Looking for a Mass Mailer

[Stoic Joker]

Okay so the Coronavirus has everyone in a swivvet, and the company I work for is gagging to jump on the panic wagon by sending out a touchy-feely 'We promise to wash our hands and not sneeze on your keyboard' mailing to all of our clients.

Please don't tell my why this is annoying and dumb … I already know that (this ain't my idea..).

What I need is something idiot simple and fast, so I can get this mind-numbingly demented nonsense off my plate.

Requirements are - I hope - simple enough:

• HTML Email body - Because (of course) it contains a graphic and fancy fonts
• Capable of sending to 1000+ addresses in a BCC fashion - HIPAA/GDPR/Common Blinking Sense...
• Most be able to send from a reply address that is different that the mail server login credentials - Because I sure as hell ain't playing catch with any responses for this fiasco … That "honor" will go to the clowns in the sales department that thought of it in the first place
• Must be either free, or extremely cheap - Because I never ever want to use it again, for anything, ever.
• Oh yeah, and the emails have to have an attachment - Yes I know they Most likely all be deleted for this and I don't ****ing care … I just need to be able to hit send in front of the brass so they go (…) away all warm, fuzzy, and morally validated with themselves...

Only upside is I will be going out through our internally controlled public mail server, so that part won't be as painful as the rest.

Does anyone have a clue as to what I can use for this??

TIA
- Stoic Joker

[flamerz]

http://www.xellsoft.com/TurboMailer.html

[Shades]

Do not do this, using the IP that your companies mail server is running on (if that is the case at your company). Anything that bursts out so many mail messages at once, will cause that IP to flagged as a spammer. And it can take some time before you are allowed to send any mail again. It will also reduce the reputation of your own mail server, regardless.

So, if you have IP addresses to spare, use those. Seriously.

Seeing the screenshots from TurboMailer, they are from the Windows XP era. Back in those days it would have been less problematic to push out a lot of email messages at once. Nowadays, everything is much, much stricter and there are many organizations that patrol the internet to fight against spam.

*edit*
I forgot:
It often takes a day or 2 or 3 to restore your outgoing mail functionality. Perhaps one day before it is noticed that outgoing mail is not received and the intended receiver starting to complain, the you need to go to the site or sites that have you flagged as spammer to create a request for removal and than you need to wait until they pull you from their list. Sometimes this is immediately, with others you can wait for a day or 2.

And all of them keep your IP address in a sort of 'person of interest'-list for a few weeks. Do you burst out another email message this way in that penalty-period, you'll lose the ability to send mail for a week, if not more, depending on the guidelines of the anti-spam organization's guidelines. All of the organizations clearly warn you for this, the first time you'll make the request to be taken from their spammers list.

What you are ordered to do sounds more like a PR panic move than anything else. Not worth it to drag your mailserver's reputation through the mud for it, if you would ask me. But I know you didn't.

Maybe you could use a command line script to push out messages in a time-controlled manner.
In that case, I can recommend 'SwithMail' and 'CMail'. Then you only need to design a HTML message using HTML4 syntax, because that makes sure every mail client is showing the message as intended. Store it as a text-based file and use that file as the mail body in either command-line mailer. Then you only need a list of recipients and repeat sending the message to each of that list separately. Maybe that prevents you being flagged as spammer.

Or sending this message to yourself, with the intended recipient as a BCC. Don't know if that gets you flagged either. But perhaps worth a shot. 

[Stoic Joker]

@Shades - Yes I'm well aware of the ramifications.. I also sure-as-hell ain't gonna send out 1,000+ Emails individually...

So...

Need automation suggestions, Turbo above was close, but it comes with a Python protocol bugg that prevents it from connecting to the mail server.

Like I had originally stated: I already know it's a stupid ****ing Idea!! But The Brass wants what the Brass wants...so it's make it happen time.

Screw logic and common sense - Important People Want Things.

...Do I sound Bitter? Good.

[x16wda]

Take a look at Blat and see if it will work. I think it should tick off all your boxes but it's command line so some assembly required.

[Stoic Joker]

Blat would be fine if I had a month to play with and learn it. But this - of course - is a @*$^$%%# firedrill.

Sigh...

Only GUI's I found for Blat have no way of feeding in the address list, so I'm back to probably chunking the address list into Outlook in sections and hoping that nobody replies.

