OT - B****y Spams

Michael Hobby said:

Since 23rd December I have received 140 e-mails trying to persuade me to buy
software packages(all the same software - different "selling" companies) and
Viagra(don't need it anyway) These are filtered by my Norton package into my
spam bin. What annoys me however is that they are getting through to me in
the first place. Surely, in this day and age, there should be some means of
stopping them from getting to your computer at all. Surely there is the
technology somewhere. Anyone know anything?

Many ISPs offer spam filtering which, generally, works quite well.
Usually they will use a Bayesian filter, which tends to prove quite
successful. In practice, once your email address is out there, this is
the only way to stop the spam getting to you. If your ISP doesn't do
spam filtering then find one that does.

Colin

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 10:29:01 -0000, "Michael Hobby"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

... >Since 23rd December I have received 140 e-mails trying to persuade me to buy
... >software packages(all the same software - different "selling" companies) and
... >Viagra(don't need it anyway) These are filtered by my Norton package into my
... >spam bin. What annoys me however is that they are getting through to me in
... >the first place. Surely, in this day and age, there should be some means of
... >stopping them from getting to your computer at all. Surely there is the
... >technology somewhere. Anyone know anything?
... >
Not really .... prevention is better than "cure".

I only slightly munged my email address in the past and an Amercain
sicko troll in an XP newsgroup, unmunged it.
He thought it funny to plaster it over his his next post and it was
picked up by the "robots".
I now get all the stuff you mentioned and fear I will have to change
my address in the end.
Pity, as it was a squeaky clean spam free address for years. I used a
hotmail address for non personal contact, so I expected it on there.
Once your address is being used it will probably be a target for more
spam.
So help yourself and munge your email address if you can.

Mike P

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Michael Hobby said:

Since 23rd December I have received 140 e-mails trying to persuade me to buy
software packages(all the same software - different "selling" companies) and
Viagra(don't need it anyway) These are filtered by my Norton package into my
spam bin. What annoys me however is that they are getting through to me in
the first place. Surely, in this day and age, there should be some means of
stopping them from getting to your computer at all. Surely there is the
technology somewhere. Anyone know anything?

Many ISPs offer spam filtering which, generally, works quite well.
Usually they will use a Bayesian filter, which tends to prove quite
successful. In practice, once your email address is out there, this is
the only way to stop the spam getting to you. If your ISP doesn't do
spam filtering then find one that does.

Colin

Indeed. Or use a temporary throw-away address like mine. It will
accept whatever number of incoming mails I preset - in the case of the
current address, 3 - and all subsequent incoming mails are deleted on
receipt by the server. I can create an unlimited number of addresses,
don't have to register the address or anything, just invent it and use
it immediately. The preset number of incoming mails arrive though POP3
to my designated permanent address and the rest I never see. Oh, and
it's free! It does at least limit the amount of spam that can get
through, while allowing me to use a legitimate email address for
newsgroup postings, replies to web-based traders, web forms etc. If
anyone is interested take a look at www.spamgourmet.com
--
Sid B

"Mike P" <mike@askme> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 10:29:01 -0000, "Michael Hobby"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

.. >Since 23rd December I have received 140 e-mails trying to persuade me
to buy
.. >software packages(all the same software - different "selling"
companies) and
.. >Viagra(don't need it anyway) These are filtered by my Norton package
into my
.. >spam bin. What annoys me however is that they are getting through to
me in
.. >the first place. Surely, in this day and age, there should be some
means of
.. >stopping them from getting to your computer at all. Surely there is
the
.. >technology somewhere. Anyone know anything?
.. >
Not really .... prevention is better than "cure".

I only slightly munged my email address in the past and an Amercain
sicko troll in an XP newsgroup, unmunged it.
He thought it funny to plaster it over his his next post and it was
picked up by the "robots".
I now get all the stuff you mentioned and fear I will have to change
my address in the end.
Pity, as it was a squeaky clean spam free address for years. I used a
hotmail address for non personal contact, so I expected it on there.
Once your address is being used it will probably be a target for more
spam.
So help yourself and munge your email address if you can.

Mike P

Pardon my ignorance - what is "munge"?

