outlook express spam filter

One spammer's misfortune could be an Internet user's dream as AOL plans to give away a fully-loaded Hummer H2 and nearly $100,000 in cash and gold bars. The online service received the loot through a provision in the CAN-SPAM act, which allows courts to seize property obtained through profits from the sending of unsolicited e-mails.
In addition to seizing the spammer's assets, AOL also won a $13 million judgment against the company, and will donate the seized computer equipment to schools in Northern Virginia.
The property will be given away through the AOL Spammer's Gold Sweepstakes, which will begin Wednesday and will run through August 19. Participants will be able to enter once per day by answering a question on computer security and safety.
Every day during the period a $1,000 prize will be awarded with the grand prize drawing at the end of the contest. The grand prize winner will receive the 2003 Hummer H2 and nearly $85,000 in cash and gold bars.
All of the loot was seized from a then 20-year old man in New Hampshire following a successful campaign to shut down and sue the spammer. At his height, AOL claims the man had 40 computers sending out millions of spam e-mails per day.
In on day in January 2004 alone, the spammer generated 100,000 complaints from AOL members.
"The safety and security of our members is Job No. 1 at AOL, and that means taking aggressive action against spammers and scammers. I am delighted that our efforts are paying off, literally, with the seizure of these assets and the sweepstakes," Jon Miller, Chairman and CEO of AOL said in prepared remarks.
Miller pointed to statistics that show an 85 percent drop in spam on the service, announcing that spam filters now block 1.4 billion messages per day as opposed to a high of 2.4 billion messages in one day in 2003.
AOL also issued a terse warning to spammers sending unsolicited mail to the service. "AOL will find you and sue you. And AOL will do everything it can to make sure its members end up with any money you made as a spammer."

Life just got a bit harder for spammers trying to reach one coveted audience—college students. Last week, a federal appeals court ruled against an online dating service called White Buffalo Ventures, which had been battling the University of Texas-Austin for the right to send unsolicited E-mail come-ons to UT students.
The spat started in 2003, when White Buffalo obtained UT E-mail addresses under the Freedom of Information Act and spammed a sizable chunk of the student body, pitching a site called longhornsingles.com. A number of upstanding students complained, so the university issued a cease-and-desist letter to White Buffalo, which the company ignored. UT countered by putting a filter on its Web server that blocked E-mail from a White Buffalo site to all addresses ending in "@utexas.edu." Instead of backing off at that point, like most spammers do, White Buffalo sued UT, claiming that the university was violating both the First Amendment and the federal Can-Spam Act of 2003, which established rules for bulk E-mailers.
A lower court ruled that the university was within its rights in establishing spam filters; the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. The ruling could put limits on other spammers directing bulk E-mail to colleges and universities.
Spammers often find ways around the rules, though—one reason that two thirds of all E-mail traffic consists of spam, according to security firm Symantec. And as annoying as it can be, some businesses say it's an essential marketing tool. Unsolicited offers for pharmaceuticals make up over 40 percent of all spam traffic, according to Sophos, which develops antivirus software. And the fastest-growing spam segment in the first half of this year involved stock scams, which grew at 10 percent per month, according to Sophos. Blasts offering mortgages and adult content also continue to fill E-mail in-boxes.

