E-mail problem :(

bungalowbill

Hi, I keep getting random e-mails from people I don't know. I didn't use to, but my OH used my address for some work contacts, and now these things keep coming through. He says he's had them for ages, and now he's obviously linked my address to them too. The e-mail is not picking them up as spam, but I know they're all from the same place as they all look similar. They're on coloured backgrounds, make no sense whatsoever, and sometimes are in different languages.

I block sender each time they arrive, but they are obviously generated from different addresses each day.

Please help!

elDeeJay

Have you tried downloading the latest spam updates from microsoft? Go to the microsoft update site (update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us) or the office update site and get the latest updates....

That is assuming you are using Office Outlook?
Alternatively some Baysein filtering such as K9 (keir.net/k9.html) might help?

bungalowbill

I'm on Outlook Express. I presume becuase they're from different addresses each time that's why the spam filter doesn't work?

Didn't understand the other solution sorry

mattogier

It sounds like one/some of your OH's contacts have got a problem with their security so that your email addy has been distributed to various spammers without their knowledge.

Have you thought about using Thunderbird instead of Express as your email application - it has a good spam detector that learns as you make each message sa spam - plus it is quick and easy to teach / get rid of the spam. http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/

Also...

who is your ISP / Mail provider as they may have some inbuilt spam features (although I had to turn this off on BT Yahoo due to over zealous spam marking)

And..

If you are using some kind of virus protection (which I hope you are otherwise it maybe YOU who have sent out your own email addy top the spammers with everyone else in you address book!) is there a facility to detect spam in that program that is not tuned up?

fudgem

A short while ago I was being inundated with spam, all the same type of thing advertising stocks and shares. Following advice from a friend I started looking at my mail on the web, instead of downloading it to outlook express immediately. Deleting it from the web meant that the spammer eventually thought it was going to a dead address and stopped sending, but it did take me three months until I got no more, a real pain but it worked in the end

elDeeJay

fudgem wrote:

A short while ago I was being inundated with spam, all the same type of thing advertising stocks and shares. Following advice from a friend I started looking at my mail on the web, instead of downloading it to outlook express immediately. Deleting it from the web meant that the spammer eventually thought it was going to a dead address and stopped sending, but it did take me three months until I got no more, a real pain but it worked in the end

TBH Im not sure those two things are related. The "spammer" wouldn't know whether you downloaded it or read it online. From the senders PoV there isn't a difference between webmail and POP3 collection. The fact that it didn't 'bounce' would suggest to them that it was received.
Probably more coincidence I'd expect...

superscaper

elDeeJay wrote:

TBH Im not sure those two things are related. The "spammer" wouldn't know whether you downloaded it or read it online. From the senders PoV there isn't a difference between webmail and POP3 collection. The fact that it didn't 'bounce' would suggest to them that it was received.
Probably more coincidence I'd expect...

I'd agree, especially as most email addresses in from field are faked anyway so even if it was bounced back it will go to some random innocent person and not the spammer. Which is also the reason why blocking spamming addresses doesn't work because invariably the spam isn't even coming from those addresses. You can put anything you want in the from field. It's the same as writing any address you like as return to sender on an envelope.

bungalowbill

Thanks guys...fudgem, I think mine are similar. Some are unintelligible, but a lot have been about stocks and prices.

Spam doesn't seem to get through me filter, but I'm not sure why these do. Oh well, back to the block sender I guess.

Thx.

amcluesent

>but I'm not sure why these do.<

The image-based spam are all different, so difficult to block. If your ISP isn't offering a spam filter, you could use Google Mail. That can collect e-mails from other sources and uses Google's spam filter. You just need to setup you e-mail reader to pick up the message from gmail rather than your ISP.

uselesswith£

I have the exact same messages - multi coloured background and giberish about stocks and shares -and I can't seem to block them either. I've got McAfee spamfilter which works ok for most things but not for these.

bungalowbill

uselesswith£ wrote:

I have the exact same messages - multi coloured background and giberish about stocks and shares -and I can't seem to block them either. I've got McAfee spamfilter which works ok for most things but not for these.

Hurray! At least I've found someone else suffering, that makes me feel better even if I can't rid of them! Maybe someone else will be along later to help.

THX