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 12:08:19 -0000, "Michael Hobby"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

... >
... >"Mike P" <mike@askme> wrote in message
... >news:[email hidden]...
... >> On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 10:29:01 -0000, "Michael Hobby"
... >> <[email hidden]> wrote:
... >>
... >> .. >Since 23rd December I have received 140 e-mails trying to persuade me
... >> to buy
... >> .. >software packages(all the same software - different "selling"
... >> companies) and
... >> .. >Viagra(don't need it anyway) These are filtered by my Norton package
... >> into my
... >> .. >spam bin. What annoys me however is that they are getting through to
... >> me in
... >> .. >the first place. Surely, in this day and age, there should be some
... >> means of
... >> .. >stopping them from getting to your computer at all. Surely there is
... >> the
... >> .. >technology somewhere. Anyone know anything?
... >> .. >
... >> Not really .... prevention is better than "cure".
... >>
... >> I only slightly munged my email address in the past and an Amercain
... >> sicko troll in an XP newsgroup, unmunged it.
... >> He thought it funny to plaster it over his his next post and it was
... >> picked up by the "robots".
... >> I now get all the stuff you mentioned and fear I will have to change
... >> my address in the end.
... >> Pity, as it was a squeaky clean spam free address for years. I used a
... >> hotmail address for non personal contact, so I expected it on there.
... >> Once your address is being used it will probably be a target for more
... >> spam.
... >> So help yourself and munge your email address if you can.
... >>
... >> Mike P
... >
... >Pardon my ignorance - what is "munge"?
... >

Well .... somehwere you should be able to alter your email adress ..
in your newsreader perhaps.( I use Free Agent) here you can
alter(munge) your address so it can be deciphered if someone wants to
email you.
For example ... <[email hidden]> could be changed
to [email hidden] and a the bottom of
your post ,,, you might put "remove trousers to reply" .. not joking
:-)
the robots will find your non existant munged address

Perhaps you have already done it as I see there is no
@freeserve.co.uk?
But this might not be suffficient.

Mike P

Michael Hobby said:

Since 23rd December I have received 140 e-mails trying to persuade me to buy
software packages(all the same software - different "selling" companies) and
Viagra(don't need it anyway) These are filtered by my Norton package into my
spam bin. What annoys me however is that they are getting through to me in
the first place. Surely, in this day and age, there should be some means of
stopping them from getting to your computer at all. Surely there is the
technology somewhere. Anyone know anything?

First of all, never *ever* use your real email address in usenet. There
are robots out there that 'harvest' email addresses which are then sold on.
You could try using Mailwasher pro (see http://www.firetrust.com)which
is very effective at dealing with the problem. It allows you to use
various filters and blacklists to automatically delete and/or bounce
spam emails back to whence they came!
Effectively it sits between your ISP and your pc's inbox. It scans your
email inbox on the ISP every 10 minutes and automatically processes your
mail for delete &/or bounce or delivery to your pc's inbox.
Also, check to see if your ISP provides spam filtering. You may need to
go in to your email setup via a web browser rather than through Outlook
Express to turn it on.

--
Dave McLaughlin

[censored] Sapiens Non Urinat In Ventum

"Mike P" <mike@askme> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 12:08:19 -0000, "Michael Hobby"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

.. >
.. >"Mike P" <mike@askme> wrote in message
.. >news:[email hidden]...
.. >> On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 10:29:01 -0000, "Michael Hobby"
.. >> <[email hidden]> wrote:
.. >>
.. >> .. >Since 23rd December I have received 140 e-mails trying to
persuade me
.. >> to buy
.. >> .. >software packages(all the same software - different "selling"
.. >> companies) and
.. >> .. >Viagra(don't need it anyway) These are filtered by my Norton
package
.. >> into my
.. >> .. >spam bin. What annoys me however is that they are getting
through to
.. >> me in
.. >> .. >the first place. Surely, in this day and age, there should be
some
.. >> means of
.. >> .. >stopping them from getting to your computer at all. Surely there
is
.. >> the
.. >> .. >technology somewhere. Anyone know anything?
.. >> .. >
.. >> Not really .... prevention is better than "cure".
.. >>
.. >> I only slightly munged my email address in the past and an Amercain
.. >> sicko troll in an XP newsgroup, unmunged it.
.. >> He thought it funny to plaster it over his his next post and it was
.. >> picked up by the "robots".
.. >> I now get all the stuff you mentioned and fear I will have to change
.. >> my address in the end.
.. >> Pity, as it was a squeaky clean spam free address for years. I used
a
.. >> hotmail address for non personal contact, so I expected it on there.
.. >> Once your address is being used it will probably be a target for
more
.. >> spam.
.. >> So help yourself and munge your email address if you can.
.. >>
.. >> Mike P
.. >
.. >Pardon my ignorance - what is "munge"?
.. >

Well .... somehwere you should be able to alter your email adress ..
in your newsreader perhaps.( I use Free Agent) here you can
alter(munge) your address so it can be deciphered if someone wants to
email you.
For example ... <[email hidden]> could be
changed
to [email hidden] and a the bottom of
your post ,,, you might put "remove trousers to reply" .. not joking
:-)
the robots will find your non existant munged address

Perhaps you have already done it as I see there is no
@freeserve.co.uk?
But this might not be suffficient.

