# Spam Filter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 3, 2001, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-filter/56578 "2001-03-03T01:43:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-filter/56578/1 "2001-03-03T01:43:36Z")
I’m getting somewhere between 20-30 spam emails a day. I’m missing legitimate messages as I can’t find them in the mess. I use Netscape. What’s the best thing I can do to filter out this Spam? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-filter/56578/2 "2001-03-03T01:55:32Z")
I typed ‘netscape spam filter’ into my search & got this: [http://www.spambouncer.org/](http://www.spambouncer.org/) You might find some other URLs that way. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-filter/56578/3 "2001-03-03T02:29:23Z")
Heck, “Dr. Fidelius” is my spam-trap. Anything important is done off a different address. But my “real” name doesn’t get anywhere near the amount of porn… ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-filter/56578/4 "2001-03-03T02:37:53Z")
handy: and yet I was looking for someone that had experience to suggest which was best, and how best to use it… ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-filter/56578/5 "2001-03-03T02:46:16Z")
…And if you look a little further at that site, you will see that it requires a unix shell. I don’t even a clam shell. ---
**Author:** ![Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gut)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-filter/56578/6 "2001-03-03T04:03:22Z")
Hi Scylla, Here is a program that you can use to bounce mail back. [Bounce Mail](http://www.er.uqam.ca/merlin/fg591543/bsm/) It makes your address look like it does not exist to spammers,hopefully they give up after getting a bounce back several times. I have not used it personally though as I don’t get much that my filters don’t catch. I use message filters (within Netscape) to direct stuff directly to the trash and give it a quick look before giving it the final dump. I set a filter to send mail to trash if it does not contain one of my valid email address. i.e. if to does not contain [yourmail@whatever.com](mailto:yourmail@whatever.com) send to trash. I set filters to send known recipients to thier own folders. If I think of anything else I’ll post again. Perhaps your groundhogs are seeking revenge via spam? ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-filter/56578/7 "2001-03-03T05:36:53Z")
Since my first experience with Spam I tend to use my teeth as a filter. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-filter/56578/8 "2001-03-03T16:12:22Z")
Scylla, no Unix? Alrightie. But hey, you might try another email reader like Free Agent that lets you filter things out by word or user or subject. Free from [forteinc.com](http://forteinc.com) Of course, you’d have to set it up, but the nice thing is that its an independent operating program e.g. no registry entries. ---
**Author:** ![PosterChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e274bd/32.png) [@PosterChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PosterChild)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spam-filter/56578/9 "2001-03-03T17:41:38Z")
I use Eudora Light, which let’s you set up filters as in netscape. It’s taken some tweeking, but about 98% of the spam goes to my trash bin, and about 98% of what get’s automatically trashed is spam. Some suggestions, You can filter **in** stuff you want, so for emails from servers or people you expect to be good stuff (or you can send it to a ‘new’ In Box). You can filter out things like XXX or big breasts or lolita. You can also filter on your name **not** being in the To: box (but you might want to be sure it checks the cc: also). There are some good sites for netscape filters that I found several years ago when I was having problems. I’ll see if I can find them. Luck, PC