spam sent to me BY ME ?

pieterm · 26 Aug 2009, 07:57 PM

Hi,

i'm using a filter so any non-whitelisted email goes into a "inboxnotwhitelisted" and not into my normal inbox. So spam detected by runbox goes in spam, whitelisted email goes in inbox and the rest goes into "inboxnotwhitelisted".

i get LOADS and LOADS of spam, and the filter works ok, except:

the only problem is i get lots of spam (viagra, penis enlargement, you know) in my inbox. why? because it seems alot of the spam is coming FROM MY OWN EMAIL ADDRESS?

(note: abcd@runbox.com means my email address masked here for obvious reasons)

i get mail like this:

from: VIAGRA ® Official Site <abcd@runbox.com>
to: abcd@runbox.com

seriously what the ... is going on. who is using my email adres? and how? what legal/other action can i take? why can't this be prevented? is this my fault? i thought i was pretty safe, i use all software updated, firewall etc, i know all my system processes, it seems to me its impossible these email originate from me.

somebody please explain

oh and it isn't 1 email, its loads.

tomhab · 27 Aug 2009, 12:58 AM

It's not your fault, it's easy to do and you just got to accept that anyone can pretend to be anyone else when using SMTP - it's just as easy as putting a fake address in the return address on a snail-mail letter.

Anti-SPAM software is reasonably good at noticing this kind of thing (because runbox email shouldn't be coming from a server in Mongolia etc), but if you whitelist yourself it's going to bypass the anti-spam anyway.

Get your email address off the whitelist and this should help (Manager->Filter then the second list from the top). Also make sure you're own email address isn't one of your contacts.

The same goes for any aliases etc.

pieterm · 27 Aug 2009, 06:34 AM

thank you

that seems to be the only option then

Blue N · 28 Aug 2009, 04:09 AM

I'm also getting about a dozen spam emails per day from myself!
I took myself off the whitelist and DSPAM trapped them for a couple of days, but now the problem's back.
However when I forward mail to another email account, they are all caught by the filter.
Just a bit annoying!

pieterm · 28 Aug 2009, 09:11 AM

considering this all, it seems i'm looking for a smart way to adjust the filters so i can still send myself email which ends up in my inbox, but without getting the problem described above.

dbowdley · 28 Aug 2009, 10:10 AM

If you decide to block your own email address because of the spam, you could always still email yourself by setting up an alias and using that as the From address when you email yourself. You wouldn't need to tell anyone that alias, and as such it should never be subject to junk mail (unless it is easy to guess). You could even whiltelist it.

A solution using filters is to set up a filter that operates before the spam filters (by numbering it -3) to make sure that emails addressed to the alias are delivered to the Inbox regardless of the sent from address.

I hope that helps.

Dave

mdembski · 2 Sep 2009, 08:14 AM

In the last month emails with my own return address have gone from 1 or 2 a day to about 2 dozen a day. This is getting really annoying. The spam filter doesn't appear to be learning to treat them as spam.

kservik · 2 Sep 2009, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdembski

In the last month emails with my own return address have gone from 1 or 2 a day to about 2 dozen a day. This is getting really annoying. The spam filter doesn't appear to be learning to treat them as spam.

The only reason that it goes through is that you have Whitelisted your own address.

Remove your own address from Contacts and/or the Whitelist and it should not be a problem any more.

Kim

mdembski · 3 Sep 2009, 02:19 AM

No, my own address is not whitelisted and I have made no change in the whitelist. This started all on its own and so far after a month, the spam filter shows no signs of learning.

tomhab · 3 Sep 2009, 07:33 AM

Do us a favour and post anything from a sample email header that begins X-SPAM

kservik · 3 Sep 2009, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdembski

No, my own address is not whitelisted and I have made no change in the whitelist. This started all on its own and so far after a month, the spam filter shows no signs of learning.

Your own address is in your Contact list, so it is Whitelisted. All Contacts are Whitelisted. It was added the last time you did the Extract.

Just remove it from your Contacts and the Basic spamfilter will catch these.

mdembski · 3 Sep 2009, 10:27 PM

Thanks for the help

26 Aug 2009, 07:57 PM	#1
pieterm Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 7	spam sent to me BY ME ? Hi, i'm using a filter so any non-whitelisted email goes into a "inboxnotwhitelisted" and not into my normal inbox. So spam detected by runbox goes in spam, whitelisted email goes in inbox and the rest goes into "inboxnotwhitelisted". i get LOADS and LOADS of spam, and the filter works ok, except: the only problem is i get lots of spam (viagra, penis enlargement, you know) in my inbox. why? because it seems alot of the spam is coming FROM MY OWN EMAIL ADDRESS? (note: abcd@runbox.com means my email address masked here for obvious reasons) i get mail like this: from: VIAGRA ® Official Site <abcd@runbox.com> to: abcd@runbox.com seriously what the ... is going on. who is using my email adres? and how? what legal/other action can i take? why can't this be prevented? is this my fault? i thought i was pretty safe, i use all software updated, firewall etc, i know all my system processes, it seems to me its impossible these email originate from me. somebody please explain oh and it isn't 1 email, its loads.

28 Aug 2009, 04:09 AM	#4
Blue N Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 1	Same problem I'm also getting about a dozen spam emails per day from myself! I took myself off the whitelist and DSPAM trapped them for a couple of days, but now the problem's back. However when I forward mail to another email account, they are all caught by the filter. Just a bit annoying!

2 Sep 2009, 08:14 AM	#7
mdembski Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 65	increase in spam In the last month emails with my own return address have gone from 1 or 2 a day to about 2 dozen a day. This is getting really annoying. The spam filter doesn't appear to be learning to treat them as spam.

27 Aug 2009, 12:58 AM	#2
tomhab Essential Contributor Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 236	It's not your fault, it's easy to do and you just got to accept that anyone can pretend to be anyone else when using SMTP - it's just as easy as putting a fake address in the return address on a snail-mail letter. Anti-SPAM software is reasonably good at noticing this kind of thing (because runbox email shouldn't be coming from a server in Mongolia etc), but if you whitelist yourself it's going to bypass the anti-spam anyway. Get your email address off the whitelist and this should help (Manager->Filter then the second list from the top). Also make sure you're own email address isn't one of your contacts. The same goes for any aliases etc.

27 Aug 2009, 06:34 AM	#3
pieterm Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 7	thank you that seems to be the only option then

28 Aug 2009, 09:11 AM	#5
pieterm Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 7	considering this all, it seems i'm looking for a smart way to adjust the filters so i can still send myself email which ends up in my inbox, but without getting the problem described above.

28 Aug 2009, 10:10 AM	#6
dbowdley Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: UK Posts: 549 Representative of: Runbox.com	If you decide to block your own email address because of the spam, you could always still email yourself by setting up an alias and using that as the From address when you email yourself. You wouldn't need to tell anyone that alias, and as such it should never be subject to junk mail (unless it is easy to guess). You could even whiltelist it. A solution using filters is to set up a filter that operates before the spam filters (by numbering it -3) to make sure that emails addressed to the alias are delivered to the Inbox regardless of the sent from address. I hope that helps. Dave

3 Sep 2009, 02:19 AM	#9
mdembski Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 65	No, my own address is not whitelisted and I have made no change in the whitelist. This started all on its own and so far after a month, the spam filter shows no signs of learning.

3 Sep 2009, 07:33 AM	#10
tomhab Essential Contributor Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 236	Do us a favour and post anything from a sample email header that begins X-SPAM

3 Sep 2009, 10:27 PM	#12
mdembski Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 65	Thanks for the help