Mike P

Thanks - getting the idea now!
To reply - drop trousers

In article <[email hidden]>, Dave McLaughlin
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

You could try using Mailwasher pro (see http://www.firetrust.com)which
is very effective at dealing with the problem. It allows you to use
various filters and blacklists to automatically delete and/or bounce
spam emails back to whence they came!

But please don't use it to bounce them back just delete them. Nearly all
spam has a forged return path which means the bounces go to innocent
accounts thereby increasing the spam problem for somebody else. At times
about 1/3 of the spam I get is that which has been bounced to a forged
return path at one of my accounts :-(

--

Dominic Sexton

Michael Hobby said:

Since 23rd December I have received 140 e-mails trying to persuade me to buy
software packages(all the same software - different "selling" companies) and
Viagra(don't need it anyway) These are filtered by my Norton package into my
spam bin. What annoys me however is that they are getting through to me in
the first place. Surely, in this day and age, there should be some means of
stopping them from getting to your computer at all. Surely there is the
technology somewhere. Anyone know anything?

It's a lot like the arms race, spam filters are released, spam
evolves, new filters are released but usually take a little while
to catch up.

I've never used my email address on Usenet and that helps
enormously in keeping spam to a minimum.

It used to be a pain back in the days of dial-up having to wait
while spam downloaded but with the advent of broadband it
shouldn't be an issue, be thankful that your filter is dealing
with it and that you don't have to. Most ISPs try and filter the
obvious stuff but as you are seeing a fair amount gets through.

I use Thunderbird as my Mail & New client and its built in spam
filters are superb, after only a few days training it what's spam
and what isn't it has never made a mistake. It uses a Junk folder
and a Junk Suspects folder, in the first week some good mail
ended up in the suspect folder but as I said with a bit of
training it's got it sorted.

By default any mail from people in my address book is allowed
everything else is filtered.

Prior to using Thunderbird I was using Outlook as my mail client
and I can recommend the Spambeyes plugin, it's free and it works
in exactly the same way as the Thunderbird filter, I'm not sure
if it works with Outlook Express, I've never been an OE user.

--
Regards

Nick

Dominic Sexton said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Dave McLaughlin
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

You could try using Mailwasher pro (see http://www.firetrust.com)which
is very effective at dealing with the problem. It allows you to use
various filters and blacklists to automatically delete and/or bounce
spam emails back to whence they came!

But please don't use it to bounce them back just delete them. Nearly all
spam has a forged return path which means the bounces go to innocent
accounts thereby increasing the spam problem for somebody else. At times
about 1/3 of the spam I get is that which has been bounced to a forged
return path at one of my accounts :-(

Yes, that's a good point. I only ever bounce mail back when I get
marketing material from companies who I have previously dealt with who I
don't wish to deal with anymore. After I've unscribed from their lists,
I bounce anything else they send.
Also came in handy when a certain pillock at work kept on sending me
huge video files. Bouncing those things back was both very satisfying,
and effective - I'm no longer bothered by his cr*p :-)

--
Dave McLaughlin

[censored] Sapiens Non Urinat In Ventum

"Sid B" wrote after

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Michael Hobby said:

Since 23rd December I have received 140 e-mails trying to persuade me
to buy
software packages(all the same software - different "selling"
companies) and
Viagra(don't need it anyway) These are filtered by my Norton package
into my
spam bin. What annoys me however is that they are getting through to me
in
the first place. Surely, in this day and age, there should be some
means of
stopping them from getting to your computer at all. Surely there is the
technology somewhere. Anyone know anything?

Many ISPs offer spam filtering which, generally, works quite well.
Usually they will use a Bayesian filter, which tends to prove quite
successful. In practice, once your email address is out there, this is
the only way to stop the spam getting to you. If your ISP doesn't do
spam filtering then find one that does.

Indeed. Or use a temporary throw-away address like mine. It will
accept whatever number of incoming mails I preset - in the case of the
current address, 3 - and all subsequent incoming mails are deleted on
receipt by the server. I can create an unlimited number of addresses,
don't have to register the address or anything, just invent it and use
it immediately. The preset number of incoming mails arrive though POP3
to my designated permanent address and the rest I never see. Oh, and
it's free! It does at least limit the amount of spam that can get
through, while allowing me to use a legitimate email address for
newsgroup postings, replies to web-based traders, web forms etc. If
anyone is interested take a look at www.spamgourmet.com

One address you can use is [email hidden] as it's designed for that use, in
trying to "munge" your own address you might, just by accident, make it into
someone else's address. Even that famous German news server will accept
[email hidden]. and they insist on a proper address normally.

You can then use your proper address in the reply path or add it to your
sig. but write it out fully i.e. me at privacy dot net.

