SpamDoctor

SpamDoctor takes care of all your Spam related problems. From protecting your office server to sifting through quarantined emails to find problems, SpamDoctor will do it all for you. Using the leading Spam filtering technology SpamDoctor offers a "1st Line " defence in the fight against Spam.Everyday millions of Spam emails are sent to unsuspecting customers, and if even just one or two of those contacted reply then it has paid for itself. This is part of the reason that Spam is such a problem. .

What Can I Do About the Spam I Receive?

There are basically three options for dealing with unwanted "junk" email, also referred to as "spam":

* Delete it. Sometimes referred to as JHD, for Just Hit Delete.
* Filter it. SpamDoctor® offers Advanced Email Filtering options for server side filtering. Some people prefer to use their email client or other utilities for filtering out spam email.
* Report it. Some people report spam , in an effort to combat the growing problem.

It is NOT recommended to reply to spam, or to request to be removed from the sender's list, unless you believe the mailing has been sent by a reputable list manager. It is believed that in many cases, requesting to be "removed" from a spam mailing only confirms a valid email address to the spammers and may result in your receiving even more unwanted email.

Likewise, it is not recommended to bounce spam back to the sender. Sending bounce notices has been observed to be ineffective in having spammers remove your email address from their list. Most spammers do not use a real email address for the sender of the email, and oftentimes forge the email address of an arbitrary third party. Since the bounce messages would most likely not be sent back to the spammer, and may be sent to an innocent third party, it is better not to send any bounce notice.

Please do not consider retaliating against the spammer by mail-bombing him, or otherwise trying to disrupt his Internet services. This is most likely a violation of the AUP (Acceptable Use Policy) of the Internet Service Provider(s) that you are using for your network access and could get you into serious trouble.

In an attempt to head off spam before it lands in your Inbox, you may want to implement some measures for protecting your email address , which focus primarily on methods for keeping your email address private. [Back to top]

In the meantime, you may be asking what you can do to combat spam effectively. To assist you in your efforts, we provide the following answers to your questions.:

Q: What are the methods spammers use to compile their mailing lists?

A: People who who send spam compile their mailing lists in many ways. Methods to compile such lists include: * Sending spam to e-mail addresses that are most commonly used.A common tactic consists of building lists of targeted addresses that us frequently used words such as "webmaster" or "info" (for example, "webmaster@forexample-domain" or "info@forexample-domain"). * Obtaining e-mail addresses that are automatically "harvested" from Web sites by specialized software. * Compiling lists of e-mail addresses that are either chosen or generated at random (for example, "joe1@forexample-domain," "joe2@forexample-domain" or "joe3@forexample-domain.") This method is becoming increasingly frequent. [ Back to top]

Q: How can I prevent spam from reaching my e-mail account?

A: Because spammers often send spam to undefined e-mail aliases, you can combat the receipt of spam effectively by using our devnull process. Devnull is an alias that you can use to auto-delete spam that is sent to undefined aliases. For example, let's assume that your Default E-mail Forward is set to "info@forexample-domain.com" and this e-mail address is acting as the catch-all for a POP3 account. Then, in your review of received e-mail, let's say that you notice that there are many spam e-mail messages being sent to undefined aliases that use "forexample-domain.com." To combat that spam, just edit the Master Forward to devnull@forexample-domain.com (be sure to replace "forexample-domain.com" with your actual domain). By doing this, the e-mail messages that are sent to undefined users (undefined "aliases") will be deleted. As a result, the ability that spammers have to reach you is drastically reduced. [Back to top]

Q: What is spoofing and how can I fight it?

A: "Spoofing" occurs when a spammer uses some version of your domain name in the "From" address field. Spammers use spoofing to try to hide their identities and to pass blame for spam to innocent Internet users. The large amount of spam messages -- many of which are sent to invalid addresses -- result in a significant amount of "bounced" e-mail (that is, mail that returned as being undeliverable). Unfortunately, bounced mail is sent back to the address found in the "From" line of the spammed message. Typically, the "From" line is also an undefined e-mail address not found in your mail settings. To combat receiving bounced mail messages, you can use the "devnull" alias that we mentioned previously. [ Back to top]

Q: Even if my account is not generating any spam, can the mail server I use get blocked because of spam?

A: Unfortunately, yes. The main cause for blacklisting your mail server depends on where the spammed e-mail is ultimately received and how the ISP who maintains that location reacts to spam and to complaints about spam. Many account holders with Verio forward e-mail messages that are sent to their hosting account. For example, a message sent to info@forexample-domain could be forwarded to myaccount@aol.com or myaccount@yahoo.com. At other times, clients may be forwarding e-mail messages to accounts that are invalid or otherwise not in use. The processing of the forwarded e-mail message is handled by the mail server that your account uses (specifically, the MTA or Mail Transport Agent). Because a Verio mail server is the MTA, it is possible that the mail server could be blacklisted even though you (or any other Verio client) is not responsible for sending the spam in the first place.

In short, you must be careful about where you forward e-mail, how you report spam, and to whom you report it.