimate address that's the end of it but still notice that there are two messages involved-- the original message to you and the message going back to the sender.

A problem pops up when the sending party is a fake address. Now the incoming message is blocked and a message is sent back just as in the example above. The problem is the message going out cannot be delivered and stays in the mail queue to be tried again later and will be retried numerous times until it is deleted.

:blackhole:

If a message arrives to an account set to :blackhole: it is blocked from being delivered and deleted. No more action is taken. Only one message is involved and fewer resources are tied up. Multiply this by thousands of messages and it makes a difference.

If you have any questions, you can certainly contact our Help Desk, but do not include your credit card number in any correspondence with TCH.