04-24-2003, 08:45 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Unsolicited Commercial E-mail Research Six Month Report
"In the summer of 2002, CDT embarked on a project to attempt to determine the source of spam. To do so, we set up hundreds of different e-mail addresses, used them for a single purpose, and then waited six months to see what kind of mail those addresses were receiving. It should come as no surprise to most e-mail users that many of the addresses CDT created for this study attracted spam, but it is very interesting to see the different ways that e-mail addresses attracted spam -- and the different volumes -- depending on where the e-mail addresses were used. The results offer Internet users insights about what online behavior results in the most spam. The results also debunk some of the myths about spam."
Spam continues to be a huge problem, so if you're curious about how spammers work, check out this article. This is a good time for me to mention the only anti-spam tool that has lasted for more than a week on my computers: Cloudmark's Spamnet. The principal behind Spamnet is insanely powerful: when I check my email, every message is processed and compared to a massive database on the Spamnet server. If it's spam, I have the software configured to send the spam into my deleted items folder in Outlook, and it's marked as read along the way, so I never even see it. If I see spam that isn't flagged as spam, I can click BLOCK - the message headers for that spam then get uploaded to the Spamnet server, and processed. When you check your email 10 minutes later and get the same piece of spam, it's flagged and tossed out, because I did the work of flagging that message as spam.
The reality is that it's a little more complex than that of course on the back end - a certain number of users have to flag something as spam, and you can unblock a legitimate email message and that will help to cancel out the users flagging it as spam. The proof is in the numbers: since installing Spamnet on this build of my system, which is perhaps a month old now, I've received 5919 email messages. 2350 of those were spam, and Spamnet let 54 of them through. That's 98% accuracy - smokin'! Spamnet went through a rough period a few months ago when it was letting through about 30% of the spam, but lately it's been killer.
If you run Outlook 2000 or XP, and you're sick of spam, PLEASE try this tool. I have no affiliation with the company, and for now the tool is free, so go check it out. It's rare to get people contacting me months later to thank me for recommending a piece of software to them, but it happens quite often with Spamnet. You gotta' love that! :mrgreen: And to the Pocket PC Thoughts reader who first told me about this tool, thank you!
UPDATE: Talk about bad timing! Apparently Spamnet is no longer free and they're just about to move to a paid model. Still, check out the tool.
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04-24-2003, 08:53 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 65
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I signed up for a new Email account when I signed up for A new account with a major country wide ISP. I have never told anyone what the address was and have never used it to send email. Within minutes of signing up I was recieving spam. Even with their Spam Blocker in service I still get 3-5 spams a day.
:roll:
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04-24-2003, 09:01 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 735
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Yup, sounds like a dictionary attack...
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Wow, Jason, so you get 119 e-mails a day on average?! And this is probably just from one system as you may have other systems and accounts, and this is in addition to the site's forums and any other ones you may be ineterested in,etc - information overload - can't compute!!!! :twisted:
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04-24-2003, 09:06 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by klinux
Wow, Jason, so you get 119 e-mails a day on average?! And this is probably just from one system as you may have other systems and accounts, and this is in addition to the site's forums and any other ones you may be ineterested in,etc - information overload - can't compute!!!! :twisted:
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Yeah - it's actually more than that during the week days. The weekend it slows down a little. But isn't it pathetic that about 50% of my email is spam? Sheesh...insane! I HATE SPAM! That's why I love Spamnet so much - it's really, really good.
Honestly though, compared to the amount of email I've seen Microsoft people get when they do a SEND/RECEIVE in Outlook, I'm just a wee fish. ;-)
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04-24-2003, 09:22 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 406
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I used to get a lot of spam, more than the amount of real email I got. The funny thing was, my address was never really written publicly, I didn't use chat rooms or the like, and I didn't really give my address to many companies. Anyway, one day it really got to me, so I changed it. To prevent dictionary attacks, I made it a bunch of seemingly random letters and numbers. Now I don't get any spam (except for the occasional Nigerian 419 one every few months).
By the way, my old address was [email protected]. My new one is i36835: i for iPaq; 36 for my 3600; and 835 for the 3835 that I have now. 
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04-24-2003, 09:23 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 72
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I've been real happy with Choicemail (http://www.digiportal.com) (I have no affiliation with them).
I bought the software about 6-7 months ago, and love the concept. If they are in my outlook directory, then the mail comes through. If I send an email, then that address is allowed. All others have to fill out an easy form to ask for my permission to send me email. It works great.
I was concerned at first because as a small business owner, I wanted emails from prospects etc. to get through. So far this has not really been a problem, and I've asked people if it was a hassle, and so far not a single complaint.
Anyway, just my experience...
james
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04-24-2003, 09:26 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by jsanfordii
All others have to fill out an easy form to ask for my permission to send me email. It works great.
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Permission-based systems are interesting, but only if there's a human at the other end. I don't really like having to jump through hoops like this for everyone who gets an email from our forum software (thread notifications, etc). :evil: If everyone used a system like this, I'd probably shut off all notifications. :|
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04-24-2003, 09:44 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 443
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This isn't exactly news . .
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04-24-2003, 09:50 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by qmrq
This isn't exactly news . .
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It's an off-topic post. If you don't like seeing them, please use the filtering function found at the top right of the home page.
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04-24-2003, 09:57 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 333
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Re: Unsolicited Commercial E-mail Research Six Month Report
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Originally Posted by Jason Dunn
If you run Outlook 2000 or XP, and you're sick of spam, PLEASE try this tool. I have no affiliation with the company, and for now the tool is free, so go check it out.
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It appears that it is no longer free. I couldn't find a price listed, but there is a bunch of information about subscribing to the service, and a free 30 day trial.
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Linear Mode