AOL Busts Spammer - Then Gives Away Ill-Gotten Profits
Dulles, Virginia - (via THE HOSTING NEWS) - August 10, 2005 - America Online today announced that spam is down more than 85% on the AOL service, and AOL's anti-spam filters are blocking more than 1.4 billion pieces of spam each day, as compared to a high of 2.4 billion messages blocked in a single day in 2003.AOL also announced that it has recovered nearly $100,000 worth of gold bars and cash, as well as a fully-loaded 2003 Hummer H2, from a major spammer that AOL caught with the help of its members.As a reward to AOL members, visitors to AOL.com and web users, the spammers' ill-gotten loot is being given away through the ''AOL Spammer's Gold Sweepstakes'', which starts today. Additionally, the company said it would donate tens of thousands of dollars worth of high-end computer equipment seized from this spammer to local public schools and school systems in Northern Virginia.The gold, cash and the Hummer were seized as part of the first lawsuit filed by AOL under the federal CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, and aided by AOL members who have used the ''Report Spam'' button to help AOL anti-spam, digital detectives investigate and snare one of the country's most prolific spam gangs.In addition to these assets, AOL has also obtained a $13 million judgment in the case against the remaining members of the spam gang.Jon Miller, Chairman and CEO of America Online explained, ''The safety and security of our members is Job No. 1 at AOL, and that means taking aggressive action against spammers and scammers. I am delighted that our efforts are paying off, literally, with the seizure of these assets and the sweepstakes. Today, we're putting the brakes on spammers and celebrating our gold standard spam protections for the AOL service and the AIM Mail product at AOL.com. Our hard work in fighting spam is paying off in another way as well - since November 2003 when spam was at its peak, we've achieved a dramatic and hugely beneficial decline in the amount of spam reaching our members' email boxes.''The company attributes this success to its multi-pronged approach in fighting the scourge of spam, which includes a combination of software tools, filtering technology, public policy, litigation and enforcement, and industry partnership.The Sweepstakes begins August 10 and runs through August 19. AOL members can enter the sweepstakes at AOL Keyword: Spam Sweepstakes; non-members can enter at http://aolhummer.onlinepromo.com. Entrants will have a chance to win daily cash prizes as well as the Grand Prize -- a Hummer H2 and approximately $85,000 in gold bars and cash. Each day throughout the promotion period, participants may gain one additional entry in the Grand Prize drawing and one (1) entry in the daily ''spammer cash'' drawing ($1,000 each day) by returning to the site to answer the special ''AOL Spammer's Gold'' question for that day that focuses on security and safety issues. Those that participate each day throughout the 10-day promotion period will receive an Official AOL Spam Patrol certificate.

Sophos Identifies the Most Prevalent Spam Categories of 2005
Pump-and-dump stock scams increased while porn spam decreased over last six months
Lynnfield, MA - infoZine -While emails peddling snake-oil meds and low-interest loans continue to irk computer users and clog corporate networks, dangerous new categories of spam are becoming more prevalent according to Sophos, a global leader in network security, which today published the results of its research on the most prominent spam categories during the first six months of the year.Researchers from SophosLabs™ analyzed the spam received in its global network of spam traps. Sophos experts found that "pump-and-dump" stock scams are on the rise, and unsolicited pill or medication email, including generic or non-brand name versions of Viagra and other pharmaceuticals, accounted for more than 40% of all spam traffic.The top five spam categories spanning January 2005 through June 2005 are as follows:
"Over the last six months, we've seen medication and mortgage spam retain their notorious ranking atop the spam charts, while unsolicited pornography, though still accounting for about 10% of all spam, is slipping downward," said Gregg Mastoras, senior security analyst at Lynnfield-based, Sophos. "The most interesting development, however, is the increased volume of stock scam spam, representing a new financial threat to somewhat naïve online investors."Sophos's analysis shows that, during the first half of 2005, the volume of stock scam spam has increased at an average rate of 10% per month."The purpose behind the pump-and-dump stock racket is to quickly and cheaply disperse false information about a company's stock, along with information obtained from recent press releases, to potential investors via email," Mastoras explained. "Typically targeting microcap companies stock, once these fraudsters dump their shares, and then stop advertising the stock, the price often falls, and investors ultimately lose their cash."Pump-and-dump campaigns tend to run for short durations, keeping overall volume low. Even though some of the information provided is accurate, the deceptive and unsolicited nature of the messages qualifies them as spam. The majority of stock scam spam campaigns employ obfuscation techniques, using word variations such as "st0ck" or "stox" to avoid being caught by spam filters. Messages can arrive in many different formats, such as HTML or plain text, and are almost always sent via hijacked PCs known as zombies."Social engineering through email, where scam artists take advantage of unsophisticated computer users, is on the rise and represents a dangerous trend," said Brian Burke, IDC Research Manager. "Stock scams, combined with traditional phishing techniques, can result in significant financial loss for victims of these swindles."Sophos recommends that the most effective way for businesses to reduce spam and other threats is to adopt a multi-layered defense as well as implement a best practice policy regarding email account usage. Users can also learn how to best minimize the influx of unwanted email by following a few simple guidelines.

