SPF: Include policy points to a record that does not exist

What this means

Your SPF record contains an ‘include:’ statement to a record which does not exist.

Why this is a problem

This will increase the “void lookup count” of your SPF record.

If this exceeds 2 then your SPF record will become void and this will then affect email deliverability and security.

How to check if the problem is there

Perform an iterative TXT lookup for every include record contained in your SPF records.

Verify that each lookup returns a valid SPF record.

You might want to use the following online tools to check for this issue:

• National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) check your email security tool
• Hardenize’s domain report tool

How to fix this

Identify whether this include record is still required.

If it is no longer required, remove it from your SPF record.

If it points to a third party service, contact the third party to inform them of the issue and retrieve the new location of the include to update in your SPF record accordingly.