How to fix your IEEE email alias so that it delivers all messages
I and others who use ___@ieee.org email addresses have a serious problem in which we occasionally fail to receive certain email messages that are sent our ieee.org addresses. This is a serious problem, and I’ve finally found a solution.
First, some background. Before the summer of 2013, the IEEE email address was simply an alias, which forwarded email to an actual email account. Some “spam” filtering was provided by IEEE, which could be modified or disabled through the IEEE web portal. In the summer of 2013, IEEE moved to Google Apps. Your ieee.org email now points to a Google Apps account. If you were previously using the alias service, the Google Apps account is configured to simply forward all email to the other account. However, the Google Apps account is also performing spam filtering on your email! When I finally logged in to my IEEE Google Apps account, I found several non-spam messages which had never been delivered because they were mistakenly sent to the spam folder in the Google Apps account (which I never check). Here is how to disable this dangerous and irritating “feature” that may be causing you to lose valuable email messages.
- Sign in to your IEEE Google Apps Account. The username and password are the same ones you use to access the IEEE web portal.
- You should now a Google Apps/Gmail interface. Check your spam folder. You may find several “missing” emails here.
- Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner and select “Settings.” If you click on “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” you may see that your email is being forwarded to your other email address.
- Disable spam filtering on this account. Go to the “Filters” tab on the Settings page and click “Create a New Filter.” In the “To” field, enter your ___@ieee.org address and click “Create filter with this search.” In the next window, check the box for “Never send it to Spam” and click on “Create Filter.”
Now, all emails (even spam) should be forwarded to the email account that you check on a regular basis, and the spam will be filtered so
2021 Security Update
See my recent post about how to enable multi-factor authentication on your IEEE Google email account. You should do so as soon as possible; any Internet-facing account with just a password has not been safe for several years now.
Comments
Comment #1 by Richard Jepson
Richard Jepson - Dec 2, 2014
thank-you very much. I had no idea that Ieee would do this to me. I am doing some work at home and google was tossing some e-mail that is not spam into the spam folder. I am so mad a ieee that i may just cancel my membership. Thanks again, you are a life saver. richard jepson
Comment #2 by Ricardo Queirós
Ricardo Queirós - Mar 2, 2015
Thank you!
Comment #3 by Richard Jepson
Richard Jepson - Apr 4, 2015
Thanks very much, this was driving me nuts.
Comment #4 by juliana manoliu
juliana manoliu - Jan 4, 2017
It is 2017 and there is a new issue; I go to the spam folder often and retrieve any messages which are not spam. Since Jan. 12 , 2017 I’ve had lots of missing messages which were not in the “spam” folder and contacted ieee.org tech support; they sent me to the “trash” folder where I found a lot of the missing messages; I was made to understand that what’s in trash was already forwarded. Except that some don’t get forwarded; Even when I added a friend whose mails I was missing to my “contacts list” their test message was not delivered to me- it was in trash though… Also some messages were “bounced back” to a sender. So many get through, but some just sit there…
Comment #5 by Ken
Ken - Jun 4, 2020
Thank you for the post. I have been struggling with minor email drop outs for several years. Two banks I deal with have bumped me to paper mail due to returned email. I just completed the filter remedy you recommend…. with fingers crossed. Ken
Comment #6 by Carl Hansen
Carl Hansen - Nov 4, 2020
When I first discovered this issue (misrouted SPAM) I found numerous e-mails from family, major vendors, and stuff that was clearly NOT SPAM. I finally got ahold of someone (believe it was IEEE support) and was basically told - that’s t he way it is, live with it. Now today, my daughter forwarded an e-mail from Dan Lewis “Now I Know”… and she sends me a screen shot of the notice that it was ‘REJECTED’! This level of service is unacceptable! - I expect ALL e-mail to be forwarded.. - I expect, IF e-mail is going to be designated SPAM, I want a notification of that. - I DON’T want to have to log onto the Google Servers to check what they put in SPAM. - I expect that IF they are going to designate certain e-mails as SPAM, that google should have a learning algorithm in place so that when I designate SPAM or not SPAM, the server learns and does a better job in the future! on on… Ch carl_hansen@ieee.org
Comment #7 by Dr. HMJ
Dr. HMJ - Nov 3, 2021
I have been a ieee member since decades. I use my ieee email in all my professional correspondence. Similar problems to your description happened a couple of years ago which ieee support finally fixed. More recently I have been experiencing reexperiencing problems in 2021. Principally, IEEE (and its subcontractor Google) do not deliver my email to certain people - especially with Pdf attachments. Not only my email goes down a black hole but I do not get a rejection notice - which is mandatory by good messaging standards. After more than a weak bagging ieee support to fix the issue, I do not have any proper answer or a fix. Note, in my career I have written message routers for the IP stack and the X.400. For IBM, DEC and other organizations. It’s not that hard to fix basic parameters at the server end. Further when I communicate with my suppliers and technology partners, most often ask what is ieee and subsequently what are the benefits of the ieee. That way I can be an ieee ambassador. Since becoming a slave of Google, ieee has let its members down. Neither are competent at their first level support and god knows when they move the call to people who understand the basis of email. Only step I could now make is just use ieee mail for basics, and considering ieee technical support is not better than my plumbers I will switch to Microsoft paid services fully. A big shame on people that claim to lead technology!
Comment #8 by Dr. KCK
Dr. KCK - Feb 2, 2022
I have recently found out that for quite awhile, (years maybe?) that email I send to Gmail clients has either gone to their Spam/Junk folders, or is just not delivered. I was not notified of rejection or Spam-like filtering. Obviously, I’m not the only one who has been suffering from the terrible administration of this service; a disgrace on both IEEE and Google. (I’m checking the “Notify me of new posts by email” option below, but the irony is not lost on me!!!)
Comment #9 by JOHN BAKER
JOHN BAKER - May 6, 2022
When I use the ieee.org alias my emails are being flagged as Spam or Junk at the recipient’s end. I have set up my alias on gmail and can send and receive emails via gmail. Because my ieee.org emails are being flagged as Spam or Junk, I am giving up on using the ieee.org alias. Hopefully ieee will provide a fix for this.
Comment #10 by Jon
Jon - Dec 5, 2023
Very helpful. I stopped getting emails and wondered why. I did not know the IEEE Google saved all messages from the beginning of time. It took days to delete them all. The settings are changed now, but the messages still seem to be saved on the IEEE account.