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Spam problems
#2464 08/30/09 05:29 PM
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grelber Offline OP
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I've been using gmail for just under a year. I was impressed by the virtually total lack of spam creeping through (unlike other web-based email).
Recently there has been a dramatic increase in this type of traffic (which at least gets routed to the Spam folder).
Whereas for many months I would get no or maybe 1 piece of spam [per month!], as of late this has increased to 1 or 2 per day (usually of the Rx or genitalia-enhancing variety).
Trying to create a filter to eliminate same is unsuccessful because the originating addresses are spoofed. And trying to get a response from the gmail support team is fruitless.
Any suggestions?

Last edited by grelber; 08/31/09 01:00 AM. Reason: clarification [per month!]
Re: Spam problems
grelber #2465 08/30/09 05:59 PM
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One or two a DAY? One or Two? That's a "dramatic increase"? shocked

Jeez, grelber, on my business email accounts I get about a hundred a day!

They all get routed through to the spam folder, then I have to go in there and delete them. It's a real chore, and one I take on vacation with me too! Whenever I'm away I have to find an internet café to deal with this housekeeping task.

You're lucky.......but if you don't like gmail - where I routinely got ~50-70 every time I looked until I dumped it - try Yahoo mail where I've never had any spam emails in 5 years.


Re: Spam problems
Bensheim #2466 08/30/09 06:26 PM
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grelber Offline OP
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Thanks for the input, but LOL (really loud), I use a Yahoo account with a pseudonym for various purposes (namely for 'anonymous' postings in public forums and for subscriptions to newspaper cartoons) and do not give out that address for any other purposes.
I get 1-2 DOZEN spam messages per day on that account!
(I've stopped laughing now. Now I'm crying.) wink


That must be wonderful; I have no idea what it means.
— Molière
Re: Spam problems
grelber #2468 08/30/09 06:53 PM
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You got me thinking so I dug out my notebook and sure enough there's an old gmail account I never use any more. Fortunately I remembered the password, logged in, and

Hey! There are 151 Spam messages in there. Dates are from July 11th to today.

So much for this message in the gmail panel:

messages that have been in Spam more than 30 days will be automatically deleted

Now, just for you, I'm logging into my business email which I cleared out this time last night......53! 53 brand new spams in 24 hours. That's low, for them. Something I said? confused

Over on Yahoo, the one I use for registering on forums like this one.......Ta Daa....no spam, ever. smile





Re: Spam problems
grelber #2488 08/30/09 10:26 PM
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I have seen serious estimates from reliable agencies indicating 70% or more of all email traffic is spam. The sheer volume of this junk together with the fact some of the best computer brains in Russia and China are hard at work around the clock figuring out new ways to get around the various spam filters makes me believe your one or two a day actually getting through rates kudos for the security folks at GMail. Regardless of which service you use they are fighting a running battle with the spammers. As soon as Google figures out how to block that one or two the spammers will retaliate with their next trick. How much you receive through GMail or Yahoo or MobileMe or whoever will invariably be cyclical.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Spam problems
joemikeb #2489 08/30/09 10:30 PM
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grelber Offline OP
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You're likely correct on all counts.
Still ... it's annoying to see it occurring where it rarely did before.
But, then again, it's pretty easy just to empty the spam folder without examining it.

Re: Spam problems
grelber #2490 08/30/09 10:35 PM
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I used to do that until I dumped a couple of critical contract documents that had been identified as possible spam by some spam filter along the route they traveled and so wound up in Mail's Spam folder. Now I at least look at the subject lines before deleting the messages.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Spam problems
joemikeb #2497 08/30/09 11:17 PM
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I used to look at my 10-20 spams per day before deleting them, then someone decided to use my domain as their spoofed return address. The first day I got 1400 bounces from bad addresses or auto responders. After several days of this, my spam gets automatically deleted and anything from postmaster mail daemon, or mail delivery system is noted as spam.


...JER (-: >
Re: Spam problems
grelber #2504 08/31/09 01:09 AM
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If you applied for a credit card recently or did any other similar thing on the web leaving your G-mail address, it could explain the surge. Businesses share our addresses all the time. In good old times, if you do not respond, they will cease to send anything after a month or so but not anymore. As you said, G-mail has a good spam filter. So, what is the problem? Spam does not get to your inbox.
On another note, a lot of spam is about inviting you to spam! They say "mass mailings about your company, business, etc." and offer "help" in that domain.

Last edited by macnerd10; 08/31/09 01:11 AM.

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Re: Spam problems
grelber #2509 08/31/09 04:05 AM
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Spammers are constantly shifting techniques and a surge (although I wouldn't call your situation such) is often the result in a new shift that the spam filters haven't caught onto yet. Our corporate email gateway routinely logs well over 90% and sometimes over 95% inbound SMTP traffic as spam. As others have said, consider yourself lucky if you only see a couple a day.


Keeper of the Magic Nickel
Re: Spam problems
donikatz #2514 08/31/09 09:23 AM
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grelber Offline OP
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Yeah, I'm just grousing ~ overreacting. My tribulations in this regard seem miniscule in comparison to the experiences of others.
Nevertheless ...

