How do I stop SPAM?

minimeeze

minimeeze

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As per title really. I'm sick of getting loads of spam emails asking me all the usual things about the size of my penis (I don't have one), viagra, etc. I have some kind of spam filter that flags them all as spam, and I keep adding them all to my 'block sender list' but they still keep coming. Is there any way I can stop them without resorting to a new email address? I keep thinking I'm popular, only to find that I may have 1 real email :( and about 50 spam ones :lol:
 
minimeeze said:
As per title really. I'm sick of getting loads of spam emails asking me all the usual things about the size of my penis (I don't have one), viagra, etc. I have some kind of spam filter that flags them all as spam, and I keep adding them all to my 'block sender list' but they still keep coming. Is there any way I can stop them without resorting to a new email address? I keep thinking I'm popular, only to find that I may have 1 real email :( and about 50 spam ones :lol:
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whoops, must read op first.
 
Easiest way is to stop visiting those nawty sites you filthy minx


:D
 
Get a new email address and don't give it out to ANYONE (apart from friends & family). If you use it online to register for stuff, you'll eventually get spam. I use throwaway email accounts for that purpose (gmail usually) but once you start getting spam, there isn't much you can do about it.

You could, if you're using outlook, create a rule something along the lines of "if subject contains the following words: viagra, penis, etc, etc, then deliver to deleted items" Find in Tools -> Rules wizard.

HTH
 
Some ISPs have spam filtering that you can configure when you log into their webmail. Might be worth a look to see if it is already there and just need turning on. Virgin puts [SPAM?] in the title for the option I chose - then I just have a rule to move messages with that in the title to the junk folder.

There are programs you can install yourself that sort spam and mark or delete the messages. I used one called K9 years ago which was free. They work as a proxy on your computer - they fetch and sort the mail then your email prog gets the mail from it. There are probably other free ones around.
 
mattyh said:
*snip*
You could, if you're using outlook, create a rule something along the lines of "if subject contains the following words: viagra, penis, etc, etc, then deliver to deleted items" Find in Tools -> Rules wizard.

HTH
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Thats what I use. The mail still gets downloaded but it gets marked as read then deleted.

Never ever ever click an unsubscribe link , it just lets them know that they have found a live address
 
I have a couple of webmail addresses that I use for signing up to things and online shopping, they attract 99% of the spam I get, my 'proper' address gets hardly any because very few people have it.
 
Use Thunderbird for email, it's anti-spam learns and does a great job. My hosting company also uses grey listing which stops most of it getting through to start with.

Grey listing is fairly new method of beating spam. When a message arrives the mail server returns an error - most spam gives up at that point whereas a real mail delivery will retry later at which point it is allowed through. This does cause a delay of anything from a few mins to a few hours (depending on the mail server sending it) but any email address that passes through is allowed straight through for the seven days after the last one so for regular email the delay only happens occasionally.

Mass mailers don't deal with errors very well because they're only written to deliver mail and give up on any error but they will adapt to deal with grey listing at some point.
 
pxl8 said:
UMy hosting company also uses grey listing which stops most of it getting through to start with.
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My hosting company also use greylisting and it's made an enormus difference to the amount of Dpam I get.
 
Wish somebody would send me a penis enlargement spam:'(:'(:'(:'(:'(











:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
 
I use the Spambeyes plug in for Outlook. It self learns and is pretty accurate.

With my ISP using a spam filter as well, I still receive loads of spam, but thankfully I don't get to see it.
 
Thanks for all your replies. Some very good suggestions in there. For now, I have set the rules to delete any spam emails with dodgy titles, so I'll see if that makes any difference. I may consider setting up a new email account though. I currently have hotmail and ntlworld accounts. Any suggestions what to try next?
 
mattyh said:
Get a new email address and don't give it out to ANYONE (apart from friends & family). If you use it online to register for stuff, you'll eventually get spam. I use throwaway email accounts for that purpose (gmail usually) but once you start getting spam, there isn't much you can do about it.HTH
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A lot of spam doesn't work like that Matty. Email address are randomly generated then the spammer block spams a whole domian.

So for instance, if they want to spam a load of ebay users, they just spam:

asmanynamecombinationsastheycan@ebay.co.uk

As the spammer doesn't use a valid mail address, they don't care about bounced or invalid addresses as they never see the failure reports.

So even if you never used your email address, you might find at some point you will get some spam.

Agreed that giving your mail address out to all and sundry will only speed up the time and rate at which you will get spam though :)
 
pxl8 said:
Use Thunderbird for email, it's anti-spam learns and does a great job. My hosting company also uses grey listing which stops most of it getting through to start with.

Grey listing is fairly new method of beating spam. When a message arrives the mail server returns an error - most spam gives up at that point whereas a real mail delivery will retry later at which point it is allowed through. This does cause a delay of anything from a few mins to a few hours (depending on the mail server sending it) but any email address that passes through is allowed straight through for the seven days after the last one so for regular email the delay only happens occasionally.

Mass mailers don't deal with errors very well because they're only written to deliver mail and give up on any error but they will adapt to deal with grey listing at some point.
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I use Merak Mail server, and the Challenge response it pretty cool, anyone that emails you gets a return mail, they have to click a link to release the mail they initially sent. Each user only has to do this once, to prove they are a real person.

You can add auto mailers to your whitelist manually (ebay.co.uk, paypal.com etc)
 
a lot of email addresses spammed come from information harvested online, so by posting your email address online you increase your chances of getting spammed, which is what I was trying to say.

I purposely post my email addresses places that scammers (rather than spammers) will find it, so I can waste as much of their time as possible :D
 
you can't stop spam, you can only limit your exposure to it.

A spam filter and a good set of rules will only help. I have a seperate gmail account for registering on places which may spam me.

Never reply to a spam message.
 
I use mailwasher, it prevents the spam getting onto your computer, you can choose what to blacklist before downloading mail from your isp. As for keeping email address strictly to family & friends it does'nt always work, I suddenly started getting around 30-40 spam emails a day and my isp denied it was lack of security at their end. Now it has suddenly stopped and I get none now...weird.
 
mrgubby said:
Never ever ever click an unsubscribe link , it just lets them know that they have found a live address
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It makes no odds at all. If the spammer doesn't get a NDR (non delivery report) back from your mail server that alone means the address they have sent the spam to exists.
 
WildWalker said:
As the spammer doesn't use a valid mail address, they don't care about bounced or invalid addresses as they never see the failure reports.
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They do use valid addresses to send from, 99% of the time they just use mail servers that have relaying permitted. Unfortunately there's not a lot that can be done other than stop lazy admins from running unsecured mail servers and that's not going to happen!
 
Ross said:
It makes no odds at all. If the spammer doesn't get a NDR (non delivery report) back from your mail server that alone means the address they have sent the spam to exists.
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I meant live as in an active address not as in a real address.

If you hit unsubscribe you are waving a flag saying that they've hit on a live / read address
 
The easiest way is to set up a new domain name for email only.

Have it hosted for pop 3 purposes with a company that allows you a control panel which includes a spam filter.

This means you can add/amend words rather than addresses.

Can be important when your clients include companies involved in construction thus needing to keep the word "erection" in their emails.

Also consider banning any email withot a title.
 
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