Discussion
Now I know that spam can gather all sorts of stuff from you if you reply or respond, but why does it always seem to be telling about some st0ck in the USA? Or else it's telling me that my m0rtgage application has been successful.
I have noticed that it often uses the 'zero' in stock instead of an 'o' (which allows me to create a simple Outlook rule to deal with the stuff).
I tried McAfee Spamfilter, but that seemed to stop most of me legit mail too
Comments / suggestions?
I'm considering altering my mail address to try to avoid getting the stuff.
I have noticed that it often uses the 'zero' in stock instead of an 'o' (which allows me to create a simple Outlook rule to deal with the stuff).
I tried McAfee Spamfilter, but that seemed to stop most of me legit mail too
Comments / suggestions?
I'm considering altering my mail address to try to avoid getting the stuff.
The reason that special characters are used is because of stupid spam blocker software.
If a mail arrived with a title of Cheap Shampoo and that was a known spam message it would be blocked.
Cheap Shamp00 however wouldnt give a match and hence gets delivered.
This is also the reason that some spam contains what appear to be sentences of complete nonsense.
If a mail arrived with a title of Cheap Shampoo and that was a known spam message it would be blocked.
Cheap Shamp00 however wouldnt give a match and hence gets delivered.
This is also the reason that some spam contains what appear to be sentences of complete nonsense.
tycho said:My point exactly - we all recognise what they are, and delete them...so why do spammers persist in sending them out? They are just a pain....presumably anyone who took them up on their offer when the spammer has obviously been devious in their mailing methods must be mad.
I can't help but wonder what kind of person would buy stuff from these kind of adverts.
Well I responded to some of these adverts and my penis is now 3 feet long, it stays up all night, I have a $500k interest-free mortgage and an endless stream of bored housewives and college girls beat a path to my door on an hourly basis.
Allegedly.
>> Edited by JonRB on Thursday 20th January 16:42
Allegedly.
>> Edited by JonRB on Thursday 20th January 16:42
Plotloss said:
The reason that special characters are used is because of stupid spam blocker software.
If a mail arrived with a title of Cheap Shampoo and that was a known spam message it would be blocked.
Cheap Shamp00 however wouldnt give a match and hence gets delivered.
This is also the reason that some spam contains what appear to be sentences of complete nonsense.
Any spam software worth it's salt should be doing character substitution - $ for S 1 for l etc etc.
wolosp said:
I tried McAfee Spamfilter, but that seemed to stop most of me legit mail too
Comments / suggestions?
I find Mailwasher is excellent (even the free version) - you can see the headers at the server and delete/bounce/blacklist as required. Takes a few moments but you bounce all the crud and so it also stops viruses. When you've done that, you open OE (or whatever) and the ones you want are downloaded.
Highly recommmend Spambayes, a free outlook addin.
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net
Have to say I am usually pretty synical about stuff like this but once up and running is quite remarkable. Needs a week or two of training to get really good, so give it a while to get going.
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net
Have to say I am usually pretty synical about stuff like this but once up and running is quite remarkable. Needs a week or two of training to get really good, so give it a while to get going.
Things you can do to prevent / combat SPAM
1.) Email address on your website(s)
Do not use plain mailto links on your website(s)
Basically just as search engines (google,ask ..)
index your web pages by gathering/harvesting the text content. SPAMMERS use bots (clever software agents)
to harvest your easy to grab email addresses.
To prevent this you can encode your link,
so that the bots have more processing to do so may just go and grab someone elses and ignore your address. Try searching google for email address encoder. You just paste the html code into your page instead of the ordinary mailto link.
2.) HTML or emails with fancy pictures
When spammers send you photos /emaisl with pics the code the images so they know if you looked at the image/photo. This tells them your email address works and you read it ! If you opt to receieve emails in plain text, they have a harder time.
The downside of this is many newsletters/statements use images to give you a richer experience.
3.) use a plugin with outlook
You can download a free plugin and use it so that any
bad emails are neutralised before you can read them.
I personally use the free spampal plugin available from spampal.org.
4.) Alternatively use web based email like hotmail.com
BEcause they have millions of users you all benefit from their collective expertise. Their filtering software is being used by millions, so chances are they have already seen many of your spam messages before. You can contribute to this collective expertise by rating SPAM as SPAM !
