Acceptable use policy
Everyone here shares one domain and one mail reputation. If a single mailbox sends spam, mail from every viljoen.co.za address starts landing in junk folders. That's why this policy exists and why we enforce it firmly — protecting your mail means acting quickly on someone else's abuse.
Don't do these things
Spam and bulk mail
- Sending unsolicited bulk email of any kind
- Sending marketing to people who didn't ask for it
- Using this mailbox as the reply-to or contact address for spam sent elsewhere
- Harvesting, buying, or mailing scraped address lists
- Running a mailing list or newsletter from this mailbox — it isn't built for that; use a proper bulk-mail service
Deception and fraud
- Phishing, or any attempt to trick people into giving up passwords, card details, or money
- Pretending to be someone you are not — including any other person, a business, or us
- Forging headers or disguising where a message came from
- Advance-fee fraud, fake invoices, business email compromise
Harm to people
- Harassment, threats, stalking, or targeted abuse
- Hate speech, or incitement to violence or harm
- Child sexual abuse material — we report this to the authorities immediately, without notice
- Distributing someone's private information to expose or endanger them
Technical abuse
- Sending malware, ransomware, or malicious attachments and links
- Attacking, probing, or attempting to gain unauthorised access to any system, ours or anyone else's
- Using automation to send at a volume that degrades the service for others
- Reselling your mailbox or sharing it as a shared or group inbox
Unlawful use
- Anything illegal under South African law
- Infringing copyright or trade marks
Impersonation and names
We won't allocate an address that appears designed to impersonate someone — a public figure, a business, or a role that would make you look like part of our staff. Addresses like support, billing and admin are reserved permanently and never sold, for exactly this reason.
Sharing a name with someone well known is not a problem. Presenting yourself as them is.
Where your mail is forwarded to
A free address points at an inbox somewhere else, which creates its own ways to cause harm. All of the following are prohibited:
- Giving us a destination inbox that is not yours — you may not point this domain's mail at another person, whether to harass them, to bury them in traffic, or for any other reason. This is why we confirm the destination before switching an address on.
- Using an address to sign up for high-volume mail with the intent that it lands on somebody else.
- Chaining forwarding so that mail loops between services.
- Pointing an address at a mailing list, ticketing system, or anything that auto-replies in a way that generates loops or backscatter.
If you change where your mail goes, tell us and we will confirm the new inbox first. We will not move a route on the strength of an email alone.
What happens if you break this policy
Serious abuse means immediate suspension. Phishing, malware, spam runs, and illegal material are acted on as soon as we see them, without warning. Your mailbox stops sending and receiving that day.
A suspension for abuse is permanent, and it is not refunded. We don't reactivate a mailbox suspended for breaking this policy — this is the one part of the service where there is no second chance, because the cost of getting it wrong falls on every other customer.
For minor or ambiguous things — an unclear bulk send, a borderline name — we'll email you first and give you a chance to explain or fix it. We'd much rather have a conversation.
Where the law requires it, we report abuse to the authorities and preserve evidence.
Reporting abuse
If you receive something abusive from a viljoen.co.za address, tell us at support@viljoen.co.za. Please include the full message headers if you can — they let us find the source quickly. We take these seriously and act on them.
Changes
We may update this policy as new kinds of abuse appear. Material changes are emailed to customers before they take effect.