This is a frequent question, and basically the answer is to look for
similar addresses.  Usually you SCAN your subscriber list for related domains

e.g., if the bounce is from [log in to unmask] you
would SCAN your list for any partial match of

hostx.domainy.tlid
or
domainy.tlid
or
tlid

and see if you can find a related userid.

OR you could SCAN your list for

lastname
or
firstname
or
some combination of initials based upon firstname/lastname

If this does not provide a "hit" and you are receiving your bounce
reports via the Daily Error Monitor, then turn OFF the monitor to see if
you can get a "fuller" report.  The fuller report would include RECEIVED
line headers (display by most mail clients) that might indicate
autoforwarding.  Repeat above SCANs.

Finally, you might need to contact the "bouncing" host site's POSTMASTER
for more assistance in searching their SMTP delivery logs.

/Pete Weiss at Penn State
--------------------


At 09:28 2/20/98 -0600, you wrote:
|I am co-owner of several listservs, and we have been getting several error
|messages every time we post a message.  The message we get reads "address
|with permanent fatal error."  The problem is, these addresses cannot be
|matched to any of our subscribers and, in fact, they do not even show up
|on the lists of names we get when we do a review list commant.  We have
|tried to go in and "unscribe" the addresses (even though they were not
|ever officially subscribed), but this does not work.  Do any of you know
|how to clean up lists of addresses with permanent fatal errors?  Thanks in
|advance.