Disadvantages is you need to be connected to the net to read or send mail.....problematic if your not on broadband/unlimited internet access.
Hope this was useful !
Ramesh
1.) Email address on your website(s)
Do not use plain mailto links on your website(s)
Basically just as search engines (google,ask ..)
index your web pages by gathering/harvesting the text content. SPAMMERS use bots (clever software agents)
to harvest your easy to grab email addresses.
To prevent this you can encode your link,
so that the bots have more processing to do so may just go and grab someone elses and ignore your address. Try searching google for email address encoder. You just paste the html code into your page instead of the ordinary mailto link.
2.) HTML or emails with fancy pictures
When spammers send you photos /emaisl with pics the code the images so they know if you looked at the image/photo. This tells them your email address works and you read it ! If you opt to receieve emails in plain text, they have a harder time.
The downside of this is many newsletters/statements use images to give you a richer experience.
3.) use a plugin with outlook
You can download a free plugin and use it so that any
bad emails are neutralised before you can read them.
I personally use the free spampal plugin available from spampal.org.
4.) Alternatively use web based email like hotmail.com
BEcause they have millions of users you all benefit from their collective expertise. Their filtering software is being used by millions, so chances are they have already seen many of your spam messages before. You can contribute to this collective expertise by rating SPAM as SPAM !
Disadvantages is you need to be connected to the net to read or send mail.....problematic if your not on broadband/unlimited internet access.
Hope this was useful !
Ramesh
Prof Higgins said:
Highly recommmend Spambayes, a free outlook addin.
http://spambayes.sourceforge.net
Have to say I am usually pretty synical about stuff like this but once up and running is quite remarkable. Needs a week or two of training to get really good, so give it a while to get going.
Spambayes is the dog's bollocks. I run it on my Linux mail server and it works like a dream.
My ISP has started running Brightmail - which is utterly fantastic. I get about one or two SPAM messages through a day - this used to be hundreds.
Demon Internet - good service.
At work I use Sunbelt Software's iHateSpam - which is not as effective but still very good for almost no money. $17. Can't argue with that.
Getting a SPAM filter is a little like diving into a cool pool on a hot sticky day - what a relief!
Demon Internet - good service.
At work I use Sunbelt Software's iHateSpam - which is not as effective but still very good for almost no money. $17. Can't argue with that.
Getting a SPAM filter is a little like diving into a cool pool on a hot sticky day - what a relief!
BliarOut said:
I wouldn't have said this a few years ago, but get a hotmail account. Spam is a minor distraction. On this count, MS seem to have got their act together. I only get one or two spams in my hotmail a day.
Scary but true - my once stuffed hotmail account, riddled with spam, is so quiet now I'm thinking of using it as my real email address and forgetting my work email address that gets at least five spam messages a day.
TheExcession said:Five a day? You're worried about five a day? Try having a website and a downloadable product both with your email address on them which have been in circulation for 8 years. I get about 250 a day and reckon I get off pretty lightly.
I'm thinking of using it as my real email address and forgetting my work email address that gets at least five spam messages a day.
TheExcession said:
I wouldn't have said this a few years ago, but get a hotmail account. Spam is a minor distraction. On this count, MS seem to have got their act together. I only get one or two spams in my hotmail a day.
Scary but true - my once stuffed hotmail account, riddled with spam, is so quiet now I'm thinking of using it as my real email address and forgetting my work email address that gets at least five spam messages a day.
Oh
Who would ever have thought it! I just wish I could use the "report as junk mail" feature in OE when I use it as a hotmail client. 
to MS on this. I'm quick to criticise when they get it wrong, but it's only fair to "big em up" when they do get it right.JonRB said:
I'm thinking of using it as my real email address and forgetting my work email address that gets at least five spam messages a day.
Five a day? You're worried about five a day? Try having a website and a downloadable product both with your email address on them which have been in circulation for 8 years. I get about 250 a day and reckon I get off pretty lightly.
That's the trouble with having a domain (or several) that's been around a long time. One of the servers at my office which serves less than 15 users currently gets about 60,000 spam messages a day...
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