As part one mentioned, I get two hundred-odd e-mails a day - and about 10-15 of them are spam. This, by the way, is for my "real" e-mail addresses - the Yahoo! address I keep is literally swamped with them.

My ISP uses a server-side spam filter (that means they filter the spam for you). Not many got through that, but I've heard that not everyone's had the same luck with those things. For example, my parents use the exact same ISP (and server-side filter), but have gotten lots of spam.

I'm not going to go into how you avoid getting spam here; instead we're going to take what we learned about filters and use it to stop a lot of the spam.

I turned off the server-side filtering about a month ago and started creating my own filters (which I'll present below). This can seem kind of intimidating, but once you've put a few in (and got the hang of it), you gain a kind of control, a liberty from the mass marketers that you never had before.

I have also been using a utility called K9, available here, to help filter out spam. It's even better than just filters alone - and definitely better than any ISP filter I've seen - and it's freeware. Right now it's running at a 99.1% accuracy rate!

These are created for Pegasus E-mail, but the principle (and strings) can be used for any e-mail program that can use filters. Just a few technical notes:

  • Pegasus starts filtering from the top of your set of rules to the bottom. This means that all my "move this list's mail to a real folder" are BEFORE the spam filters - so that posts like this one aren't filtered to spam, they're sent to the resource list folder. Check your e-mail program to see how it handles it.
  • Anything that's not explicitly TO: or CC: to one of my e-mail addresses (or already recognized and filtered as a list I belong to) is sent to the bulk mail filter.
  • Never automatically delete all your bulk mail. Send it to a folder, and check it every so often. 90% of the time (or more) the spam will be obvious.
  • These filters catch about 90% of my spam, but they're a work in progress.
  • The headers:

    F = From
    T = To
    S = Subject
    R = Reply-To
    E = Sender

    So that - If header "FSRE" contains "Yahoo! Delivers" means "If it's from, reply-to, sender, or subject contains "Yahoo! Delivers" then... do something.

  • "If expression" searches for text in the message body, header, or both. The * symbols mean that it can be anywhere in the line.

    • If header "FSRE" contains "Yahoo! Delivers" Move
    If header "FRE" contains "@mp3.com" Move
    If header "S" contains "AD:" Move
    If header "S" contains "ADV:" Move
    If expression both matches "*SECTION 301*" Move
    If expression both matches "*one time solicitation*" Move
    If expression both matches "*one-time solicitation*" Move
    If expression body matches "*removed from this mailing list*" Move
    If expression both matches "*get-the-best.net*" Move
    If expression body matches "*emailremovals.com*" Move
    If not expression both matches "*penis*" SkipNext
    If expression both matches "*enlarge*" Move
    If expression both matches "*one-time mailing*" Move
    If expression body matches "*free credit report*" Move
    If expression both matches "*one time mailing*" Move
    If expression both matches "*S.1618*" Move
    If expression both matches "*received by mistake*" Move
    If expression both matches "*selected to receive*" Move
    If expression headers matches "*$$$*" Move
    If expression body matches "*do not wish to receive any further*" Move
    If header "S" contains "*for free*" Move
    If expression both matches "*opted-in*" Move
    If expression body matches "*receive third party*" Move
    If expression both matches "*opted in*" Move
    If expression both matches "*sent unsolicited*" Move
    If expression both matches "*this is not unsolicited e-mail*" Move
    If expression body matches "*link to be taken off*" Move
    If expression body matches "*targeted mailing*" Move
    If expression body matches "*obtained from an opt-in list*" Move
    If expression body matches "*received this message in error*" Move
    If expression body matches "*just click on*" Move
    If expression body matches "*marketing partner*" Move
    If expression both matches "*do not wish to receive*" Move
    If expression both matches "*void where prohibited*" Move
    If expression both matches "*miracle diet*" Move
    If expression body matches "*optout*" Move
    If expression both matches "*no obligation*" Move
    If expression both matches "*limited time offer*" Move
    If expression both matches "*You must be 18 to order*" Move
    If expression body matches "*off mailing list*" Move
    If expression body matches "*opt-out*" Move
    If expression both matches "*this is not unsolicited email*" Move

Bought Love is a Salaried Position - Political Both Dreams and People Crash Down - Inspiration Shadows of the Spine - wierd and funny stuff Walking is the Process of Controlled Stumbling - religion Idle Thoughts Are Often True - The Work of Others Moments are the Measure of Our Lives - life under the microscope Newness is Relative - information overload Perceptions do not Limit Reality - miscellaneous This Space Intentionally Blank - free mail lists
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Bought Love is a Salaried Position - Political Both Dreams and People Crash Down - Inspiration From Unlikely Sources Shadows of the Spine - wierd and funny stuff Walking is the Process of Controlled Stumbling - religion Idle Thoughts Are Often True - The Work of Others Moments are the Measure of Our Lives - life under the microscope Newness is Relative - information overload Perceptions do not Limit Reality - uncategorized goodness This Space Intentionally Blank - free e-mail lists Some Rights Reserved