Computer Group
Protection Against SPAM on Your PC
Summary
This is to update this document, which was written in 2007 when we were getting too much Spam. Today the problem seems to me to be that too much of our email is considered Spam and is not delivered to our Inboxes. I checked my Spam folder recently and found 46 emails, of which there were 34 that I did not consider to be Spam. I found that my Internet Service Provider, AT&T, has changed its Spam sensing system and the new system relies on me to tell it what is Spam and what is not. So I recommend that you 1) check to see what your Internet Service Provider does with what it considers to be Spam 2) rescue any email that you do not consider to be Spam and 3) find out what your Spam sensing system expects you to do.
Details for AT&T
In 2007 the SNET sensing system was in www.maillink.prodigy.com and we gave suggestions on controlling Spam there. AT&T has taken over SNET and the maillink system is no longer available. If you are using AT&T as your Internet Service Provider, AT&T is deciding which email you will receive; so it is important that you know how this system works, even if you use Outlook or some other program for accessing your email. If you are not using AT&T as your Internet Service Provider, reading this may help you understand what can be detected and motivate you to find out if a similar system is used on your email.
AT&T uses a program called SpamGuard which does not carry over any settings that you put into maillink. If it decides that an email is Spam it puts it into a Spam folder. If you are using Outlook or a similar program, you will never see the emails in the AT&T Spam folder unless you get on the Internet, go to att.net and log in. If you see email in the Spam folder that you do not consider to be Spam, you can click a Not Spam button and that email will be moved to the Inbox folder. Conversely, if you see email in the Inbox folder that you do consider to be Spam, you can click a Spam button and the email will be moved to the Spam folder. This user input is necessary to train the SpamGuard program to recognize what you consider to be Spam, so it is important to check the AT&T Spam folder every few days.
If the sender of an email is in your AT&T Address book, the email will not be put into the Spam folder. So, if you are using Outlook or a similar program, you should consider exporting your Outlook Address Book to the AT&T program. Outlook and similar programs also can have Spam filters that you should understand or turn off. You can block email senders addresses so their email goes to the Spam folder. AT&T supplies disposable addresses that you can use if you suspect that an email will attract Spam; if it attracts Spam, you can dispose of the address.
Details for Comcast
Like AT&T, Comcast has a Spam folder and Spam and Not Spam buttons. Unlike AT&T, the default is to NOT put Spam into the Spam folder. In order to see if you have any Spam in the folder, you should do the following:
- On the Internet go to www.comcast.net, click Email and sign in. -> SmartZone
- Click the Spam folder.
If you never get any Spam in the folder, you should consider doing the following:
- In SmartZone, Click the Preferences and Email tabs. -> “Settings Managed on comcast.net”
- Scroll down to Schedule Email Deletion.
- Next to Spam click the number of days you want Spam kept for you to check it.
- Scroll back up to the top and click Spam Filtering/Confirmation. -> A request for your password.
- Supply your password again and click Sign In. -> Edit Spam Filter
- If the circle to the left of Enable Spam Filter does not have a dot in it, click the circle to get a dot.
- If the box to the left of “Keep a local copy in my Screened Mail Filter” is not checked, click it to check it.
- Click Save. -> “Your changes have been saved”.
- Click OK. If you get “Your changes have been saved” again, click Cancel.
That should activate your Spam Folder. Check the Spam folder every few days.
If you have any trouble using the information above, let me know. If you have any good or bad results, especially with other email programs or Internet Service Providers, that you think will help others, send them to me and I’ll try to publish them on our Internet website.
Good Luck,
Bill Fitzgerald
3/2/2010
Other Comments
Bill,
My email comes through the ATT/Yahoo server. For spam, I find that most of the true spam is captured by the yahoo server before it hits my computer. Occasionally I find that the spam folder on the yahoo server will contain a message that is not spam. I click on “not spam” and future messages come through ok. I previously used Outlook, which has its own spam folder, but mail directed to that folder on my computer was rarely spam.
Spam is a major problem for most of us. My wife uses a yahoo mail account with her MAC computer and her spam folder on the yahoo server accumulates several hundred spam messages per day and a few that reach her inbox as not identified by the yahoo filter as spam.
Anyway, I thank you for devoting your time to this important issue.
Regards,
Frank
Hi Bill,
Thanks for the information. I misunderstood your point about using reverse lookup and thought it was part of the Outlook settings. So I won’t be able to use it after all.
What I have done, however, seems to be working o.k. I use the MS Office Outlook spam filter and, in addition, a product called InBoxer (http://www.inboxer.com/products.shtml ). I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if InBoxer uses reverse lookup as part of its formulas. The program is available on a 21 day free trial and/or a one time charge of $39.95.
Using these two tactics, I usually receive no spam in my inbox. Outlook does put spam into a Junk E-Mail folder which I review daily and rarely find anything that’s been blocked by mistake.
The InBoxer program also puts spam into it’s own “InBoxer Blocked” folder where I can review it. So far it hasn’t blocked any good e-mail. If it finds something its not sure of, it does put it into an “InBoxer Review” folder where I can look at it and decide what to do. Most of the time, these are good e-mails which I want to keep and I simply click an InBoxer button that will accept that sender as a good guy. I get maybe one or two of these a day.
Thanks again for your presentation. Hope you find my information helpful.
Jack Alexander