# What kind of filters does one set up to reduce spam? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 20, 2001, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-filters-does-one-set-up-to-reduce-spam/94422 "2001-11-20T17:09:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-filters-does-one-set-up-to-reduce-spam/94422/1 "2001-11-20T17:09:56Z")
Im not sure how the default filters, usually indicated to be Low, Medium, High work but I do know i have missed some important emails while on email. Can someone clue me in as to what they look for. Also, what do i do to setup custom filters that help. I know how to Im just wondering what to filter. Do I actually set up filters for “TITS!” and CELL PHONE!" and “FREE!” any help would be much appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-filters-does-one-set-up-to-reduce-spam/94422/2 "2001-11-20T17:23:41Z")
I just did this the other day. Let me say first that I use OE5.5, and I subscribe to several lists and daily e-mails (word of the day, etc.) In OE, you do filters under Tools \> Message Rules. (1) Each mailing list has its own subfolder in my Inbox, and its own filter. (2) The logic of the spam filter goes like this: Everything that’s . . . NOT from one of my mailing lists, AND IS NOT one of my daily e-mails, AND DOES NOT have my email address in the To: field, AND IS NOT from one of my friends who occasionally sends me forwards with all the addresses in the Bcc: field (These are OK by me; she’s selective, deletes headers, etc.) . . . goes into the “Suspect Mail” folder. So far it’s all been spam, so the filter is working. If I catch anything in there that’s not spam, I can edit the filter accordingly. Otherwise I can simply delete the spam, report it, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-filters-does-one-set-up-to-reduce-spam/94422/3 "2001-11-20T17:33:06Z")
It all depends on the sophistication of your filters. I’ve had some luck with filtering out anything with an exclamation point, or question mark in the subject (people don’t usually use punctuation, and spammers don’t realize yet that exclamation points don’t make anything important). I also include the dollar sign, but that might cause trouble in certain contexts. Another good general rule is to discard anything that doesn’t have your e-mail address in the to: or cc: fields. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-filters-does-one-set-up-to-reduce-spam/94422/4 "2001-11-20T17:40:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > **It all depends on the sophistication of your filters. I’ve had some luck with filtering out anything with an exclamation point, or question mark in the subject (people don’t usually use punctuation, and spammers don’t realize yet that exclamation points don’t make anything important). I also include the dollar sign, but that might cause trouble in certain contexts.** Hmm, I send and receive mail with ? and ! in the subject all the time. Dollar sign, not so much, but still . . . I guess I prefer using negative identifiers, to avoid accidentally killing a real message that happens to have a word favored by spammers in the subject line. (Although I am thinking about a positive filter for the guy who keeps asking my if I want to “IMPROVE YOUR PAKCAGE” [sic].) ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-filters-does-one-set-up-to-reduce-spam/94422/5 "2001-11-20T19:34:22Z")
IM still not sure what to do. For instance i ebay alot. What am i supposed to do, give the okay to everything from ebay, im not even sure how to do this? Any other ideas would be helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-filters-does-one-set-up-to-reduce-spam/94422/6 "2001-11-20T20:00:48Z")
Well, you could set up a “throwaway,” freebie Web e-mail account that you use just for eBay. The account I use for SDMB is one of those. (I check it every few days, and almost never get mail. It lets me remain “Scarlett67” here while using my real name for regular mail.) ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2001, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-filters-does-one-set-up-to-reduce-spam/94422/7 "2001-11-20T20:28:18Z")
go one step at a time. Set a filter to divert all email which does not have your name in the TO: line. You will see that gets rid of a lot. Then you can add more steps. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2001, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-filters-does-one-set-up-to-reduce-spam/94422/8 "2001-11-21T00:16:32Z")
Hmm,…is this a PC or a Mac? Anyway at [download.com](http://download.com) you might search for ‘spam’ Im sure they got plenty of programs to do something about it. Some ISPs give you less spam. My ISP blocks out any email from certain sites known to only email spam. Juno email has the least amount of spam I noticed. Hotmail seems to have a lot, right?