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SPAM FILTER
Keep spam out of your Inbox
What can I do about spam?
Now, how can I ignore those spam emails? How can I keep them out of my Inbox? You need a spam filter!
We've all tried the old way - using a "block the sender" function. Basically, this is a specific filter (called a "rule" by some programs) that says "if an email comes from him, put it in the spam folder." Whether you use Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora (like I do), Mozilla Thunderbird, or some other email program, they almost all provide a way to block or trash emails from specific individuals or domains. But, that doesn't work any more...
Your ISP's spam filter
Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have some form of optional anti-spam software on their mailservers. Note that I said optional -- sometimes they make you turn the function on. Almost all ISPs will let you turn the function off. This anti-spam system is not meant to catch out-going spam (they use other tricks for that) -- it is designed to identify incoming emails by their characteristics and classify them as spam if appropriate.You may have to look around to find the "preferences" settings location at your ISP's web site. At Cox.net, the settings are in the section "Customer Tool Box" on the right-hand side of the local cox.net homepage. The ISP systems do a pretty good job, but no system is perfect.
You should have alternatives to "label it as spam" or "identify spam and delete it."
While many people have told me that they let their ISP delete the spam emails, I recommend that you use the "label it" option and allow it to come to your computer. Then, use the "filters" or "rules" capability of your email program to put these in a folder you call spam.
I'm sure you know Murphy's Law: "If something can go wrong, it will." Murphy's Law applies with a vengence to email systems.
My First Law of Email"Some spam will get to the Inbox. You can't block all spam without blocking legitimate emails that you really want.".
My Second Law of Email"The more important an email, the more likely that a spam filter is to mis-classify it as spam.".
Running your own spam filter
One of the first things you can do can prevent spam from ever reaching your mailbox. Mailwasher Pro lets you log into your mail account, view the sender, subject, size and more. You can also preview the email itself in a safe manner, from within the Mailwasher Pro program. Mailwasher Pro will learn what you think is spam and will preclassify the emails. You can tell it to delete the spam, phishing and virus emails. Alternatively, you can make Mailwsasher Pro bounce the message back, as if your email address was no good. The goal of this bounce-back is to get your name off the spammers' lists! Mailwasher has a free trial version.
You can also use a third-party anti-spam program that automatically pre-screens and handles the spam on your computer. If you use a third-party program, you use it to identify and label the spam, and then set the rules/filters in your email program to take the appropriate action -- this might be "delete," but I recommend transferring them to a "junk" or "spam" folder so you can review them occasionally.
You should review the contents of the junk/spam folder occasionally to see if there is anything important in it. No anti-spam system is perfect. Unfortunately, they make errors both ways. Sometimes, hey fail to identify spam as being spam. Other times, they mis-identify good emails as spam. If you let your ISP delete them, or if you delete them without checking, you'll miss some important emails.
Watch the Fallout!
My number one rule of email is: if I am expecting an important email, check the spam folder. It might be there. Murphy's Law of Email says "the more important the email is, the more likely it is to be classified as spam."
Link to this page — just add this code to your web page!
<a href="http://www.terryscomputertips.com/computers/spam-filter.php">Spam Filter | Keeping spam out of your Inbox</a>
Copyright © 2005-2006 Terry A. Stockdale. All rights reserved.
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