We've just forwarded a spam report to the Bell South (part of AT&T) abuse address and got this for our trouble:
abuse@REDACTED SMTP error from remote mail server after initial connection: host gateway-f1.isp.att.net [204.127.217.16]: 550-77.74.196.254 blocked by ldap:ou=rblmx,dc=att,dc=net 550 Error - Blocked for abuse. See http://att.net/blocks
Looking on the AT&T support site we find this:
We can only assist with Spam that originates from AT&T Internet Services IP addresses. If you are reporting Spam believed to originate from a AT&T subscriber, we must have the full e-mail header from the original message in order to investigate the complaint. You must provide the header information from the original message and paste it into the body of the e-mail when you forward the original message with your complaint. We cannot accept attachments. When we receive your complaint, we will investigate the situation and take appropriate action based on the results of the investigation.
To report your complaint, please forward the suspected Spam e-mail to abuse@REDACTED. and remember to copy and paste the full e-mail header from the message into the body of the e-mail.
So we report spam as requested and then get blocked for our pains? It's worth pointing out that our server forwards no mail other than spam reports into the AT&T network and was was probably blocked some time ago, for daring to send a previous report.
We have requested removal using the form:
ADMINISTRATORS: Please thoroughly check your IP logs before requesting removal. You must determine that all traffic from the blocked IP is actually from your mail servers to ensure your network is not compromised. Administrators who fail to do this may experience subsequent and more resolute blocking.
So we can now send abuse reports to AT&T, safe in the knowledge that the IP address will not again be blocked?