spam - becoming a real problem.
Discussion
I've never had a problem with spam before on the works email address really - sure I'd get the odd few here and there, but nothing I couldn't cope with.
Now, I have literally hundreds coming into the office each day, 340 today so far in fact. what can be done?! I've turned all the spam filtering thingies on as far as I can (which just nicely puts (spam?) in front of each email, and I've set up download rules on the email server (which sends me (autodeleted advice) ) but basically still getting shed loads of shit through including loads of "failed deliver" from people I supposedly sent emails to but haven't
I've run every bit of ad, spy and anti virus I could find to make sure my PC isn't sending info out, all PC's here clean as a whistle.
Now, I have literally hundreds coming into the office each day, 340 today so far in fact. what can be done?! I've turned all the spam filtering thingies on as far as I can (which just nicely puts (spam?) in front of each email, and I've set up download rules on the email server (which sends me (autodeleted advice) ) but basically still getting shed loads of shit through including loads of "failed deliver" from people I supposedly sent emails to but haven't
I've run every bit of ad, spy and anti virus I could find to make sure my PC isn't sending info out, all PC's here clean as a whistle.
I've had that, it sounds like a spammer has used your email address as the fake sender for a spam mailshot. This results in all the bounces being returned to the sender, i.e. you.
The only thing you can do is ignore them, they should drop away after a day or so, and you will also probably get a few flame emails from people directly for spamming them.
Don't know what spam filter you're using, I find the Outlook 2003 one seems pretty good - it hasn't binned a single genuine email, and seems to filter about 95% of spam.
The only thing you can do is ignore them, they should drop away after a day or so, and you will also probably get a few flame emails from people directly for spamming them.
Don't know what spam filter you're using, I find the Outlook 2003 one seems pretty good - it hasn't binned a single genuine email, and seems to filter about 95% of spam.
If it's your work email address why not just get your IT department to sort it out?
Otherwise, Cloudmark Desktop works pretty well and integrates directly with Outlook (if that's what you use).
Mailwasher Pro isn't bad too, but it is a standalone app meaning getting email becomes a 2-step process which is a bit of a pain in the neck.
Otherwise, Cloudmark Desktop works pretty well and integrates directly with Outlook (if that's what you use).
Mailwasher Pro isn't bad too, but it is a standalone app meaning getting email becomes a 2-step process which is a bit of a pain in the neck.
received 20 more since I typed that last email 
It's been over a series of weeks that it's been getting worse, so my hopes of it subsiding are remote. Most of the spam is either for viagra, cheap medication or shares I "must not miss" the opportunity of - usually the same email 10 or 20 times to different (non existant) users@ourdomain.co.uk. Unfortunately mine is the postmaster account so this is exacerbating the problem - anything unrecognised gets sent to me for correct routing!
I've set up the spam filtering our ISP provide, plus the filter on Thunderbird, not a great deal of difference. Think I need a third party filter here
It's been over a series of weeks that it's been getting worse, so my hopes of it subsiding are remote. Most of the spam is either for viagra, cheap medication or shares I "must not miss" the opportunity of - usually the same email 10 or 20 times to different (non existant) users@ourdomain.co.uk. Unfortunately mine is the postmaster account so this is exacerbating the problem - anything unrecognised gets sent to me for correct routing! I've set up the spam filtering our ISP provide, plus the filter on Thunderbird, not a great deal of difference. Think I need a third party filter here
JonRB said:
If it's your work email address why not just get your IT department to sort it out?
Otherwise, Cloudmark Desktop works pretty well and integrates directly with Outlook (if that's what you use).
Mailwasher Pro isn't bad too, but it is a standalone app meaning getting email becomes a 2-step process which is a bit of a pain in the neck.
Otherwise, Cloudmark Desktop works pretty well and integrates directly with Outlook (if that's what you use).
Mailwasher Pro isn't bad too, but it is a standalone app meaning getting email becomes a 2-step process which is a bit of a pain in the neck.
I stupidly repaired one of the computers once... since then, I AM the IT department
ETA I'll look into mailwash pro, ta.
Edited by Davi on Tuesday 17th October 16:29
Davi said:
...usually the same email 10 or 20 times to different (non existant) users@ourdomain.co.uk. Unfortunately mine is the postmaster account so this is exacerbating the problem - anything unrecognised gets sent to me for correct routing!
I was told by my ISP to basically disable catch-all addresses and only allow real accounts - I was also getting spam directed to my domain, but for accounts@, accounting@, marketing@, sales@, support@, etc, so now unless its a real user email it just gets ditched.
