How to get rid of SPAM email in Outlook Express

We've
learned how to backup
our email, and setup
multiple Outlook Express email accounts, now lets go over some hints
about Spam. Spam is a problem, to one degree or another, for just about
anyone
who gets
email.
Today there
are several very good Spam filtering projects, developing better methods of
removing this junk from our inbox and allowing us to get to the mail that
is
important.

What is Spam?

Spam is unwanted mail sent to us by people, or companies who wish to sell us
something, or inform us of something. Spam has been around for a long time.
The term Spam doesn't mean anything, its not an acronym for something descriptive.
The term actually comes from the Monty Python's script "I hate spam!"

How do they get your address?

There are many methods of gaining your email address. Most notably is the practice
of selling email lists by web site owners who require signing up for certain
aspects of their website to work. Another is harvesting them off websites.

Harvesting programs scan the web searching for links to email addresses. They
do this tirelessly. Most modern website designs now code email address links
to foil these harvesting programs.

Some tips to help you keep from getting on these lists are :

• Don't post your email address in "plain" form anywhere on the Web. Instead, you can disguise your email address by writing it in a convoluted way so that humans can still read it, but bots can't. For example, instead of writing "john@example.com", use "john AT example DOT com".


• Sign up for a new email address to use when you need to supply an email
  address but don't particularly care about the replies (e.g. when posting on
  a guestbook) Yahoo, MSN and AOL addresses are good for this type of use.


• Keep a "private" email address which you share only with close friends and family. Never use this private email address on any site.


• Use a feedback form on your website instead of providing a contact email address.

I just unsubscribe

Not really a good idea. Most 'Unsubscribe Me' programs are simply there to
capture information, in this case, that your address is a valid one. Going to
the website, or clicking on the 'Unsubscribe Me' link in Spam emails, only verifies
that your address is valid, and someone is reading the email. The best thing
to do is add the message to your Spam Filter and delete it.

Spam Filter?

The latest email clients now have very good Spam filtering software included
with the program. Most notably Thunderbird, Outlook, and Eudora, all have Bayesian
filtering systems.

Bayesian filters are based on clustering data (any type of data) to recognizable
categories. Paul Graham saw this filtering system as a way for a software program
to recognize Spam, and filter it.

Bayesian spam filters are based on a learning system. Because of this the user
has to train them to recognize what you think is Spam, and what you want to
keep. When the filtering system is active, and a spam message arrives in your
Inbox, you tell the filter that 'this message is spam", the filter then
scans through the spam message looking for hints, and then deletes the message.

Most Spam filters also use White lists and Black lists, as well as using your
address book, and keeping track of who you send mail to, to keep false positives
down.

False Positives

False Positives happen when your filter thinks a message is spam, when it is
not. This happens quite a bit in the first couple of weeks when you are training
a new filter, but after that it doesn't happen very often.

It is still a good idea to have Spam messages placed into a Spam folder inside
your email client software, rather than just being deleted.

Setting up Outlook/Express

The new Outlook program which comes with Microsoft Office, now has Spam Filtering
system available. They call it SmartScreen Technology, which is their version
of the Bayesian filtering system. The SmartScreen setup has :

• Junk E-Mail Filter


• Safe Senders List


• Safe Recipients List


• Blocked Senders List


• AutoUpdate

Outlook Express however is still left out in the cold by Microsoft, so you
either have to set up word filters or get something else.

Spam Fighter

There is a program that works with Microsoft's Outlook Express, called Spam
Fighter. Developed by a UK company, Spam Fighter attaches to Outlook Express
as a plug in, and is endorsed by Microsoft as a partner.

Installing the Spam Fighter program is as easy as going to the website for
the free download, saving it to your desktop and running the install program.

The install program asks that you set up a user account, which as far as I
can tell is just for the company's information on how well the program is working.

Once installed you can set up Whitelists, Blacklists and a few other settings.

A Whitelist is a list of people you never want blocked. Blacklists, of course
are just the opposite, you never want email from them.

Spam Fighter does a pretty good job once it is trained. Honestly, right now
it is about the only option for Outlook Express.

Thunderbird and other email clients all come with free Spam filtering software.

Spam Assassin

You
will notice in the image above which is a snap shot from my own Outlook Express
setup, that one of the messages there has ***SPAM*** in the subject line. That
prefix is put in there by Spam Assassin, which my web hosting company has installed
on the mail server as an option.

Spam Assassin is a program that runs on the mail server, which filters mail
as it comes through, before it ever gets to you. Most web hosting companies
set the program to add that prefix to emails as they go through the server and
out to your email client. So you can create a Message Rule in Outlook express
to move these marked emails to a Spam folder.

Spam Assassin is a great program, once setup and tuned properly. The only thing
I don't like about it, is that there is no personal settings for the program.
If it sees sets a false positive, the user can't tell the program on the sever
it made a mistake.

Most web hosting companies do have setups that allow white and black list uploads
however, so that helps a bit.

If you need help with Spam filtering, be sure to check out our
Help Forum for answers