Spam, alive and well

JPete

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Founding Member
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Nov 5, 1997
Posts
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Huron SD USA
I just tonight received the return mail spam (virus etc.) with attachment. I did not open. I get two or three porn ones a day recently, which I quickly delete and empty the deleted folder. Just a reminder!!!
 
For those of you using Hotmail, the newest interface makes it easier to deal with spam.

Not easy - just easier.

You can block up to 250 specific senders, but that hasn't every been very useful. The big-time spammers use minor variations of return-to addresses. You can block debdoesdenver1567@yahoo.com, but that won't stop debdoesdenver1568@yahoo.com.

More useful are the custom filters, which actually work now. You can block or filter to the trash folder - sender names or subjects that contain key words. My list of key words reads like Things We Don't Say At The Dinner Table. Here are some examples: *****, ****, *****-****, ***, ********!

Lately, I've added words like 'amortization' and 'mortgage' since I'm getting a lot of refinancing offers. (If you have occasion to email me, don't mention 'amortization' or 'Viagra' in the subject line.)

I have all my PPFA Hitchhiker mail filtered into a special HH folder. My own postings to hitchhiker always end up in my junk folder, though, which I think is odd and amusing.

I've noticed Norton's AV is downloading new definition files almost daily now. If you're updating manually, or not at all, you may be in for a surprise.
 
How do those spam filters work when the subject line is totally unrelated to the body of the email? Example "Subject: Glad to hear from you". Then you open it up and the body of the email is for viagra spelled "v!g\a". I average at least 50 spam emails a day, I've had as many as 100 becouse of that latest virus.
 
Well, see Denny, I would never have opened that mail unless I recognized the sender.

I have Hotmail set to put mail from anyone on my contact list in the inbox and everything else in the junk folder where I can review it from time-to-time. It takes one click (and a confirmation click) to empty the junk folder. Or, anything that's in there for a week gets flushed automatically.

Hotmail can filter by key words in the subject, the from-name, the from-address or the to or cc lines. Anything that gets through there goes to the junk mail folder where it gets the two-click-flush. I get about ten-a-day in there, which I can live with.
 
I also recommend setting up a rule in Outlook or Outlook Express that moves all mail that doesn't specify your exact email address in either the To: or CC: fields to a Spam folder or directly to Deleted Items.

This will block over %75 of spam, but it also blocks any legitimate email newsletters that you might get, so you'll have to create a new rule for each one of those infront on your spam rule. But it's definately worth it.

Here's a link to a Outlook Rule Setup example...
 
Originally posted by WizSteve:
I also recommend setting up a rule in Outlook or Outlook Express.......This will block over %75 of spam, but it also blocks any legitimate email newsletters that you might get.....
Steve,

I'm going to give this a try.....I already had dozens and dozens of rules for individual SPAM senders, but of course that doesn't work! :rolleyes:

Since I already have rules to divert Email Newsletters to their appropriate folders, as long as my new SPAM rule follows after, I should be OK on not dumping those newsletters.

I'm not sure that I'll wipe out the 75% as you claim, since my observation shows that most of the SPAM we're receiving is addressed to our specific email address?

John
 
I do the same thing but have it look for about 300 different "words" in the subject line. If one is there, it gets moved to the crapper.

It helps, but the spammers are getting creative. There are about 100 ways they spell VIAGRA

Mike
 
I, without realizing what I was doing where MSN is concerned, changed my email address a coupla years ago, and almost NEVER get spam. Of course, I can't get any tech support for Outlook Express because MSN shows the old email addy as the 'Main Account', and so far, I haven't been able to get anybody at MSN to help me get OE set up so it'll work.
So....all my mail comes hotmail, no spam, but I can't email pictures either.
 
Actually Charles, I don't get much SPAM with my AOL mail either....built in filters where you can also go to check and see if legitimate mail was accidently filtered out. Your hotmail is probably similar.

Where I get SPAM is for my own website mail...where I use OE to retrive it from the server.

I set up the rules, as Steve's weblink suggested and it appears to be working. As Ron and Mike have both done, I've added a Rule for words in the content, and for rules in the subject line.

It is amazing: mortgage, mortg@ge, mortgagge, mor t gage.............I'm sure I'll discover more as the SPAM hits my new filters! :rolleyes:

John
 
Since my ISP recently incorporated Brightmail anti-spam measures, my spam count has reduced form around 200 to one or two per day. Before that I relied on MailWasher which could be set up to automatically bounce/delete stuff you know for certain is spam from the server, safely download the first few lines of anything a bit suspect for you to inspect, and optionally bounce/delete anything you you weren't happy with.

I know, bouncing probably does nothing to reduce spam and puts an extra burden on the net, but somehow it just feels good - you feel less of a victim.
 
John Ranes,
You are right! The built-in filters work really well.
Sometimes, though, I found I had to get really creative in knowing what to filter. But, they work well!!
 
] I know, bouncing probably does nothing to reduce spam and puts an extra burden on the net, but somehow it just feels good - you feel less of a victim.
Actually bouncing emails usually does no good at all. It just fills up your ISP's root mail account. If you have your own web site and email server, it will just come back to you and fill up your own root account email address. Any spammer worth their salt doesn't use a legimate return address or has their spam sending account set up to not accept mail. If you bounce their email it will be returned to your ISP and fill up their root account.

I have my own web site and email server. I used to bounce spam and untill I noticed that it was all coming back and filling up my root account.

Many also hijack bogus email addresses from unsuspecting web sites. Let's say you have a web site call MyFraming.Com. Spammers will send out email using an obsure email address with that web site such as dk3kfdiu4j590fjfms@MyFraming.Com. If the mail is undeliverable, it will be returned to that account or fill up your root account. If you have a catchall account (one for all addresses on your web site that aren't specifically assigned), that catchall account will get all these returns. The spammers only use it sporadically to try to avoid detection. Some days I get no returns from spammers, other days I get 20-30 returns. There's nothing that can be done about it. A spammer can put any return address they wish in an email. Until the day they require return address authentication, people that have web sites will get hit with this.
 
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