The only down side is the minor risk that a genuinely mis-typed address, or a genuine unsolicited but worthwhile (oxymoron?) email, gets dropped.
Size Nine Elm said:
I was told by my ISP to basically disable catch-all addresses and only allow real accounts - I was also getting spam directed to my domain, but for accounts@, accounting@, marketing@, sales@, support@, etc, so now unless its a real user email it just gets ditched.
The only down side is the minor risk that a genuinely mis-typed address, or a genuine unsolicited but worthwhile (oxymoron?) email, gets dropped.
that would be my choice as well, unfortunately we have a lot of very dim clients and previous performance has shown they are not very adept at typing the address correctly so boss says 
to a catch all (hence why I have the postmaster assigned to my account, so I can dish the several a day out to the right person) I've put a manual block on accounts@ mail@ etc etc etc, but every day new and interesting ones come through - its definitely reduced the quantity slightly, but it doesn't help with the "johnsmithvps@" types which just keep on rolling
I feckin hate spammers.
Just spent the best part of £8k on a Barracuda Spam Firewall, it's stopped spam dead in it's tracks..
had just 2 come through today (out of 354 deleted spams!) and they were TAGGED as spam too, so I've only to set it to DROP instead of TAG and they'll be gonners, and that's before I've trained the Bayesian filters thoroughly!
Excellent service that my customers have been gagging to sign up for....
Depending on your size and budget it's something to contemplate.
J
had just 2 come through today (out of 354 deleted spams!) and they were TAGGED as spam too, so I've only to set it to DROP instead of TAG and they'll be gonners, and that's before I've trained the Bayesian filters thoroughly!
Excellent service that my customers have been gagging to sign up for....
Depending on your size and budget it's something to contemplate.
J
Davi said:
I stupidly repaired one of the computers once... since then, I AM the IT department
A schoolboy error!
I'd echo earlier comments about rejecting anything@domain.com leaving only the accounts you actually need able to receive email. This will immediately cut down on spam volume. Then look at an anti-spam solution as discussed above, with something like SpamAssassin perhaps being worth a look?
JonRB said:
Otherwise, Cloudmark Desktop works pretty well and integrates directly with Outlook (if that's what you use).
I had a free trial of Cloudmark recently. While it did an admirable job of directing spam into a separate spam folder, I struggled to see the point of paying a subscription for that when Outlook 2003 did 99.99% the same job sending items to the Junk Mail folder.
Not knocking Cloudmark per se, but I am curious as to what people are really getting when they subscribe?
I am tired of getting spam too, especially for "V14hGRA" and the like. I am actually very suited with my genital dimensions, do not need an extra 2-3", knocked off copies of Microsoft software or "$tock market hot picks!". Scum.
I uninstalled Cloudmark for a period of a month whilst I trialled Mailwasher Pro last month.
I found Mailwasher Pro to be a bit cumbersome insasmuch as it's a 2-step process - get it to look at your POP3 mail and scrub it and then use your mail client to download what's left. Annoying, and if anything happens to hit your inbox between the two events then it gets through.
I was also annoyed with the seemingly high number of false negatives (ie. spam getting through).
Thing is, since I've gone back to Cloudmark I've noticed a higher number of false negatives than before, so maybe there's some more clever spam out there at the moment.
Anyway, you asked why Cloudmark is better than what you've got. Its main advantage is the human element. It is a community effort. When you mark something as spam then everyone else benefits from it too. Likewise, you benefit from other people who happened to get a bit of spam before you.
It kills enough extra spam to earn its keep, so it's worth the $39.95 per year subscription in my opinion.
I found Mailwasher Pro to be a bit cumbersome insasmuch as it's a 2-step process - get it to look at your POP3 mail and scrub it and then use your mail client to download what's left. Annoying, and if anything happens to hit your inbox between the two events then it gets through.
I was also annoyed with the seemingly high number of false negatives (ie. spam getting through).
Thing is, since I've gone back to Cloudmark I've noticed a higher number of false negatives than before, so maybe there's some more clever spam out there at the moment.
Anyway, you asked why Cloudmark is better than what you've got. Its main advantage is the human element. It is a community effort. When you mark something as spam then everyone else benefits from it too. Likewise, you benefit from other people who happened to get a bit of spam before you.
It kills enough extra spam to earn its keep, so it's worth the $39.95 per year subscription in my opinion.
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