*Joy*...

[4wd]

Blat would be fine if I had a month to play with and learn it. But this - of course - is a @*$^$%%# firedrill.

Basic use here

eg. You could have a HTML file as follows:

panic.html

Code: (generic)

Dear Client,

As you know in this trying time of crazy weather, stupid governments,
and incessant bickering relatives, we have now learnt that Nature
is out to eliminate us with a virus for all the wrong we have done to the planet.

Having looked at this problem logically we have determined that there is really
only one coarse of action:

<img src="cid:KC.jpg">

Yours Sincerely,

Fin Dusinpub

Using the image attached to this post, the command would be, (assuming image is located at D:\junk):

Code: (generic)

blat.exe -server smtp.myserver.org -u admin -pw password -to someone@somewhere.org -replyto salesidiots@myserver.org -subject "Panic Now, Avoid The Rush!" -bodyF "panic.html" -html -embed "D:\junk\KC.jpg"

If you have the list of clients in a CSV/text file, etc then the command can be wrapped in a DOS command file or PowerShell (for CSV) script and have it send an email to each address, one every 500ms or so.

Limitation of Blat is it doesn't do SSL to the SMTP server but if it's your server then maybe you can get around that.

So goes the theory anyway 

[4wd]

Possibly something simple like this:

MassBlatter.ps1

Code: (powershell)

$SmtpServer = "smtp.domain.com"
$SmtpPort = 25              # If it's required
$User = "admin"             # If it's required
$Password = "password"      # If it's required
$ReplyTo = "salesidiots@domain.com"
$Subject = "Panic Now, Avoid The Rush!"
$HtmlBody = ".\panic.html"
$Embed = ".\KC.jpg" # You can add more, just comma separate them, insert
                    # CID tags in HTML as appropriate
$Attachments = ".\file1.zip,.\file2.doc"

# Import email addresses from .CSV file
$Users = Import-Csv emails.csv

# Send email to each address in the list
Foreach ($User in $Users) {
  $ToAddress = $User.Email

  $blatArgs = "-server $($SmtpServer) -port $($SmtpPort) -u $($User) -pw $($Password) -to $($ToAddress) `
               -replyto $($ReplyTo) -subject `"$($Subject)`" -bodyF $($HtmlBody) -html -embed $($Embed) `
               -attach $($Attachments)"

  Write-Host "Sending notification to $Name ($ToAddress)" -ForegroundColor Yellow

  Start-Process -FilePath .\Blat.exe -ArgumentList $blatArgs -WorkingDirectory . -Wait

  Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 500
}

Where, (for example):

emails.csv

Code: (generic)

Email
john.smith@yourhouse.com
ima.horder@nowhereinparticular.org
impannickt@justgetmeouttahere.gov

panic.html

Code: (generic)

Dear Client,

As you know in this trying time of crazy weather, stupid governments,
and incessant bickering relatives, we have now learnt that Nature
is out to eliminate us with a virus for all the wrong we have done to the planet.

Having looked at this problem logically we have determined that there is really only one coarse of action:

<img src="cid:KC.jpg">

Yours Sincerely,

Fin Dusinpub

Image as in my post above.

Put MassBlatter.ps1, Blat.exe, panic.html, emails.csv, and any image referenced in the same folder then run the PoSh script, (after editing naturally).

NOTE: I hardly need to point out to you that the ramifications of a plain text user/password - if the server doesn't require them, omit the -u, -pw parameters from the arguments.  Same with the SMTP port - not required, omit it.

DISCLAIMER: Haven't tested it since I don't have access to a SMTP server but the script ran through my test list and printed out the right command parameters ... I'm sure you'd be able to test it locally

PS. WTF do they want a fancy font for?  It's supposed to be serious not an invitation.

PPS. Haven't taken into account spaces in filenames, just don't do it.

[Stoic Joker]

Thanks guys, I think I have a plan now.

PS. WTF do they want a fancy font for?  It's supposed to be serious not an invitation.

Best guess is if I could "understand" the answer, I wouldn't be qualified for the job I'm in... 

[x16wda]

PPS. Haven't taken into account spaces in filenames, just don't do it.

Amen. Spaces in filenames, and hiding file extensions. Idiots.