SPAM PROBLEMS

Greylisting: We can also set up your domain to send all your email to a separate mail server which we have set up with greylisting software. What greylisting does is tell the sending mail server that the message is deferred and to "Please try again". If the same mail server tries again 5 minutes later then the email will then get through to you. All RFC complaint mail servers will try again and you will then get your email. Most virus and spam sending software does not wait to hear the "deferred" response and they will not try again. Using greylisting will cut your spam by 2/3. If you would like us to set this up for your domain, please submit a support ticket.

Spammers get your email address from a few sources, mainly newsgroup postings, lists sold to them by FFA (Free For All Links) sites, by spidering web pages where you list your email address, and by sending email to common names @yourdomain.com (and then checking for bounces).

To limit spam you can:

1. Use a separate email address for posting to newsgroups and periodically change it.
2. Use a separate email address for submitting your web site to small search engines and FFA sites. This is somewhat effective, but many FFA sites will spider your pages in order to find a good email address. So, make sure to do #3 below.
3. Put your email address links on your site using JavaScript Encryption. Click here for info.
4. In your email software (Outlook Express, Eudora, Netscape Messenger) you can set up email filters or "Inbox Assistant" type filters to delete emails that contain certain words in the subject, or body of the email.
5. Do not have links to your email addresses on your site. Instead link to a form that visitors to your site can use to communicate with you. For more specific information on how to create a form without revealing your email address, click here.
6. Do not use the catchall email function on your site. Many times spammers will send test emails to common names at @yourdomain.com E.g. john@yourdomain.com fred@yourdomain.com If you have the catchall enabled then the email will not bounce; then that address will be added to their spam list. ( On the raq4 servers the catchall alias looks like @www.yourdomain.com On the raq550 servers, it is set from the Services --> Email section of the siteadmin. )
7. Common names as email addresses are not a good idea. For example, john.t@yourdomain.com is less likely to get spam than john@yourdomain.com As mentioned above, spammers will send test emails to common names at @yourdomain.com to see if they bounce.
8. If spammers already know your email address, then a good strategy would be to change your email address and then email your legitimate correspondents informing them of the change.

Also, many times spammers will send out email without a complete "From" address (not containing an @). In that case our mail server will append the server name @dnssys.com or @secure-acces.net etc. to the "From" address. This makes it look like we, your hosting provider, are sending the spam. We are definitely not sending it nor have we sold your email address.

Other useful links:

Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email: (CAUCE), includes information on Spam and how to prevent it.

Mail Abuse Prevention System: An organization whose mission is to defend the Internet against Spammers. Take a look at their Real-time Blackhole List information

SPAM SETTINGS

The SPAM ASSASSIN is a software program that reviews email that is being sent to you. This program is designed to either delete the SPAM before it reaches you, or to change the subject of suspect emails to **SPAM** and converts any html messages to plain text, thereby disabling any harmful javascript or tracking images the message may contain.

The way it determines whether a message is SPAM is based on a point system; a database of words and attributes has been created (and is constantly being updated). When a message is sent to you, the SPAM ASSASSIN software reviews the message and gives the message score (a point for each suspect word or attribute the message may have). If the score is above 6, the message is marked as SPAM.

The SPAM ASSASSIN software is also customizable. The site administrator may access the SPAM ASSASSIN settings for all users from the /siteadmin. Depending on the SPAM ASSASSIN version, you would either click on pencil icon, and then the SPAM ASSASSIN tab, or clcik the Av Spam menu option at the left and then the magnifying glass icon to the right of the users shown there. You will see the score that must be achieved for a message to be considered SPAM (default is 6, the lower the number, the more messages that will be marked as SPAM), a white list (domains and email addresses you wish to always receive messages from without being tested), a black list (list of known email addresses and domains you wish to have all messages from deleted or marked as SPAM), an option to 'auto-delete' SPAM, an option to disable the SPAM ASSASSIN and a few other choices that are explained on the page. If you are not the site administrator, you may access the specific settings for your own email account by going to www.your actual domain.com/personal/ and entering your email username and password and then clicking on the 'Spam' menu option. You will gain access to the same settings as those listed above.

You may disable the SPAM ASSASSIN, but we believe, based on a group of domains already using the program (including our own) and a number of requests we have received for such a program, that you will be pleased with the SPAM elimination solution.

One good way to handle the email marked as spam is to set up a mail rule within your email software to automatically move all messages with **SPAM** in the title to a separate folder. That way you never have to see the messages but you can look back through them if necessary. If you are using Outlook Express, you would click Tools --> Message Rules --> Mail and then click New to add a new mail rule. In addition to moving messages with SPAM in the subject line to a separate folder, it would also be a good idea to have it test for other common spammer subjects. E.g. viagra, etc..