Ipswitch has today announced that spam is down by over 20 per cent on the previously recorded period. According to a survey conducted for the company, 74 per cent of e-mail received over the Summer period was unwanted spam, down from 93 per cent over the Easter period.Although mortgage and loan spam held on to the top spot, it fell from 44 per cent - a third of spam e-mails this time. Second remained unwanted e-mails offering various types of medication (up from 18 per cent to 22 per cet).Next was the new trend of e-mails attempting to 'phish' recipients' banking details with spurious claims of Lottery wins and online gambling accounts (12.5 per cent up from 9 per cent), with various pornographic offerings rising to the occasion at number four. Last was spam offering pirated software with 9 per cent of the total spam received.'Although the percentage of spam arriving in e-mail inboxes can vary substantially, the importance of having efficient filters in place is as relevant as ever because productivity can be adversely affected by even small amounts of messaging spam,' said Ipswitch's vice president of marketing, Alex Neihaus.'Businesses lose countless man-hours a week in staff having to sift through the deluge of e-mail in their inbox to get to those that have a real affect on the bottom line. Collaboration is a cornerstone of doing business in the 21st century and companies cannot do enough to protect this vital part of their business communications.''Although the user is becoming more knowledgeable in their approach to spam, the spammers are at least one step ahead. The rise in phishing Spam is the most worrying, as this is often quite sophisticated - and has the highest financial repercussions for users. It is of massive importance that users have suitable anti-spam capabilities in place,' said Quocirca analyst Clive Longbottom.

Every day I receive one or two e-mails from some unknown address with a subject that is just meaningless words, and the body of the message is usually an ad for Viagra or other prescription meds or maybe a Rolex watch. I bounce and block each one I receive but they continue their daily barrage. Is there anything more I can do short of changing my address? Two words: white list. That rather indelicate term commonly refers to the little-known but hugely useful tools in most e-mail software and Web e-mail services that let one quickly isolate desired messages in special, spam- free folders. You let all of the potency pill pushers, junk jewelry joints and Nigerian escrow schemes wallow in the so-called Inbox while you use a personally approved list to create your real Inbox, which will accept only the messages you want to see.
Believe me, this simple strategy will bring peace at very little cost.
Rest assured, if your rich Uncle Harold (or is it Aunt Hermione?) wants to leave you a fortune, the lawyers will find you some other way than e-mail to give you the good news. Meanwhile, the rest of those unk unks (unknown unknowns) can just go fish while your time spent on e- mail gets devoted to folks you know.
Like a great many e-mail users, your account works through a software-based system called POP mail, or post office protocol, and your fix is to create what are called rules for how your software handles each incoming message. The overwhelming majority of POP mail accounts use either Microsoft Outlook Express or the Outlook module in Microsoft Office, so let's focus there first, then move on to similar procedures available in other e-mail services.
When a POP mail message arrives from somebody you want admitted into your circle, click on the Message item in the Outlook Express toolbar and then select the option to create a rule based upon that person's message. The menu this triggers lets you specify all notes from that sender be moved from the Inbox to a new folder, which you can create.
Give that folder a distinctive name like Real Inbox. Then, with all desirable incoming messages, you simply click on Messages and make a rule to order messages from that particular sender to be moved to the Real Inbox instead of the un-vetted Inbox.
The routine is almost identical for users of Microsoft Outlook, except the message rule tool is accessed by giving the subject line of a message a right-click instead of opening the Message toolbar.
The white list scheme has worked so well with formal e-mail software that most of the Web- based e-mail services have created similar functions. For example, people with free e-mail accounts at Yahoo can select a Mail Options tool at the top of the main display of e-mail messages and then create what are called Filters instead of rules that work exactly the same way.
Google's free gmail.com service uses a system called Labels to let customers create customized inboxes.
Microsoft's hotmail.com and msn.com Web-based services use a streamlined scheme called Built Contacts to let users quickly go through a list of e-mail messages and check a box alongside each sender to be added to the list of acceptable sources.
You can always make checks of the regular Inbox from time to time if you fret some stranger somewhere is going to send you an e-mail worth reading. But with one of these white lists up and running, you'll find yourself checking the spam blighted Inbox less and less. I need help organizing my Favorites in alphabetical order. I've tried and tried to figure out how to do it with no success. Can you help me? Despite the item above this one, I love short answers.
Open the Favorites tool in the Microsoft Internet Explorer and give a right-click on any item listed. A pop-up menu will appear. One command is Sort by Name. Do it. The favorites will be listed alphabetically.
If something you like is too far down, just select the Rename command in the same menu and put a couple of A's in front and then sort the list again to bring it to the top.
Jim Coates writes about .