Why am I suddenly getting spam?

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My experience with Thunderbird's internal filter is that it works for a while and then reaches a plateau. It is a learning filter and is supposed to learn as it goes. However after a while a stead quantity of spam fall through.

My solution - I have my gmail account pick up mails from the pop servers. My Thunderbird picks up from gmail. Works like a charm.

Sometimes reporting e-mail as spam can be helpful. If the spam is coming from a semi-reputable organization that is not adhering to appropriate rules it will make it more difficult for them to get their e-mail through if you report it as spam. I have been on the receiving end of phone calls from major ISPs giving me a warning because my e-mails were being tagged as spam. In that case they were political e-mails (and I was following orders!).

Be aware though that your choices here make a difference to others. If you report a commercial e-mail as spam just because you are too lazy to go to the website and unsubscribe properly you may cause the company to be blacklisted by your ISP. I find legitimate e-mail in my "spam" box frequently and I'm sure this is the cause.

I also use Earthlink email. It has three settings:

1. No filtering
2. Moderate filtering
3. Challenge/response

I use option #2 and get very little spam. I suspect this person is not using any filtering and a switch to #2 would help a great deal.

If s/he is like my mother and only emails a few friends and family, option #3 would stop all the spam.

I also use Earthlink email. It has three settings:

1. No filtering
2. Moderate filtering
3. Challenge/response

I use option #2 and get very little spam. I suspect this person is not using any filtering and a switch to #2 would help a great deal.

If s/he is like my mother and only emails a few friends and family, option #3 would stop all the spam.

Just a note that, as far as challenge/response goes, realize that for every person that swears *by* it, there are probably several that swear *at* it.

And Ronny, it won't stop "all the spam". Remember, virtually every C/R challenge to a spam will be sent to an innocent bystander who happens to have been to owner of the forged "from" address. Many people have gotten fed up with being asked to help you filter your spam, for free, that they will acknowledge the challenge, and you will get the original spam. ("I have no way of knowing if you wanted this. Take it and deal with it yourself.")

Tip: search for your own e-mail address on Google, Yahoo, and any other big search engines you like. Did you find your address there? Yes? Well, so will spammers.

Randy, author of http://www.SpamPrimer.com

yeah, spam is the scourge of the internet but getting mad at it doesn't help...lol Easiest thing to do is just delete it and get on with your life. You can't control it. Btw, gmail is very good for filtering spam, I rarely get any in my inbox.

while i was trying to read Leo's--there were 3 large ads blocking it in various places and a"subscribe " ad from Leo blocking his own --
is this the pot calling the kettle black?
my stopping spam was to change e m addresses --i went from webtv to my msn. now i do not get spam on either address nor on the one acct i did not know i had--plus the highest filter in use helped.
sandra holland

This was instructive and might be helpful after I read it again. Query: Doesn't the FCC have something to say about this? AND..Will a new president be able to make a difference?

Postini does a magnificent job of keeping the junk out of my inbox! (Otherwise I'd be getting about 50 to 75 pieces of crap every day.

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