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How Do I Really Stop Spam?

Dear Rich,

How do I stop emails for penis enlargement, rolex watches and the like? I’m getting dozens every day.

–Inundated in Islesboro

Dear Inundated,

Just a couple of dozen a day? You’re getting off easy.

I’ve tried a number of third-party solutions over the years, including a personal favorite, SpamSieve (mac only.) Windows users have suggested some of their own favorites in another post here at the flyte blog.

Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that SpamSieve isn’t what it used to be; it
seems that more and more spam is getting through. More frustrating is
that often it’s the same messages over and over again:

Hello! I am tired today. I am nice girl that would like to
chat with you. Email me at Emma@whatever.com only, because I am using
my friend’s email to write this. Would you mind if I share some of my
pictures with you?

Recently while playing around with an autoresponder on our server I saw that I could enable SpamAssassin,
a spam filter that works on the server level. I’ve always avoided these
tools because I’m afraid of missing potential new business, and I’ve
felt that wading through tons of spam is the price we pay. However,
with over 200 pieces of spam a day I was willing to take a chance.

SpamAssassin has been amazing. Over the past week it has caught about
98% of my spam WITHOUT ONE FALSE POSITIVE! (A false positive is a good
email that’s tagged as spam.) It’s almost like I have an assistant
who’s vetting my emails. SpamSieve is then catching the remaining few
that do get through.

You can set SpamAssassin to any level you like:

Spamassasin

This version of SpamAssassin runs on Apache, but there are also versions for Windows and Mac…just Google it.

It is by far the best spam blocking tool I’ve ever used.

Rich Brooks
Virtually Spam Free

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  • http://www.accidentalveg.com Marya

    hey Rich, you should also mention that many web hosts include Spam Assassin, or a similar server-side spam filter, as part of their service. (I imagine 'apache' might as well be Greek for a lot of your readers!) My web host, Pair networks, has a service that allows you to save the mail marked junk to a text file, so you can review it periodically and make sure you're not missing any important messages that have been mislabeled.

  • http://www.accidentalveg.com Marya

    hey Rich, you should also mention that many web hosts include Spam Assassin, or a similar server-side spam filter, as part of their service. (I imagine 'apache' might as well be Greek for a lot of your readers!) My web host, Pair networks, has a service that allows you to save the mail marked junk to a text file, so you can review it periodically and make sure you're not missing any important messages that have been mislabeled.

  • Jonathan

    I've always found detouring email through GMail's servers is a good way to clean up the spam. I don't spend much time looking for false positives, but I've never run into the situation of "did you ever get my email?" with GMail. A really flexible control panel makes routing email through GMail a breeze.

  • Jonathan

    I've always found detouring email through GMail's servers is a good way to clean up the spam. I don't spend much time looking for false positives, but I've never run into the situation of "did you ever get my email?" with GMail. A really flexible control panel makes routing email through GMail a breeze.

  • http://www.adsetsinformationweblog.blogspot.com Hazel

    Routing through Gmail or AOL is a good idea — very rare to get any spam at all.
    I do, however, have one mail address (the one shown on my website) that used to get several hundred enlargement-type emails a day. Using Outlook Express (I'm an old fashioned kind of girl) I simply set message rules that delete the p word and Rolex etc from the server. Now I only get the very odd few that are easily handled.

  • http://www.adsetsinformationweblog.blogspot.com Hazel

    Routing through Gmail or AOL is a good idea — very rare to get any spam at all.
    I do, however, have one mail address (the one shown on my website) that used to get several hundred enlargement-type emails a day. Using Outlook Express (I'm an old fashioned kind of girl) I simply set message rules that delete the p word and Rolex etc from the server. Now I only get the very odd few that are easily handled.

Related posts:

  1. How to Stop Spam Coming Through Your Contact Form
  2. Setting Up TypeKey to Stop Comment and Trackback Spam
  3. Spam Fighting Tools for Mac and PC
  4. Yes, Virginia, There is More Spam
  5. American Dream Home Inspection: Stop Spamming Me!

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 10:54 am and is filed under Entrepreneur & Small Business, Web Design & Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.