Too much spam

[entirelyturbo]

This is getting stupid. I got 31 spam messages in my inbox in approximately 4 hours. Bellsouth is my ISP, and they have a spam-blocker called MailGuard, which can either delete spam automatically or move it to its own folder. I have no messages in my MailGuard folder, they're all in my Inbox...

So, computer geeks out there , is there a way I can temporarily suspend incoming messages or something, at least long enough to make the spamminators think my address has been disabled or something?

[vrg3]

You could maybe ask Bellsouth if they can do it; I don't think there's any standard way for you to do it. You might be able to spoof your own bouncing messages from the mailer-daemon, I guess.

But it wouldn't do much good; most bounced messages never actually get back to the spammers anyway, and even if they do the spammer won't really do anything about it. They go by the "volume overcomes all obstacles" creed; they can ignore all errors or failed deliveries, and not worry about duplicate or invalid IP addresses. That's one of the insidious things about spam.

It's possible that Bellsouth doesn't actually have MailGuard enabled for you and that you need to tell them to turn it on.

You might also consider trying Mozilla as your mailer; I understand it has quite effective Bayesian filtering which can be used to detect spam.

[Legacy777]

I get more spam....it's ridiculous.......however I run my own mail server, so the filter program I'm running blocks the spam on the smtp level.

Do you check your mail via a web based email program......or use one on your computer?

[entirelyturbo]

I have checked numerous times to assure that my MailGuard is indeed on. But it doesn't work.

My email is web-based, too.

I have another email address through my school, so is it possible that I could have emails that I want forwarded over to that one, then the spam will get ignored on my BellSouth one?

[vrg3]

It all depends on what Bellsouth can do. You should ask them. It's plausible that they could let you forward selectively. I wouldn't be too hopeful though.

[Legacy777]

I think if you have an email address with the big ISP's......you get spam....simply because you have an email address, and they get compromised. I get more spam on my RR account, and I have NEVEr given that account out....nor do I even use it. The spam is coming internally is the only thing I can think of.

[vrg3]

Some ISPs sell their username list... other times spammers just guess probable addresses at big ISPs. And sometimes a guy who works at an ISP decides to leave and just copies their user list to a disc before he heads out the door, and later sells the disc for a few quick bucks.