Email rejected with error : 554 Message not allowed - Email not accepted for policy reasons.

Products

• Email Security.cloud

Issue/Introduction

This article describes a scenario when an email bounceback with error code : 554 Message not allowed - Email not accepted for policy reasons.

Environment

Email Security.cloud

Cause

The "554 Message not allowed - Email not accepted for policy reasons" error means the recipient's mail server (often Yahoo) blocked your email due to security content such as : 

    Spam Filters: Content (links, attachments, keywords) flagged as spam, phishing, or malware.
    Authentication Failure: Your domain lacks proper SPF, DKIM, or DMARC records, making emails look spoofed.
    Bad Reputation: Your sending IP or domain has a poor reputation due to past spamming.
    Server Policies: The receiving server has strict policies against certain message types or sender behaviors

Resolution

In order to avoid such a scenario, We recommend to review the following:

 

• Review Content: Send a simple test email (e.g., "Hi, just checking in") to see if it goes through; if so, the issue is with your original content.
• Check Authentication: Ensure your domain has the correct SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records set up.
• Check Blacklists: Use online tools to see if your sending IP is on any blacklists.
• Contact Recipient: Ask the recipient to add you to their "safe senders" or whitelist.
• Contact Provider: If you manage the server, contact the recipient's email provider (like Yahoo) for review or whitelisting