cmw4
Enthusiast - Level 3

How do I stop all the Spam that keeps coming continually???  I must get 100 emails a day. I have blocked numrous addresses, but they keep coming.

Thank you

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Re: SPAM
james_marshall
Contributor - Level 1

I'm happy that it has helped.  Now, what are you going to do with the time you've saved? 

Please consider "paying it forward" and helping someone else in some way.

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Re: SPAM
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

There is no real easy way to block spam once it starts to arrive into your mailbox. The obvious first and foremost, make sure the spam filtering is enabled. Verizon's spam filters are not the best, so hopefully they will improve. Filtering often doesn't do much because spammers go through lengths to not only change the "origin" e-mail address and server regularly, but also items like the subject line or body of the e-mail.

Avoiding spam is more about preventative measures versus reactive measures. What this means is, treat your e-mail address like your home address. Don't openly give it out to marketers, random individuals on the Internet, or post it anywhere unless you expect to receive a lot of unsolicited messages. Also, don't sign up for random mailing lists unless you really know that the group/firm is trustworthy. If it's given to a marketing firm, be sure to read their privacy policy around how they handle customer data, such as your e-mail address. Some marketing firms belong to a marketing network, where they can share your name along with an e-mail address across their brand. If you don't agree with the privacy policy, don't provide your e-mail address.

Additionally, when signing up for websites, it is best to use something called a disposable e-mail address. Disposable e-mail addresses are offered only by a few mail providers (Yahoo! used to offer 1,000 for free a while ago. I don't know if they still do) but are handy for putting an end to spam when it does start. Disposable addresses will direct all e-mail to your mailbox, and can be deleted and created at will, without having to sign up for a whole new account. It's best to make one disposable e-mail per website, and to keep track of which sites get what e-mail (important for login recovery in the future). If a website gets hacked, sells your data, or if the e-mail address is revealed to the Internet, and then starts getting spam, all you have to do is delete the disposable, and the spam will stop coming.

I would also use disposable addresses for communications with friends and family too. Malware does infect computers, and one of the first things malware does is search the computer for address books and files containing e-mail addresses which can be spammed.  The same thing can happen with Smartphones, since both Android and iPhone have some fairly sketchy applications on the app stores which appear from time to time.

But ultimately, if your main e-mail account gets hit with a barrage of spam, the only real way to stop it besides spam filtering, is to change your e-mail address. This is a really big hassle.

Just remember - when you receive a spam message, be sure to mark it as Spam rather than delete it. Only spam e-mails which you know for certain, are not from a business that you provided your e-mail address to willingly. This is a common courtesy in the e-mailing world. If you see any valid e-mails which were marked as spam, be sure to mark them as not spam, so they can be delivered to the Inbox BEFORE you read it.

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Re: SPAM
cmw4
Enthusiast - Level 3

Hi Smith,

Thank you for the email.

The SPAM settings are ON. and have been.

I do mark them all as SPAM before deletion.

I am very cautious who I give my email address to, I have 2 other email addresses (not Verizon) and I do not get the amount of SPAM.

I appreciate your help;

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Re: SPAM
james_marshall
Contributor - Level 1

Here is a workaround I have used to combat spam with some success. It's only a workaround, not a real solution. One of the forum moderators suggested the core part of it, then I tweaked it a little. It works on the principle that most spam is sent as a BCC, and is not addressed TO the sender.

Log into webmail and go to Settings>Email settings>filters>add new filters. Set up a new rule that says "IF To: or CC:" does not contain <your email address>, then move messages to trash. I created a folder that I called "filtered spam" and have the messages moved there instead of trash so I can go back in and make sure the filters aren't catching anything I really want.

Because I use the "Always BCC myself" feature on my iPhone and iPad, I then added a second filter that says, "If From Contains <your email address>, then move messages to folder Inbox." This allows the BCC's to myself to be delivered.

The glitch is if someone legitimately sends a BCC, I don't get it. I have added several additional filters to allow some low tech newsletters that I get to be delivered. Those rules read, "If From Contains <e-mail address of the sender> Then Move messages to Inbox." It is also possible to put a domain name in the filter in lieu of an e-mail address, if you want to be certain that all BCC's from that organization come through.

This solution isn't perfect - some spam still gets through. But, over the past week, it has filtered out 450 spam e-mails and only allowed 7 spam e-mails through. Over this same period the filters caught 2 valid e-mails.

So, it's not perfect, but I find that it is still a lot better. I hope this helps.

In the meantime, let's all keep lobbying VZN for a decent spam filter.

j_m

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Re: SPAM
cmw4
Enthusiast - Level 3

Thank you James~   I just did it!

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Re: SPAM
cmw4
Enthusiast - Level 3

James.  Thank you.. What a difference! 

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Re: SPAM
james_marshall
Contributor - Level 1

I'm happy that it has helped.  Now, what are you going to do with the time you've saved? 

Please consider "paying it forward" and helping someone else in some way.