spam email

[carioca]

hi i know this is nothing to do with M/Hs but has anybody got any idea how i can stop getting crap emails i dont know where they have got my email address from. i have a spam filter on but they still get through every day i add them to blocked senders list but they keep coming from different addresses its not a problem just boring :-( :'(

[Guest peter]

If you're using Outlook Express it's notorious for spam. Use a web based mail service like Hotmail or Yahoo, it's free and I never get spam with Hotmail as it's filtered put by Microsoft spam filters. Or you could have a word with your ISP as they should have spam filters on their servers. Hope this helps. Peter

[carioca]

thanks for that peter i'll isp first i think (lol)

[Guest caraprof]

You ought to try two separate email addresses as well. I have one email address that is for general use amongst friends etc. and a second one that I use if I ever do business on the web. This at least keeps your main address clean.

Sometimes there is no choice but to change your email address. I last did it three years ago (my second address that is) as it was getting too much spam.

I have a friend who uses a service that filters every email. When he first used it and I sent him an email I received a message asking what my connection with him was. I filled in a simple form, which they then send to him and he authorised me as an accredited user. This only has to be done once of course.

The beauty of a system like this is that all of these spam messages are generated automatically and when the spam computer gets the return email it cannot do the verification, so the email never gets to my friend and all spam is eliminated.

I can't remember the name of the service, for which you pay a small fee, but a web search should find it easily.

Finally, I'm unclear as to how a different type of email application can help. Personally I don't like web email like Hotmail and much prefer a POP3 system using Outlook or Outlook Express. I also have a Hotmail account and yes, it has a spam filter but you still need to check the spam folder just in case an email is accidentally stopped as spam.

I had such a case only two days ago when I was waiting for an urgent email and eventually I checked my ISP's quarantine folder (my ISP has a superb spam filter but its a business only ISP that I use for my firm's website and email) and the email had been treated as spam just because of a couple of innocuous words. It's a brave man who will empty his spam folder without a quick glance for wrongly intercepted mail!

[crinklystarfish]

I found it useful to unsubscribe from as many 'reputable' companies' mailing lists as possible. I absolutely insist these days that none of them send me mail. Whether it's coincidence, I have no idea, but my 12 yr old outlook account is now almost free of spam. I suspect that having your address in the public domain, even if it is supposedly in the charge of known companies, opens up the possibility of exploitation?

Are you 'mailing list' free?

[carioca]

thanks people i think it is coming from a web site my son has used callen cluburban specials in america i thimk this because a lot if not all of the emails have a reference to barbados in them. i have unscribed to club urban emails as advised will just have to wait & see :-( ;-)

[Guest caraprof]

crinklystarfish - 2007-07-26 11:59 PM

I found it useful to unsubscribe from as many 'reputable' companies' mailing lists as possible. I absolutely insist these days that none of them send me mail. Whether it's coincidence, I have no idea, but my 12 yr old outlook account is now almost free of spam. I suspect that having your address in the public domain, even if it is supposedly in the charge of known companies, opens up the possibility of exploitation?

Are you 'mailing list' free?

This is true but a word of warning. Never 'unsubscribe' to spam mail from companies that you have never heard of. Most spam destination email addresses are randomly generated. They will generate millions of addresses in the hope that some will get through to a genuine one.

If they strike lucky and get through to you and you respond by hitting the 'unsubscribe' option, you have simply comfirmed to them that you exist.

[Tony Jones]

caraprof - 2007-07-26 11:03 PMI have a friend who uses a service that filters every email. When he first used it and I sent him an email I received a message asking what my connection with him was. I filled in a simple form, which they then send to him and he authorised me as an accredited user. This only has to be done once of course.

The beauty of a system like this is that all of these spam messages are generated automatically and when the spam computer gets the return email it cannot do the verification, so the email never gets to my friend and all spam is eliminated.

I can't remember the name of the service, for which you pay a small fee, but a web search should find it easily

I've got one of these, called Choicemail, and the version I use is free. Works fine, and you can get it at www.digiportal.comOnly thing is, you still get some "Mailer-Daemon" reports, that the message asking the sender to identify themselves hasn't been delivered - usually because it's a phonel or temporary e-m address. You have to delete those, but at least you don't get the content of the spam which is usually the really offensive thing.Tony