Poco FAQ - JunkMail Filtering

Junk mail (also known as UBE - Unsolicited Bulk Mail and UCE - Unsolicited Commercial Mail) is a growing problem. Dealing with junk mail can be very problematic. I've heard from users who are getting well over 100 junk mail messages a day. If you are having problems with spam I recommend reading this article and applying one or more of the techniques described below.

This section of the FAQ describes some options for dealing with junk mail. It goes on to describe Poco's builtin junk mail filtering system and how to use it to best advantage.

Options for Dealing with Junk Mail

There are several methods you can use to deal with junk mail:

Activate and configure Poco's builtin junk mail filters.
Download and install an external program to intercept the spam before it reaches Poco.
Implement a Challenge/Response system.
Only accepting messages from people you know.

Poco's Builtin Junk Mail Filtering System

General Information

Are banned phrases counted once for each occurence?.
Banning a sender and deleting a message with the push of a button.
Ban sender and subject.
Banned sender settings are not honoured if the sender is in one of your address books.
How do regular filters interact with junk mail filters?
Marking junk mail as read (when using Poco's builtin Junk Mail filtering).
Marking junk mail as read (when filtered to trash).
Positioning the junk mail filters.
Removing someone from the banned list.
Should score values be positive or negative to ensure a message with the word/phrase is considered junk mail?.
Too many messages deleted when clearing out junk mail.
What are the rules that Poco uses to determine the junk mail score?.

Advanced Techniques

Advanced junk mail filtering techniques..
Answer to a posting in the general email newsgroup.
Can I customize Poco's junk mail rules?
Can I seed Poco's junk mail filter score?.
Deleting junk mail via a script.
Deleting messages directly from the server.
Detecting spammers usurping my address..
EMail harvestor protection (useful for website administrators).
How can I determine the reason a particular message is considered junk mail?
Implementing short cut keys for Junk Mail filtering.
Integrating Spam Assassin results with Poco's junk mail filters.
Sneaky styled message spammer tricks and how to deal with them.
What does the sanitize message function do?

Reporting Spam

There is some question as to the effectiveness of reporting spam. Spammer's (especially those sending UBE) are known to forge the email addresses they use to send the message. The following sections describe options for reporting spam for those who want to do so:

Determing the originating IP address for a message and how to complain to the spammer's internet service provider.
Reporting spammers to the Spam Cop service.