ivmSIP and ivmSIP/24: Invaluement\u2019s IP-based lists, and how to request removal

Invaluement runs three related lists: ivmURI (domains found in spam links), ivmSIP (single sending IPs), and ivmSIP/24 (whole /24 subnets). This post covers the two IP-based lists.

Invaluement is a small operation compared to Spamhaus, but it's used as an add-on signal inside several widely-deployed spam-filtering products, so its reach in corporate and hosted-mailbox environments is larger than its size suggests. A rejection that names "invaluement" or "ivmSIP" explicitly is a strong signal the receiving filter is one of these products, since Invaluement's data isn't queried directly by most consumer mailbox providers.

No public DNS zone to self-query

Unlike Spamhaus ZEN or SpamRATS, Invaluement does not run an open DNS zone that you can query directly with dig. There is no something.invaluement.com lookup to run yourself for a quick check. To confirm a listing, you need to use Invaluement's own lookup tool on their website, or infer it from a bounce message that names ivmSIP or ivmSIP/24 explicitly.

How to check

1. Look at your bounce/rejection logs for a reference to "invaluement," "ivmSIP," or "ivmSIP/24" in the rejection text — mail filters that use Invaluement as an add-on typically name it in the rejection reason.
2. Use Invaluement's own listing-check page for your IP if you don't have a bounce to work from.

If you're listed on ivmSIP (single IP)

This means your specific IP's traffic to Invaluement's trap network was almost entirely spam. Before requesting removal:

• Confirm whether this is your own infrastructure sending spam (compromised account, misconfigured relay) or a shared/dedicated IP where you inherited another tenant's history.
• Fix the root cause completely — ivmSIP's listing threshold is high-confidence by design, so a listing here usually reflects a real, sustained pattern rather than a borderline case.

If you're listed on ivmSIP/24 (your whole subnet)

This is a hosting-provider-level problem as much as an individual-sender one — your specific IP may be clean, but enough of your neighbours on the same /24 aren't. There's limited remediation available to an individual tenant beyond:

• Confirming your own sending is clean so you're not contributing to the pattern.
• Asking your host whether they're aware of the listing and what they're doing about abuse elsewhere in the block.
• Requesting a different IP or a dedicated IP outside the flagged /24, if that option exists with your provider.

Removal process

1. Go to invaluement.com's removal page directly.
2. Submit the listed IP or subnet along with a description of what caused it and what's been fixed.
3. Provide supporting detail — authentication status (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), what remediation was taken, and confirmation the sending cause has stopped. Invaluement reviews requests manually rather than offering instant self-service removal.
4. Expect a response window measured in business hours to a couple of days for well-documented requests, not instant delisting.

What not to do

• Don't try to find a public DNS zone to self-check. There isn't a free one for ivmSIP or ivmSIP/24; relying on a generic multi-checker result for these two lists specifically is often unreliable.
• Don't submit a removal request with no explanation. Invaluement's process is manual review, and a bare "please remove me" request with no remediation detail is the slowest path through it.
• Don't expect ivmSIP/24 removal to be in your control alone if the cause is a neighbour's IP on the same subnet, not your own sending.
• Don't assume a multi-list checker's "clean" result rules out an Invaluement listing. Because there's no public zone, most free checkers simply skip Invaluement's lists entirely rather than reporting them as clean — a green row for every zone shown is not the same thing as confirmed clean on ivmSIP.

A typical rejection message

A mail server using Invaluement as an add-on signal will usually say so directly in the SMTP rejection text, which is the fastest way to recognise this specific cause rather than guessing from a generic bounce:

550 5.7.1 Message rejected due to Invaluement ivmSIP listing. See https://www.invaluement.com/ for details.

If you see wording like this, go straight to Invaluement's own lookup and removal pages rather than running a broader DNSBL sweep first — the specific list is already named.

How MailPilot helps

MailPilot's blocklist monitoring tracks the lists that corporate spam filters actually consult as add-ons, including Invaluement's lists, and pairs that with per-mailbox reputation tracking — so a listing caused by shared infrastructure is visible before it costs you inbox placement elsewhere.