- What is spam?
Spam is unwanted, unrequested email similar to junk mail you get in your regular mail. The technical terms are Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE) and Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE). Very often you won't even see your own email address on the To: line as they send it to one email address and hide thousands of other email addresses behind it. You may think they didn't mean to send it to you, but they did!
- Why is is called spam? Isn't that a tinned meat product?
One report says that the term is from a famous Monty Python sketch. In real life, spam is a trademarked Hormel meat product. No one really knows for sure how unsolicited email came to be called spam.
- How did spammers get my address?
Spammers get your address in a variety of ways. If you sign up for and use a file-sharing mechanism like Kazaa, your email address is likely to be sold. Even seemingly innocuous sites can turn around and provide your email to their advertisers, with the result being that you begin receiving unsolicited emails from them. Also, if you have your email address on a web page, it is easy for unscrupulous advertisers (or worse) to search your web page for your email address. It is unfortunately easy and very inexpensive for these companies to send out huge volumes of spam.
- Why doesn't the University stop spam?
The University is an open environment with very little interest in policing content. However, the University does not permit mining of the online directory and makes every attempt possible to protect institutional information while providing appropriate levels of access.
- Should I respond to spam and ask to be removed from the list?
Do not respond to spammers! If you respond, you are letting the spammer know that your email address is valid and that you are reading the email they send you. Your email address then becomes a known "live" address and becomes a fairly hot commodity for advertisers.
- How do I complain?
Any complaints should be sent to the ISP (Internet Service Provider) or organization from which the spam email originated. To find this place, you must interpret the full headers of the spam email messages. To: and From: lines are easily forged and cannot be trusted. Common addresses to which you can direct complaints are: postmaster@host.com, abuse@host.com, or hostmaster@host.com. You may want to try any or all of these. When complaining, always include full email headers and the untouched content of the spam message. Do not attach the message, as some sites will only accept messages without attachments. For information on displaying and interpreting headers, go here: Reading Headers.
- What else can I do to avoid spam?
Be aware. There are some simple things you can do to avoid spam. Check out our document on Spam Awareness for several tips.
- What is spam tagging?
Spam Tagging uses an extensive list of rules and associated values to rate messages for "spamminess". The higher the score, the more likely the message is spam. Once messages reach a user-defined threshold, they are "tagged" on the subject line. These tags can then be used to "filter" email into folders.
- How do I know if spam tagging is available for me?
If you are not sure if you have an account on mail.rochester.edu, try looking yourself up in the online directory at http://www.rochester.edu/FindPeople. Look at the bottom of your information page with the entry showing where your mailbox is stored. Only accounts with mailboxes with @mail can sign up for spam tagging.
- Where can I sign up?
Click here to sign up for spam tagging!
- I signed up, now what?
Once you've signed up, take a few days or weeks to become familiar with what messages are being tagged. Depending on the level of tagging you chose, there could be false positives to deal with. Once you are comfortable with the level of tagging, you may wish to set up email filters to store tagged messages out of your inbox.
- Can I change my spam tagging settings?
Yes, you can change your settings at any time. Just go back and click on the sign up links on the "Spam Home" page. After logging in, select a new level of tagging.
- I've changed my mind, can I turn spam tagging off?
Certainly! Just go back to the sign up links on the "Spam Home" page. After logging in, select "Disable Spam Tagging" and click Submit.
- I have a .forward file already and got a warning! Now what?
If you are currently forwarding your email through a .forward file, there could be conflicts with spam tagging. Please contact the ITS Center at x52000 or
for personalized assistance.
- How can I set up filters?
Filters can be set up in a variety of ways depending on how you read your email. Check the links at the left for your email client and try out the guides. If you need further assistance, please contact the ITS Center at x5200 or
.
- Now that I am filtering into a folder, how should I manage
it?
Be sure to check any folders you create periodically. Legitimate email messages may register as false positives and be waiting there for you. Spam will need to be deleted out of the folder on a more or less regular basis. Also, if neglected, these folders may suck up large amounts of disk space and create problems with your email account and/or computer.