I didn't know about all this when I first went on Usenet and we now get 100
to 200 spams daily usually all caught by our isp's mail washer and moved to
the spam folder automatically. Sometimes it does catch a proper mail,
normally from a Co, so you have to glance down the list before deleting but
it still only takes a few seconds, not a serious problem.

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

Michael Hobby said:

Since 23rd December I have received 140 e-mails trying to persuade me to

buy

Quoted message said:

software packages(all the same software - different "selling" companies)

and

Quoted message said:

Viagra(don't need it anyway) These are filtered by my Norton package into

my

Quoted message said:

spam bin. What annoys me however is that they are getting through to me in
the first place. Surely, in this day and age, there should be some means

of

Quoted message said:

stopping them from getting to your computer at all. Surely there is the
technology somewhere. Anyone know anything?

BTConnect throw away a lot of the Spam I get.
If you used Agent I could let you have my spam filters which get rid of a
lot more.

Spam to me has always been a minor irritation. You could munge the email
address you use on usenet.
--
Dave Fawthrop <dave hyphenologist co uk>
17,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! http://www.gutenberg.net
For Yorkshire Dialect go to www.hyphenologist.co.uk/songs/

"Michael Hobby" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Since 23rd December I have received 140 e-mails trying to persuade me to
buy software packages(all the same software - different "selling"
companies) and Viagra(don't need it anyway) These are filtered by my
Norton package into my spam bin. What annoys me however is that they are
getting through to me in the first place. Surely, in this day and age,
there should be some means of stopping them from getting to your computer
at all. Surely there is the technology somewhere. Anyone know anything?

You report them to their isp as abuse of the net, and ask that thier net
access be terminated.

I do that every time and then hear no more from that source.

Alan

"Michael Hobby" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Since 23rd December I have received 140 e-mails trying to persuade me to
buy software packages(all the same software - different "selling"
companies) and Viagra(don't need it anyway) These are filtered by my
Norton package into my spam bin. What annoys me however is that they are
getting through to me in the first place. Surely, in this day and age,
there should be some means of stopping them from getting to your computer
at all. Surely there is the technology somewhere. Anyone know anything?

And, use a different address for posting than you use for emails, just like
I do, if you send an email to the address appearing in the header it does
not appear in my mailbox, but to help people to respond by email, I put an
address at the bottom of the post which has been 'buggered' a little so that
the 'phishers' do not pick it up.

Like this!

--
Alan

Reply to alan (dot) holmes27 (at) virgin (dot) net

Quoted message said:

"Michael Hobby" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Since 23rd December I have received 140 e-mails trying to persuade me to
buy software packages(all the same software - different "selling"
companies) and Viagra(don't need it anyway) These are filtered by my
Norton package into my spam bin. What annoys me however is that they are
getting through to me in the first place. Surely, in this day and age,
there should be some means of stopping them from getting to your computer
at all. Surely there is the technology somewhere. Anyone know anything?

Thanks for all the replies. What I can't get my head round is that my ISP
(Wanadoo)filter is obviously interpreting some messages as spam when they
are not. Can I change this in any way?

Bob Hobden said:

One address you can use is [email hidden] as it's designed for that use, in
trying to "munge" your own address you might, just by accident, make it into
someone else's address. Even that famous German news server will accept
[email hidden]. and they insist on a proper address normally.

It seems that privacy.net have withdrawn explicit permission for that
address to be used - they are under new management. For instance,
AIUI by request, news.individual.net have removed their suggestion of
using [email hidden] from their web-pages.

cu

mgk
--
Erfolg steigt nur dann zu Kopf, wenn dort der erforderliche Hohlraum vorhanden ist

Michael Hobby said:

Thanks for all the replies. What I can't get my head round is that my ISP
(Wanadoo)filter is obviously interpreting some messages as spam when they
are not. Can I change this in any way?

Go to their website and log in to your email account from there and
enter the address you want to accept emails from in your approved
list. http://email02.wanadoo.co.uk/webmail/en_GB/approvedList.html

--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

I use a yahoo email address, they filter a load out, leaving just a dozen a
week coming through. I usually open it every 3 days or so. My ISP email
address is known to close friends only. Therefore, I rarely get spam,
thanks goodness.

Jhimmy

Message-ID: <[email hidden]> from Markus G. Klötzer
contained the following:

Quoted message said:

It seems that privacy.net have withdrawn explicit permission for that
address to be used - they are under new management. For instance,
AIUI by request, news.individual.net have removed their suggestion of
using [email hidden] from their web-pages.

I don't think that address is going to be much use for anything other
than a spam trap

--
Geoff Berrow (put thecat out to email)
It's only Usenet, no one dies.
My opinions, not the committee's, mine.
Simple RFDs http://www.ckdog.co.uk/rfdmaker/