On priniciple I never apply for credit or open financial accounts via the Internet (only via telephone or on paper) and never supply an email address at time of application. Once all is properly set up and apparently functioning, I will then supply an email address.
And the email address I supply is via a server the spam filter of which is outstanding — I only receive 1 or 2 quarantined messages per year and, unlike gmail, I can blacklist the originating domains.


That must be wonderful; I have no idea what it means.
— Molière
Re: Spam problems
joemikeb #2522 08/31/09 10:40 AM
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
I have seen serious estimates from reliable agencies indicating 70% or more of all email traffic is spam. The sheer volume of this junk together with the fact some of the best computer brains in Russia and China are hard at work around the clock figuring out new ways to get around the various spam filters .........


Of all the stupid non-jobs in the world, that must be the stupidest. The best computer brains there are set to work creating shite to irritate the "west"? Why? And how on earth do they get paid? Why on earth can't they be set to work creating something USEFUL??????

I could get really cross about this. It'll have to go on my list of things to get really cross about, when I have time.

Re: Spam problems
Bensheim #2526 08/31/09 10:53 AM
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34 spams in the business mailbox overnight, on the following subjects:

Get a new watch
Lose weight
Get a diploma
Cheap software
Answer this query
Why have you not replied to me
UPS tracking number
Get a larger member
Get a slim fit body
Your Masters Diploma is ready
Your credit card payment has been accepted........

That last one is the only one I've ever responded to, since it was "from" an airline code-sharing with an airline from which I'd just bought e-tickets. Despite me being very sceptical since I had not bought tickets to Alaska, I found said airline on the internet and contacted them directly. They were shocked, thanked me, and reassured me that it was indeed spam.

Re: Spam problems
Bensheim #2527 08/31/09 10:57 AM
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grelber Offline OP
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On the assumption that the questions aren't rhetorical ...

These bozos are of the same ilk and mentality as schoolyard bullies: They have major self-esteem issues which they feel can be remedied or at least alleviated by conducting themselves in such antisocial manner ... not that they are capable of expressing their frustration in this linguistic fashion.
Unfortunately, because they usually cannot be uniquely identified (since they go to great lengths to keep their identities under wraps), they cannot be dealt with properly as can schoolyard bullies.
And while they clearly have the skill to do good rather than evil, they don't have the requisite intellect to do such.
So you're right: shite creates shite.


That must be wonderful; I have no idea what it means.
— Molière
Re: Spam problems
Bensheim #2535 08/31/09 03:02 PM
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Originally Posted By: Bensheim
Of all the stupid non-jobs in the world, that must be the stupidest. The best computer brains there are set to work creating shite to irritate the "west"? Why? And how on earth do they get paid? Why on earth can't they be set to work creating something USEFUL??????

The Russian Mafia pays them very well for their services, at least very well for jobs in the Russian economy. The return per item of spam is miniscule but they make up for that with their tremendous volume and Spam is a multi-billion ruble industry. So those programmers see what they are doing as highly rewarding and therefore useful to attaining the lifestyle they would like for themselves and their families. It is the best paying job they can find. While I don't like or approve of what they do for a living, I cannot blame them for trying to better themselves in a very difficult situation.

We are getting off the troubleshooting topic in this thread and if it is to go much further, one of the moderators of this forum will probably move it to The Lounge.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Spam problems
Bensheim #2539 08/31/09 03:25 PM
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I'm sure if Franklin ever gets a free moment, he'll be happy to describe at length the economics of all this, which he's done very well @ MFIF. Suffice it to say, there's big $ in this, unfortunately. Many of what you see as annoyances are tests of robust distributed bot networks that can be used for all sorts of malicious activities by everybody from organized crime to governments.

To bring this on topic, I'll add that unlike in the old days, you can't keep yourself free of spam by being careful. You can minimize, but if your address is given out at all, you'll get spam. And often even if you don't give out your address. Bot networks, malware, and distributed attacks will yield your address, even if not from your machine, from someone else who has your address. Or as just a brute-force guess. Until the fundamental security and delivery protocols of email are changed (at which point maybe it won't even be email anymore), we will always have spam problems.

Last edited by donikatz; 08/31/09 03:45 PM.

Keeper of the Magic Nickel
Re: Spam problems
grelber #2551 08/31/09 04:34 PM
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gmail allows you to create aliases at will, by adding "+" and anything else to the end of your username. like "virtual1+ftm@gmail.com" formwards to "virtual1@gmail.com" etc. Then you can at least see who is "letting loose" your email address, just hand out a unique one to everyone and every thing.

I do this "the hard way" with my mailserver, and have caught people like newegg and Ford at letting my email address fall into the hands of spammers. I am able to delete/block aliases if they become abused. I don't know what gmail supports for that, but at the very least you could set up a Mail rule to trashcan anything that's being addressed to a compromised alias.


I work for the Department of Redundancy Department
Re: Spam problems
grelber #2709 09/02/09 12:06 PM
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I have detached an off-topic branch of posts from this discussion of spam problems and created a separate thread: Moderation Policies at FTM.


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