Spam

[BarbR]

Being fairly computer illiterate, but willing to learn, I have a question about spam that is puzzling me. I would be grateful for any light you could shed on this for me

Usually, when we receive spam I simply "block sender" and delete, today however, when I went to do that I found the sender was our own email addy How do they do that? Makes me feel like they have hijacked our address, if so do we need to change it? How many more people received this with our address attached?

Many thanks in advance for any help.

kind regards
Barbara

[AndrewP]

Hi Barbara,

Recently one company has been sending me e-mail apparently from my e-mail address. It is always advertising http://www.emailsolutioncorp.com. I have set up a rule to automatically send it directly to the deleted items folder. These are arriving a few times each week.

All the best,

AndrewP

[BarbR]

Thanks for the reply, Andrew.
This particular one was for an "investment opportunity".
I was thinking about making a similar rule to the one you mentioned, but my husband often sends emails with a copy to himself and I wondered if such a rule would send his stuff to the deleted folder too?

Anyway, you don't sound too worried about your situation, so maybe I am just making a mountain out of a molehill?

kind regards
Barbara

[AndrewP]

Hi Barbara,

As the e-mails that I was receiving all had the same web link in them, I set the rule to look for that in the text of the e-mail. Based on finding that text, the rule comes into play and sends the offending e-mail to the deleted items folder.

They were getting past McAfee Security Suite, which catches most of the spam mail that comes my way.

All the best,

AndrewP

[Mairi]

Please can someone advise me? Three e-mails this week are marked differently. Instead of 'Scotlands People Payment Transaction' and Scotlands People Payment Confirmation' these titles are preceded by 'Spam'. I did do research this week. Do I open them or go straight to 'Delete'?
Thanks, Mairi

[sporran]

Hello Mairi,


frequently, mail service providers put their own filters on to all mail before forwarding it to you. These can give false readings and mark your mail as Spam when it is not - I get several of those with respectable companies such as Dell, Sainsbury's and Sportsshoes. All filters are only guides, and should be used as that.

There is no harm in looking at any mail. Problems arise if you acknowledge receipt (since they now know that you have an active e-mail address), but particularly if you click on any links or open any attachments, since they can introduce bugs and hacking tools. If in doubt, leave well alone.

If you had transactions with SP in the week then it looks like the filter has marked it wrongly as Spam.


Regards,

John

[Mairi]

Thank you very much, John, for that explanation. Have now checked one and the message is genuine.
Every now and again I print the list of Transactions and Confirmations to check against bank statements. Should I be printing off all the receipts? After a spell of research this is a chore because I am buying six pounds worth of credits at a time. Suppose I should be spending more at a time!
Regards Mairi

[StewL]

Mairi

It is really up to you whether you print out the receipts or not. Personally, any receipts I receive I just delete and store for a time in my deleted folder. This saves me the time and effort (and paper and ink ) of printing them out, then after a period I then delete completely the older receipts.

[Mairi]

Thanks, Stewart. Hearing what other people do is a great help. Have so much to learn about basics! I really appreciate your quick reply.
Cheers, Mairi.

[trish1]

Hello Mairi

I don't print them either, but probably keep them for longer than Stew
Apart from junk mail, I archive all my mail every year, but to date have never deleted any (well back to 2002) I amaze myself by sometimes wanting and finding something from a few years ago

Trish