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computerwriter.com
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What to do about Spam - Part 2 - FilteringToronto Star Fast Forward column for October 9/97 Back to White Pages main article index © Copyright, Myles White /, 1997
Last week, I opened the topic of spamming - mass mailing of unsolicited electronic junk mail - and related some of the results of this most pernicious use of Internet e-mail. This week I promised to provide some ideas about what you could do about it. John Nemanic, president of Internet Direct, has kindly allowed me to make use of several solutions provided by Idirect's resident e-mail guru, Ross Rader. The full text, with pictures, of Rader's work can be found at http://www.idirect.com/about/spam3.html, where he's given point-by-point instructions for many popular e-mail programs. I've added instructions for Outlook 97 and Outlook Express (shipping with Internet Explorer 4), Netscape Communicator 4's Messenger Mailbox and Eudora Pro 3.01. The primary trick is to use each program's ability to set up automated filters and alternate e-mail boxes (or in the case of Outlook and Netscape Messenger, separate folders). You can choose two basic methods. The first is a never-ending story; try to identify each spammer, either through return address or subject line, then automatically send the message to trash or to a "junk" folder. The only problem here is that those pesky darned spammers constantly generate new, false return addresses that change each time they send out a new load of trash and it's hard to keep up with them. Rader's method is a little simpler. He advises creating a special inbox, then trying to separate only that mail you'd like to keep and sending it elsewhere. Both methods have merit and my own experience tells me you'll probably wind up using a combination of them. According to Rader his method is simple and, "effective in virtually all cases of unsolicited e-mail. It will work with any e-mail program that offers simple filters, and does not require extensive maintenance." First we'll deal with the simple stuff. Much spam comes without your actual e-mail address in the "TO:" line. Instead, it's sent to a variety of collective names -- often concealed in the BCC: (blind copy) heading or with a tag that suppresses the original recipient list. To deal with these, Rader first suggests creating a second "IN Box" and calling it "New Mail." Then he advises setting up your mail program to filter messages containing your actual e-mail address (or addresses if you have more than one) so that incoming mail that is properly addressed TO your real address flows into "New Mail." All the spam, BCC:, recipient suppressed mail will remain in the old "IN Box" and you can delete the messages at your leisure, all at once. Now come the refinements. Many users have multiple e-mail IDs, and many are participants in legitimate lists that make use of "recipient suppressed" headers. You will have to add filters for these lists as well to ensure they do not get overlooked when you delete the unwanted messages in your "IN Box." All of the programs we've listed will, in response to filters, send messages to other boxes/folders. Your filter for these particular messages may have to take the messages that come FROM a particular address, and place them into the "New Mail" folder, or another folder for each list. Check the headers on your mailing lists when configuring filters for them. Oh, and by the way, several e-mail applications give you the option of showing or suppressing e-mail headers (which show where they came from, by which route, to whom they were sent, the subject and so on). You'll want to configure your program so that headers are NOT suppressed, something our Net.columnist, K. K. Campbell harps on from time to time and with good reason.  Step-by-step instructions for Eudora Light and Eudora ProFirst, create a new mailbox called "New Mail." Click on Mailbox, New, and enter "New Mail"in the dialog box. Then click on "OK." Note that in Eudora Pro, this can be a new mailbox or a new folder. Click on Tools, Filters. When the Filters dialogue box appears, click on the small New button. It's in the centre box in Eudora Lite and in the lower left corner in Eudora Pro. Note that if you fail to click on "New," you will overwrite the information in any existing filter at the top of the list. In the "Match" area, click on the Header box, and select "To:" (note that there are several choices in this box -- pick the most appropriate to aid in filtering). Next, enter your e-mail address or other criteria text in the box directly below the Header box. The choice "contains" may also be "doesn't contain" or some other choice.
If you choose to try to eliminate spam directly and you're getting messages from a source that doesn't change its name from time to time, you can simply place the address line from its "Reply to:" header in the Match area, and select "Trash" in the "Transfer to:" action area. In both cases, check off the "Incoming" and "Manual" boxes at the top of the filter dialogue before you save the new filters. The manual setting is so you can test your filter on existing messages. To test a filter when you've got some spam to use as an example, select all messages in your mailbox, then select Special, Filter Messages from the menu list.  Step-by-step instructions for Microsoft MailFirst, create a new folder called "New Mail." Click on File, Folder, Create, then enter "New Mail" in the dialogue box. Then click on "OK". Click on Mail, Inbox Assistant. When the assistant dialogue box appears, click on the Add button, then add your address to the "To" field. In the "Perform the following action" area, select the "New Mail" mailbox. Click on OK twice.  Step-By-Step Instructions for Outlook 97 and Outlook ExpressCreate the "New Mail" folder by clicking on File, Folder, New Folder, then entering the name in the top box. The new folder will be a subfolder of one Outlook's main folders. Once you've selected the main folder from which you want the new one to branch, click OK. Note that in both Outlook and Outlook Express, you can't set up filters unless there is already mail in your Inbox (the Inbox Assistant is greyed out when the Inbox is empty). When you have some mail, click on Tools, Inbox Assistant. Then click on the "Add" button. Once the Properties dialogue box opens, you'll have lots of choices - including a box at the top that needs to be checked off in order to apply the filter against all incoming messages. You can use this form to direct legitimate mail to your new inbox and/or to try to separate known junk into its own subfolder.  Step-by-step instructions for Netscape Communicator 4 MessengerWhen Communicator 4 starts, unless you've set it to go straight to e-mail, the browser is on screen. Click on the "Communicator" menu item, then select Messenger Mailbox. Once the Mailbox is on screen, create New Mail by clicking on File, New Folder. Like Outlook and Outlook Express, any new folders will be sub-folders of one of Messenger's main mailboxes. To create filters, click on Messenger's Edit menu, then select Mail Filters. When the Filters dialogue box appears, click on New. You're first presented with one blank set of criteria. For example, if the "sender" line "contains" and a box in which you can write text. Both the "sender" and "contains" choices are merely one of several choices you access by clicking on the down arrow beside each box. You could for example set up a filter that says if the "subject" of the message "doesn't contain" your special text ..... Below the first line of choices is a button with the word, "More." Each time you click on it, another criteria line appears, so you can add quite complex filter statements. Unfortunately, these are all predicated with "and" and you don't have choices such as "or" or "not," so all of the criteria are cumulative. Once you have your selection criteria outlined, the middle of the box sets out the options, including "move to folder," "change priority," "delete," and so on. Each filter can be set to "off" or "on" by checking radio buttons at the bottom of the dialogue. Unlike Eudora, there is no choice of performing filters on incoming and/or outgoing messages, nor is there a manual option. The filters work on incoming messages only.
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In the "Action" area, click on the top box, and select "Transfer to." A box will appear
beside "Transfer To," listing all your current mailboxes. Click on the "New Mail"
mailbox. In Eudora Lite, click on File, then Save. In Eudora Pro, close the dialogue box
and you will be prompted to save your changes automatically. 
Step-by-step instructions for Pegasus
. 
. In the "In these headers" area, click on "To". Next,
enter your e-mail address in the "What to look for" area. In the "What to do when the rule is triggered" area, select "Move", and click on the "New Mail"
folder, then on the Open button, then on OK.