Spammer Suddenly Getting Through

JMac · 1 Dec 2015, 11:42 PM

A little baffling as to how this one spammer has suddenly started getting through my spam filter.

I am using the Fastmail "Normal" Spam Protection setting. My Spam Bayes Status is:
Num spam learned: 3785
Num non-spam learned: 17535
Bayes database used: user

Since September 2, 2014 I have received 57 total messages from this spammer, with spam scores ranging from 7.5 to 34.1. Now suddenly I received email messages from them on 11/24, 11/29, and 12/1 scored as 3.7, 2.3, and 0.0 respectively. So naturally I had to manually report them as spam. But how and why is this spammer suddenly scoring so low?

Oddly enough, the header for the message today scoring 0.0 has a line that says:
spam-known-sender: yes

which you would think would be factored in somehow.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Jim

TheVedge · 2 Dec 2015, 12:16 AM

I'm having the same problems. Received more spam in the past 24 hours in my inbox than in the past year!

glass · 2 Dec 2015, 12:23 AM

The X-Spam-known-sender header means they're a sender you know (are in your address book) not that they're a known sender of spam

but that shouldn't have happened, it seems there's a bug occurring right now.

It looks like every email is getting an "X-Spam-known-sender: yes" header, as of around 7 hours ago (1/12 9:20am UTC is the first one I received with it, 8:57am UTC is the last one without it, so it started happening somewhere in that 23 minute window), and every message with that header gets past the spam filter.

Can't help you with the earlier ones with lower scores though.

BritTim · 2 Dec 2015, 01:10 AM

Bad time of day for this. Australia is asleep.

If anyone who sees this has a way to ask for emergency assistance, do it now. Some will get deluged with spam if this is a general problem.

schmoe · 2 Dec 2015, 01:24 AM

The file-into-folders process has stopped working for me over the past eight or so hours. I have a ton of groupon-esque emails that I direct into one folder. I have ton of ticketmaster-esque folders that I direct into another. Now they are polluting my inbox.

Perhaps my folder problem and the spam problem are part of a broader problem.

jaybea28309 · 2 Dec 2015, 01:55 AM

I am getting the same problem with the x-spam-known-sender field, starting at about the same time. The impact may depend on how your filters are set up, because in the default sieve filter setup the test for x-spam-known-sender is at the start, and having it set as "yes" could make your other rules not work, or work in unusual ways.

Now that I know that x-spam-known sender means known not spam, I have changed my filters so that it does not dump all flagged mail into my spam folder, which is where it has all being going today!

astrodog73 · 2 Dec 2015, 03:13 AM

Another - more spam in my inbox this morning than the past 2 years aggregate..... all sent to an operamail.com alias, and I note the 'X-Spam-known-sender: yes' header in messages.....

brong · 2 Dec 2015, 04:00 AM

Good morning! Sorry I didn't see this last night. Yep, we're looking into it now, just woke up

Bron.

errrr · 2 Dec 2015, 04:38 AM

Glad it's not just me then!

sflorack · 2 Dec 2015, 04:54 AM

Add my name to the "me too" list. In my case, spam is getting around a filter that I established to block a TO address.

brong · 2 Dec 2015, 05:00 AM

Fixed now. Was a stupid little API mismatch bug which was actually introduced over a week ago but the spam scanner servers didn't get the update until yesterday, which made it harder to find the cause!

paul29 · 2 Dec 2015, 05:17 AM

Thanks Bron. It's times like this when I remember to appreciate how well the spam filters work most of the time. This morning I had upwards of 75 spam messages in my inbox! I'm glad that it's fixed so quickly.

1 Dec 2015, 11:42 PM	#1
JMac Essential Contributor Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: USA Posts: 377	Spammer Suddenly Getting Through A little baffling as to how this one spammer has suddenly started getting through my spam filter. I am using the Fastmail "Normal" Spam Protection setting. My Spam Bayes Status is: Num spam learned: 3785 Num non-spam learned: 17535 Bayes database used: user Since September 2, 2014 I have received 57 total messages from this spammer, with spam scores ranging from 7.5 to 34.1. Now suddenly I received email messages from them on 11/24, 11/29, and 12/1 scored as 3.7, 2.3, and 0.0 respectively. So naturally I had to manually report them as spam. But how and why is this spammer suddenly scoring so low? Oddly enough, the header for the message today scoring 0.0 has a line that says: spam-known-sender: yes which you would think would be factored in somehow. Any thoughts? Thanks! Jim

2 Dec 2015, 12:23 AM	#3
glass Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 54	The X-Spam-known-sender header means they're a sender you know (are in your address book) not that they're a known sender of spam but that shouldn't have happened, it seems there's a bug occurring right now. It looks like every email is getting an "X-Spam-known-sender: yes" header, as of around 7 hours ago (1/12 9:20am UTC is the first one I received with it, 8:57am UTC is the last one without it, so it started happening somewhere in that 23 minute window), and every message with that header gets past the spam filter. Can't help you with the earlier ones with lower scores though. Last edited by glass : 2 Dec 2015 at 12:34 AM.

2 Dec 2015, 12:16 AM	#2
TheVedge Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 6	I'm having the same problems. Received more spam in the past 24 hours in my inbox than in the past year!

2 Dec 2015, 01:10 AM	#4
BritTim The "e" in e-mail Join Date: May 2003 Location: mostly in Thailand Posts: 3,093	Bad time of day for this. Australia is asleep. If anyone who sees this has a way to ask for emergency assistance, do it now. Some will get deluged with spam if this is a general problem.

2 Dec 2015, 01:24 AM	#5
schmoe Essential Contributor Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 385	The file-into-folders process has stopped working for me over the past eight or so hours. I have a ton of groupon-esque emails that I direct into one folder. I have ton of ticketmaster-esque folders that I direct into another. Now they are polluting my inbox. Perhaps my folder problem and the spam problem are part of a broader problem.

2 Dec 2015, 01:55 AM	#6
jaybea28309 Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 19	I am getting the same problem with the x-spam-known-sender field, starting at about the same time. The impact may depend on how your filters are set up, because in the default sieve filter setup the test for x-spam-known-sender is at the start, and having it set as "yes" could make your other rules not work, or work in unusual ways. Now that I know that x-spam-known sender means known not spam, I have changed my filters so that it does not dump all flagged mail into my spam folder, which is where it has all being going today!

2 Dec 2015, 03:13 AM	#7
astrodog73 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 150	Another - more spam in my inbox this morning than the past 2 years aggregate..... all sent to an operamail.com alias, and I note the 'X-Spam-known-sender: yes' header in messages.....

2 Dec 2015, 04:00 AM	#8
brong The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 2,696 Representative of: Fastmail.fm	Good morning! Sorry I didn't see this last night. Yep, we're looking into it now, just woke up Bron.

2 Dec 2015, 04:38 AM	#9
errrr Junior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 22	Glad it's not just me then!

2 Dec 2015, 04:54 AM	#10
sflorack The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 2,937	Add my name to the "me too" list. In my case, spam is getting around a filter that I established to block a TO address.

2 Dec 2015, 05:00 AM	#11
brong The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 2,696 Representative of: Fastmail.fm	Fixed now. Was a stupid little API mismatch bug which was actually introduced over a week ago but the spam scanner servers didn't get the update until yesterday, which made it harder to find the cause!

2 Dec 2015, 05:17 AM	#12
paul29 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 166	Thanks Bron. It's times like this when I remember to appreciate how well the spam filters work most of the time. This morning I had upwards of 75 spam messages in my inbox! I'm glad that it's fixed so quickly.