2 Parter- Header & Filter

I have been getting a lot of spam, where the "TO:" name is not me. I am not in the TO: list, nor in a CC: list. Often the TO: name starts with "J ". My ISP is useless in preventing this, just spouts the usual BS about how to control viruses and spam, and how "in the future" will do something about spam.

1- How can I see the total contents of the e-mail header? I could do this in NS 4.7, can't remember if I could in NS 7.1, and I cannot find a way in Mozilla 1.6.

2- Can I setup an incoming filter that will delete, file elsewhere or not accept an e-mail where the TO: or a CC: is not my name?

 

Hi JGB,

To see the total contents of the Header:
In Mail & Newsgroups, click on View | Headers, and then select: All

You can also click on View | Page Source

You can set up a filter to place any E-mail not addressed to you into the Folder of your choice. This is done in Mail & Newsgroups Tools | Message Filters.

Even better is the Bayesian Junk Mail Filter. Each time you receive an undesirable piece of mail mark it as Junk, and have it moved to the Junk Folder. Then you can opt to have the junk mail moved to the trash folder in whatever period of time you choose. This gives you the opportunity to look it over before it is deleted. It takes a few weeks to completely train the junk mail, but once you do, it is an excellent filter. You can't, however, block mail.

Ramona

 

Thanks Ramona,

The ability to read the header is appreciated. Also, in that same VIEW menu is "Message Source" which gives me a text version of the entire header and e-mail, with all the codes and invisible stuff, which I was able to copy and forward to my ISP. They are playing stupid with me and I will not let go.

I set up an inbound filter that traps any mail not addressed to my name specifically, both in the TO: and CC: I'll let you know how well it works in a few days.

Also please tell me more about this "Bayesian Junk Mail Filter ". Where is it, how much $$, and what advantage has it over the Message Filters.

 

Hi JGB,

The Bayesian Junk Mail Filter is included in Mozilla 1.6, and was first introduced in Mozilla 1.3. The price is right!

This is a Screen Shot of my Junk Mail Settings. I've blacked out my Mail account for obvious reasons. To access the Junk Mail settings: Open the Mail window, and click on Tools | Junk Mail Controls. There you can set it up like you want.

The Mozilla Help has a rather lengthy section on using Junk Mail filtering. Click on Help | Help Contents | Using Mail | Controlling Junk Mail. It is more than sufficient to get you started.

The advantage? Once you have your Junk Mail filter trained, everything is automatic. The mail you specify as junk goes into the Junk folder, and within the length of time you specify, it goes to the Trash folder.

Ramona

 

I found that just after I installed Moz, but it seemed not to work at the time, so I turned it off. Now I realize I did not give it enough time for the learning curve, so I just now turned it back on.

I'll let you know later next week how it's working, and in conjunction with my incoming filters.

Thanks again for your help.

 

Filtering SPAM and JUNK mail

The Filters built into Mozilla work quite well.
So far it's 40-37-1 over 5 days.

39 spam/junk rcvd, 36 caught and placed in the junk folder, and only 1 not junk, but caught in the net over 5 days. Only 2 junks got into my in-basket.

It's easier to check them now that they are in a separate folder, than when mixed with my legit e-mail.

For those wanting to setup a filter, here's what I did in detail. It is in 2 parts.

I am rcving 2 basic junk/spam e-mails. Those addressed to me in the TO: or CC: and other stuff NOT directly addressed to me, and until last Fri I was stumped as to how. They are addressed to me in the BCC: (blind copy) which I don't see and is not part of the header info when placed in my server mail-box.

For mail addressed to you, you need to setup & train the Mozilla Junk filter, and that takes a bit of time or a few dozen junk mails. For non-addressed mail, you need a filter to check the TO: & CC:.

For Junk Mail addressed to you;
In Mail TOOLS, select Junk Mail Controls
-Select which Account to run the filter (I have 2 accounts, so I set up 2 filters the same) and
-select Enable.
-Select "Do Not Mark if in address book ", and select which address book.
-select "Move incoming junk to" and select "Junk" folder on the account name.
-also select "When Manually marked" and select "MOVE" NOT delete. That is so you can check for false marked e-mail and reclaim them.
-then as an option, click on "Junk Mail Log" (upper right) and enable the log. Run this for a while to see how the filter is working, then you can de-select it.
-Close the Control panel with OK.
-Select your INBOX folder
-Back in the tools menu, click on "Run junk mail controls ".

For spam/junk mail that is NOT addressed to you;
In the Mail Tools select "Message Filters ".
-Select which account to filter. You need to set up separate filters for each account and separate filters for each type of Spam. So far I have only 1 filter on each account, both setup the same.
-click NEW
-give the filter a name. I called mine "Not Addressed to Me "
-Now you have to determine what it is that sets the Spam message apart from any other mail. In my case, my address was NOT in the TO: or CC:.
-click on "subject" and there is a list to choose from. In my case I selected "To or CC ". Click on one.
-click on "Contains" then on "Doesn't contain ".
-enter your full e-mail address in the data box to the right.
-you can add more conditions by selecting "more" and repeating the above, but unless you are fairly knowledgable on boolean logic, KEEP IT SIMPLE. Complex rules let bad stuff slip through and may catch good stuff. As things will slip through, you can incrementally add conditions and test them.
-next select "Move to Folder" and select a folder to drop the spam into. I created a sub-folder in junk named "filtered spam" so that I could verify what was filtered in case I need to refine the rules.
-there is no need to mark or label the messages, and DON'T delete them automatically, so you can review what's been caught.
-Click OK and your filter will join the list.
-select Enabled. (important!!)
-again as an option enable the log.
-select OK to exit.
-back in the tools, select "run Filters "

That's it. As your mail comes in from the server it is diverted to the Junk & Spam folders. If something slips through, then click on it (do NOT open any attachments) and click on the JUNK button on the toolbar. It is removed.

Go to the Junk, then the Spam folders. If a good item got junked, again, click on it and select "NOT JUNK" from the toolbar, and it is returned to the Inbox For items in the Spam folder, simply DRAG them back to the inbox. If too many good items get into the Junk or spam folders, you may have to refine your filters.

After you have vetted the incoming, you can trash them.

One final note. On any Spam or Junk mail where you do not know who the sender is, DO NOT REPLY to them, nor click on any REMOVE ME. That is an open invitation for much MORE junk/spam, as now they know they have a live in-box. Just curse them and trash them.