🚀 go-pugleaf

> I set up massive amounts of filtering on my newsreader (Yet Another
> Newswatcher and MT Newswatcher) to get rid of the posted spam........

I used MT myself....I love having killfiles (filters) and the ability to
access more than one NG at once (or d/l binaries and read a NG).

> Sometimes I find the groups empty after that.

Hehe...I noticed that too. Pretty funny when you think about it...or sad,
depending on your point of view at the time.

>I wish there was a way that I
> could upload my anti-spam filters to my ISP so I wouldn't have to bother
> downloading the headers.

Actually, my ISP is going testing some kind of server-side e-mail SPAM
filtering, which will be optional to each user. I don't understand the
details, but I'm sure I'll get e-mail about it as soon as it is ready for
trials.

I think it has something to do with filtering known SPAM domains, any
e-mail that is posted to x-number of users at the same ISP, etc.--the
really *easy* to target stuff. But if they do it, it would probably kill
over 75% of the stuff I filter with Em@iler.

> AOL, with all the poor souls that subscribe there, is a massive target for
> spammers. AOL's system is rife with holes that allow the more technically
> inclined spammers gather addresses. I can't blame them one bit for blocking
> whole servers to keep it down. With 10 million+ members each getting 4 or 5
> spam's a day, that is an enormous amount of email to process and store.
> Their members complained loudly and were heard. I don't like AOL's
> service,but I applaud their stand.

I switched to Em@iler precisely because it is the only software which can
gather AOL mail, and thus can filter it.

Turns out that after AOL allowed Claris access to their e-mail scheme,
they did not allow anyone else, which is why Eudora and Bare Bones
Software's upcoming client does not support AOL mail (I got this info at
the BBEdit booth at MacWorld SF).

> Use a seperate E-mail program. Do not fill in your name or email address in
> anything but your email application. You see here that I am using an alias
> and that the email address is a joke. No data detector is gonna get my
> email from my posting in the Ng's. Same with navigator. I have fake info in
> that as well. Don't put your email out in the open on the net. If you would
> like for someone to post you directly, spell your email out. Ex:
> Bob.at.eat.at.alices. Anyone with a brain will figure out your email
> address from that, but a data detector will not (so far).

It's annoying to alot of people but it works. Actually, I put my real
reply-to in Em@iler and in NetScape because I only use it to send the info
directly, thus no spammers could get it anyway. Now if I used Navigator to
do NGs, like I used to, then I would not put my e-mail address there.

The only fake e-mail address I give is in MT NewsWatcher, because I don't
want it in my header. My e-mail is as you describe it (send eof).

> I have seen some clever signitures that contained email address for the
> agencies that investigate fraud and net abuse. Kinda makes sense to be sure
> the spammers have those addresses picked up so they can spam the people
> responsible for shutting them down. Sorry, I don't have one of those sig's
> handy. 

I think that also is a form of SPAMing in some respects too, because some
well-intentioned people trying to respond will just hit "reply to" and end
up sending *real* e-mail that you *wanted* to an abuse center. Not cool...

> I delete anything that comes from someone I don't know or has one of the
> classic subject lines that all the spammers use. Not the greatest approach
> for business users though. If I see enough of the same address coming at
> me, I write another filter. My buddy keeps getting "adult-site" invites to
> his AOL address with a picture attached. The picture is risque, but not
> obscene. Problem is that he will get a load of them while he is out of town
> and it will take near an hour for him to manually go through his mail and
> delete these. Fortunately, with AOL, he doesn't actually have to down load
> the images. With a direct ISP account, I have to download the whole dang
> thing to get it out of my mailbox so I can get to the next message.

A better approach for Em@iler is to filter for valid e-mail adress....you
only need *one* filter!  =)

Just set-up a filter that checks to make sure that the TO:, CC:, or BCC:
has your actual e-mail address in it...anything else is trashed. If you
look carefully, most, if not all, SPAM has invalid TO:, CC:, and BCC:
fields (such things as "TO: everyone@aol.com" or "CC:
interested@people.net").

The only caveat here is that ListServs and other "subscription" services
put such invalid addresses too, so you need to create a special filter to
"let through" that stuff (I just file it in a "Subscriptions" folder).

> One last thing. We all pay for spamming. Our service providers have to
> constantly upgrade equipment to keep up with all the spam in the ng's and
> through the email system. Those costs are passed on to the customers in
> higher rates or in the delay of adding newer more modern equipment and
> services that we customers might enjoy. If all the spamming were stopped, I
> would probably not be able to blink twice before a www page loaded.

Imagine how much bandwidth reduction we could accomplish if we eliminated:

--e-mail SPAM
--Newsgroup SPAM
--"push" servers (like PointCast)


kevin at quosig dot com

"I'm just a soul whose intentions are good,
 Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood."