spam filters down?

jezemine · 23 Mar 2016, 12:10 AM

I am getting a ton of spam in the inbox over last 12 hours or so. Normally spam is filtered out pretty well.

Are the spam filters working for others?

akorvemaker · 24 Mar 2016, 11:48 PM

I've noticed a significant increase in spam over the last couple days, both in my spam folder and in my inbox. Most of it is one of:

a blank message from my address with attached "Document2.zip"
subject "FW: Payment Receipt" with an attached zip file
subject "Sixt Invoice: 7802815568 from 24.03.2016" with an attached .doc file
subject "FW: Payment Details - [409346]" with an attached .zip file

Others have noticed some of these too: http://www.emaildiscussions.com/showthread.php?t=71602

It's not just you

That said, while some has gotten through to my inbox, the spam filter seems to be catching about 60% of them now. I have my spam protection set to "Aggressive" (as it has been for years).

Andy

rakarnik · 25 Mar 2016, 01:54 AM

I started the other thread.

After a couple of days of training, the "Document2" ones are being caught by the spam filter (three so far today).

ChinaLamb · 26 Mar 2016, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rakarnik

I started the other thread.

After a couple of days of training, the "Document2" ones are being caught by the spam filter (three so far today).

Spam is an inexact science.

I might add, most of these contain viruses that are not even cataloged by the major antivirus providers. Virus heuristic scanning is an inexact science as well.

/cl

physci · 4 Oct 2016, 11:16 PM

Are the spam filters down again? I'm seeing all spam being routed to my inbox over the past 15 minutes.

physci · 5 Oct 2016, 11:05 PM

It's happening again today.

Quote:

Originally Posted by physci

Are the spam filters down again? I'm seeing all spam being routed to my inbox over the past 15 minutes.

fastuser2015 · 12 Oct 2016, 06:18 AM

Came here looking for a thread like this - glad it's not just me.

Am being bombarded today. Really spammy-looking spam is ending up with X-Spam-scores of 2 and lower.

Also of note - it's all coming in on an email address only ever used with an old Dropbox account. Wonder if there's a pattern?

paul29 · 12 Oct 2016, 01:19 PM

I didn't notice anything unusual today regarding spam.

n5bb · 12 Oct 2016, 01:28 PM

Everything looks normal to me.

Bill

fastuser2015 · 12 Oct 2016, 05:05 PM

Wonder why so many have been getting through here..?

An example, with dodgy URL neutered, that arrived with
X-Spam-score: 2.2

<SNIPPED>

Can post more headers if anyone is interested...

n5bb · 13 Oct 2016, 10:19 AM

I recommend that you read the forum rules (especially the second rule post) at the top of the root of this forum. Posting specific bad language doesn't help us respond and since this forum is spidered by Google and other search services the bad content will be associated with you (the poster) and this forum. You can edit your previous posts.

If the spam is only being delivered to one of your incoming addresses, you can easily filter all of these to the spam folder by creating a rule as follows:
Any recipient's email is exactly (your email address)
Move the message to (Spam)
SAVE (at the top)

Bill

Bamb0 · 13 Oct 2016, 02:20 PM

Yea your right bud... Once GOOGLE or whoever has it indexed IT IS HARD TO GET AWAY FROM IT!!!

fastuser2015 · 13 Oct 2016, 06:26 PM

Guys am very sorry for that, did not intend to cause any offence and have removed the text of the email as requested.

I only posted it to demonstrate how very very spammy the message was, I mean this did not look in any way like ham, and given how you guys reacted to it I'm sure you agree.

My main reason for coming here was surprise at how this screaming-out-loud spam, and a whole host of other obscene messages like it, walked straight past the Fastmail filtering which I usually find extremely good.

Bill, thanks for mentioning the rule, I will probably block this email address altogether soon because I'm tired of seeing these messages, but I suppose my bigger point was - is the filtering getting worse? Or are the spammers getting cleverer?

At the moment am going to leave it live to see how long it takes the filtering to learn from me manually marking all these as junk.

Because if these guys got hold of one of my main email addresses I'd be inundated and obviously couldn't just block that by destination.

fastuser2015 · 14 Oct 2016, 06:06 PM

Just to follow up on my own post here...

I had assumed that just moving a mail to the Junk Mail folder via IMAP would make Fastmail learn it as Spam.

I also thought just moving something out of the Junk Mail folder through IMAP would make Fastmail learn it as Not Spam.

Well - that's not how it works at all...

I have now and created "This is spam" and "This is not spam" learning folders, and am pleased to say these messages are now getting X-Spam-Scores of 5 + and no longer fouling my inbox. Have not blocked the email address altogether yet as I think this is a useful test of the learning capabilities of the filter...

Instructions here in case anyone else finds themselves in this position:
https://www.fastmail.com/help/receiv...ml#spamfolders

23 Mar 2016, 12:10 AM	#1
jezemine Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 18	spam filters down? I am getting a ton of spam in the inbox over last 12 hours or so. Normally spam is filtered out pretty well. Are the spam filters working for others?

24 Mar 2016, 11:48 PM	#2
akorvemaker Master of the @ Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 1,015	I've noticed a significant increase in spam over the last couple days, both in my spam folder and in my inbox. Most of it is one of: a blank message from my address with attached "Document2.zip" subject "FW: Payment Receipt" with an attached zip file subject "Sixt Invoice: 7802815568 from 24.03.2016" with an attached .doc file subject "FW: Payment Details - [409346]" with an attached .zip file Others have noticed some of these too: http://www.emaildiscussions.com/showthread.php?t=71602 It's not just you That said, while some has gotten through to my inbox, the spam filter seems to be catching about 60% of them now. I have my spam protection set to "Aggressive" (as it has been for years). Andy

12 Oct 2016, 05:05 PM	#10
fastuser2015 Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Posts: 31	Wonder why so many have been getting through here..? An example, with dodgy URL neutered, that arrived with X-Spam-score: 2.2 <SNIPPED> Can post more headers if anyone is interested... Last edited by fastuser2015 : 13 Oct 2016 at 06:14 PM.

14 Oct 2016, 06:06 PM	#14
fastuser2015 Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Posts: 31	Solved Just to follow up on my own post here... I had assumed that just moving a mail to the Junk Mail folder via IMAP would make Fastmail learn it as Spam. I also thought just moving something out of the Junk Mail folder through IMAP would make Fastmail learn it as Not Spam. Well - that's not how it works at all... I have now and created "This is spam" and "This is not spam" learning folders, and am pleased to say these messages are now getting X-Spam-Scores of 5 + and no longer fouling my inbox. Have not blocked the email address altogether yet as I think this is a useful test of the learning capabilities of the filter... Instructions here in case anyone else finds themselves in this position: https://www.fastmail.com/help/receiv...ml#spamfolders

25 Mar 2016, 01:54 AM	#3
rakarnik Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Posts: 6	I started the other thread. After a couple of days of training, the "Document2" ones are being caught by the spam filter (three so far today).

4 Oct 2016, 11:16 PM	#5
physci Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 61	Are the spam filters down again? I'm seeing all spam being routed to my inbox over the past 15 minutes.

12 Oct 2016, 06:18 AM	#7
fastuser2015 Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Posts: 31	Came here looking for a thread like this - glad it's not just me. Am being bombarded today. Really spammy-looking spam is ending up with X-Spam-scores of 2 and lower. Also of note - it's all coming in on an email address only ever used with an old Dropbox account. Wonder if there's a pattern?

12 Oct 2016, 01:19 PM	#8
paul29 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 166	I didn't notice anything unusual today regarding spam.

12 Oct 2016, 01:28 PM	#9
n5bb Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: May 2004 Location: Irving, Texas Posts: 8,927	Everything looks normal to me. Bill

13 Oct 2016, 10:19 AM	#11
n5bb Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: May 2004 Location: Irving, Texas Posts: 8,927	I recommend that you read the forum rules (especially the second rule post) at the top of the root of this forum. Posting specific bad language doesn't help us respond and since this forum is spidered by Google and other search services the bad content will be associated with you (the poster) and this forum. You can edit your previous posts. If the spam is only being delivered to one of your incoming addresses, you can easily filter all of these to the spam folder by creating a rule as follows: Any recipient's email is exactly (your email address) Move the message to (Spam) SAVE (at the top) Bill

13 Oct 2016, 02:20 PM	#12
Bamb0 Master of the @ Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: USA Posts: 1,873	Yea your right bud... Once GOOGLE or whoever has it indexed IT IS HARD TO GET AWAY FROM IT!!!

13 Oct 2016, 06:26 PM	#13
fastuser2015 Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Posts: 31	Guys am very sorry for that, did not intend to cause any offence and have removed the text of the email as requested. I only posted it to demonstrate how very very spammy the message was, I mean this did not look in any way like ham, and given how you guys reacted to it I'm sure you agree. My main reason for coming here was surprise at how this screaming-out-loud spam, and a whole host of other obscene messages like it, walked straight past the Fastmail filtering which I usually find extremely good. Bill, thanks for mentioning the rule, I will probably block this email address altogether soon because I'm tired of seeing these messages, but I suppose my bigger point was - is the filtering getting worse? Or are the spammers getting cleverer? At the moment am going to leave it live to see how long it takes the filtering to learn from me manually marking all these as junk. Because if these guys got hold of one of my main email addresses I'd be inundated and obviously couldn't just block that by destination.