"Your message has been rejected due to the following event(s): Blocked phrase detected"

RRU has introduced another level or email filtering to prevent virus infected emails as well as to comply 
with 
the 
Payment 
Card 
Industry 
Data Security
Standards 
(PCI‐DSS).   

Each email is examined and blocked based on the following criteria:

• Malicious content such as viruses/malware, or a link that could be used to compromise a computer
• Credit card number or number resembling a credit card number.  Specifically if it is a 16 digit number (with/without spaces, dashes or one long number) beginning with the following digits:
• 34..
• 37..
• 4...
• 51..
• 52..
• 53..
• 54..
• 55..
• 65..
• 6011

For your information:

• RRU processes around 26000 messages a day
• Around 20 messages a day are blocked that meet the above criteria
• 2-5 legitimate credit card transactions are prevented each week

How do I know why the message was blocked?

In the email message you received you will find one line that will say it all.  Look for "Event (s)"

If it says Event(s): Blocked phrase detected then the email contained a credit card like number.

Can I get the email unblocked?

Unfortunately the email cannot be unblocked or whitelisted.  The policy prevents RRU from accepting/storing any copies of the message in question.  Both the sender and receiver, however, are notified.

You may remove the suspect content and re-submit your email or contact the intended recipient at Royal Roads University and arrange for an alternative method of delivery.

I need to get a credit card number emailed to me, what are my options?

You have no option regarding credit card number being emailed to you.  It is not allowed.

Please contact the Finance department to discuss alternatives.

I have absolutely no credit card in the email, why is it still being blocked?

First make sure the message is being blocked for containing a credit card.  If it says Event(s): Blocked phrase detected then it has a credit card number.  It could also say it is blocked for malicious content or somethings else.

If you are sure that you are being blocked because of a credit card number, then look closely at everything in the email. Look at the attachment, is there any combination of numbers as listed above?  Also check your auto-signature.  If you have links to Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram, or other social media, make sure the links don't contain numbers that look like credit card numbers.

Another thing you can try is to strip out your auto-signature completely and then try to resend the email and see if it goes through.

Finally you can contact Computer Services and we will give you an alternative (non-RRU) email address to send us the email and we can look it over and see if we can see anything that could be causing the issues.  Please contact Computer Services by phone, email or Online Request Form.

Where can I get additional information on this?

Staff can visit https://crossroads.royalroads.ca/news/rru-credit-card-policy-regarding-email for additional information on this policy.