Instead of installing a zilliuon filters… I just tell those I want to recieve mail from to include a "pass word’ in their “RE: line”
for example, Hi dave my email is XXX@XXXXXX.COM if you want to reply, please include the word Starburst in your "re: " line or it will be automatically ignored
Easy to set up a spam filter
It works,
regards FML
That works great until you get your email caught in their spam filter.
Nice idea FML, but I can’t tell the companies that I buy things from to do it. Most of their emails are automated. Plus half the people I know are below average intelligence and are gonna mess that up!
so create a separate email addy for business
My spam count (recieved with out deletion) is about 5 a week… down from 400 a day
FML
Most of you guys probably already know this, but gmail actually lets you create as many addresses as you want – just include a “+” after your regular address (the part before the “@”) and anything after it the “+,” then conclude it normally. For example, if cecil_adams @ gmail.com signs up for some random site that requires registration but isn’t likely to ever send him an email, he can sign up with the email address cecil_adams+thismightbespam@gmail.com. That way, he can get the initial registration confirmation email, and then set up a filter to automatically trash (or just label) anything else from the site.
Not to mention that Gmail’s spam filter works pretty well. I maybe get one or two spam emails per week in my regular inbox.
You can also go to your ISP’s webmail site and set your preferences to receive mail from a list of people you create (assuming they offer this option…if not, then nevermind). Everybody else gets bounced. I have received 0 pieces of spam at home since 2003.
This is going to sound like I am on their payroll, and I know others haven’t had great experiences, but…
GMAIL. It’s not the elitist nerdy thing it was two or three years ago now. It’s just a damned fine email address. I have had a gmail account as my primary email for a couple of years, and in that time I would have had less than a dozen spam emails get through. When I’ve checked the spam folder, I’ve never seen any misrouted legitimate emails. Gmail does, as they say, just work. After years of spending five to ten minutes a day deleting crap from Outlook Express, I’m hooked.
Note that your emails are routed thru dozens of machines from sender to receiver. Anyone of which can grab the “password” info, etc., sell it to spammers and then you’re back at square one.
Also, one of the most common sources of spam today are botnets that have taken over computers on the net, grabbing the email address books and such of the users on the machines. So they’ll the info too.
For these and a lot of other reasons, not going to work.
So wait, you’ve received 5 spam emails containing the word ‘Starburst’ in the “re:” line?
That’s what I do and have been doing for years. I have one spam account, so if I must register with a real address, I can. I’ve had my other Yahoo account for over ten years and have no spam.
Just get Gmail. It’s possible to oversolve a problem, and the OP is a perfect example of this.
It’s too much to expect everyone in your circle to follow odd rules just to communicate with you. Email’s appeal is that it’s easy. If I have to remember special filtering rules for everyone I know, I won’t bother.
Since I no longer need it, thanks to Gmail, I’ll pass along a technique that’s worked very well for me: buy a domain and set up your email to catch all addresses. When you give out your address, use the name of the company you’re dealing with (microsoft@domain.com). If Microsoft sells your address to a spammer, you’ll 1.) be able to filter it out, and 2.) know who sold your address. I’ve busted a few sleazy sites for this.
The Gmail + system should achieve the same results. I haven’t tried it, because Gmail’s spam filter is almost perfect. As far as I’m concerned, this problem has been solved.
I use a whitemail program running in Microsoft Outlook. All mail from those in my address book or to whom I’ve previously sent mail is directed to the inbox. Everything else gets directed to a quarantine folder. When I check for new mail, I review the messages in the quarantine folder, where I occasionally find desired messages, which I then clear for movement to the inbox. In the future, anything else from that address gets cleared automatically.
Pretty much, and if not completely solved, then Gmail is the best solution so far. The only ultimate, air-tight way to avoid spam? See that little box next to your computer with all the blinky little lights? Unplug it (yeah, I know: abstinence doesn’t really work for me, either)
I just use SpamSieve (Mac-only, sorry). I’ve seen maybe two spam e-mails per year showing up in my inbox since I started using it.
I have to, unfortunately, advise to no do this anymore. I’ve done this brilliantly for about 5 years, but unfortunately, spammers are now trolling my domain and sending spam to random address at my domain. Also, they’re using using my domain as a reply-to address, so i get hundreds of bounced messages. I now get magnitudes more spam than i would have if i just had a personal account and a junk account. There are ways to filter by address, but you lose a lot of convenience.
I’ve actually only had 2 of my addresses that every started receiving spam. j&r and allofmp3. Not so surprised about the latter one.