Spyware, viruses, & security forum: Strange emails how can they be stopped

Roddy is correct, just Delete! I got some about 2 months ago, for only 2 days. I deleted them without opening, and after 2 days they stopped. Have not had any since.
Larry

That is more for using when browsing than e-mail. The best thing for e-mail is to either use a spam blocker which many spammers have figured out ways around, or just delete them without actually viewing them if possible.

you mention are great for spyware/adware/etc. but they are NOT Spam Blockers. Spam blockers are totally different kinds of programs. I use the same spyware/adware programs that you do bobdec but I finally gave up with spam blockers and I just delete the e-mail when it comes in now. It's just a personal choice. My e-mail host has a spam blocker so I don't get as much as I used to.

If your email is at your domain you can use SpamAssassin and it is customizable. You can redirect the filtered emails to your own bulk folder or just delete them. The biggest thing is to not give spammers a chance in the first place: Use safe PHP based contact forms on your websites, don't use a "good" address on a safelist or other public site, don't use cover-all email addresses on your domain, and never never use a mailto tag without obscuring it. If your ISP address falls into a list seller or virus propagated SPAM cycle you may need to delete the user name from your ISP account and use a fresh username...that has worked wonders for me before.

--
Charles Miesel, webmaster
http://www.simply-better-hosting.com

Not to mention phishing scams and other spam letters. I looked into spam blockers but somehow they always seemed to filter out some of my genuine mail and job applications as well.

I use Outlook 2003 at home and tried the built in "junk email" filter, which also proved to be a bit of an annoyance.

Finally I simply set up an e-mail filter, and went through one months spam (with my internet connection turned off) picking out the keywords used(usually dealing with erection disorders and the drugs that cure them), adding them to the e-mail filter telling it to move it straight to the Deleted Items.

One or two still slips through, but after adding the sender or another keyword to the list it has become very managable.

I apologize if someone already said this, I didn't have time to read the entire thread.

The first mistake anyone can make in this situation is to reply to the unwanted messages.

Just as you don't know who sent them the senders don't know who received them....Until you reply and in effect say I'm a sucker you found me. Your reply just told them that they found a valid email address and now you will get more of the same. In fact now that they know your email address is valid they will probably sell it to other spammers so they can join in the fun.

If you get this stuff and who doesn't? Just ignore it or try to filter it out. Eventually it does go away if only temporarily.

I ususally use a "catch all" e-mail address for things that are I don't know like the latest HP Advertisment, or other such ads and important to me but not vital or business; that helps a little bit.

I have tried one SpamKiller, but I found it to be quite overbearing and within three days I disabled it and haven't allowed it to run since.

I use IncrediMail a lot, and two of it's features are "Block Sender", and "Bounce to Sender". The "Bounce" sends a reply to the sender of an individual message that says that my address doesn't exist or can't be found; therefore getting my address removed from that one - it will also auto nuke the message after it generates the Bounce Message. And, "Block Sender" does exactly that - it keeps tabs on what is added to it's database, and won't allow that one again.

Between these two features, I do about the best at controlling what would have me be controlled. "No, I don't care that I have won a free gift handbag" -

I agree completely. The only thing that I would add is that if you are using Outlook Express you should add the sender's address to your "Block Sender" list before deleting.

Cheers,

Thanks to a former student of mine who entered my e-mail address into a Yahoo web page of a story she thought I might be interested in (but wasn't!!), I was receiving about 20 spams a day. Like most of the posters here, you can't stop 'em. But you CAN control who you do and do NOT receive mail from. I went 2 and 1/2 years after switching to cable modem, with NO spam at all, until my address was entered into the Yahoo Page. Man, did it start pouring in. Mostly SPORM, or PornSpam.
Someone I sent an e-mail to prompted me to download a program called CHOICE-MAIL, by digital portal software.
It makes senders go to a web page and register their name and e-mail address, and YOU choose whether you can download the message or not. I refuse to download the spam and add the sender's to my BLACKLIST.Spammers use auto-mailing programs, so they're not going to register their name and e-mail with the site. It's started tapering off, but NOT enough for me. It's become a bit of an inconvenience, and I thought I would give it a few weeks, and if it didn't stop, I'd simply delete my current e-mail from RoadRunner, and create a new E-mail address. IF you'd like to try the FREE Choice Mail, here's the link:
http://www.digiportal.com/

Thanks,
Frank

P.S. I ONLY give out my hotmail address, and not my Roadrunner address to ANYONE!!! No contests, no freebies, NOTHING>! Nobody's going to send you a FREE laptop or 92" Plasma TV anyway, so why bother??? They just do that to add your e-mail address to their trash lists.