This set of instructions is for OUTLOOK EXPRESS and EUDORA

If you have any questions please send them to staff@zaks.com

We have installed a new spam filter system in our email system. This system checks each email coming into our system using various methods and if an email is suspected of being spam it is marked by inserting a bit of information into the header of the email. The header is something you normally do not see. The is used by the email systems to track the travels of your emails. Unfortunatly, Outlook Express and Eudora do not let you check the email header. We have found another way to work with them. If you are using one of these email systems, let us know - send an email to staff@zaks.com and TELL US YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS and that you are using Outlook Express or Eudora and we will setup your email account accordingly.

Once we have setup your account to add the spam marker, the basic steps of what you need to do now are:

1. Create a new account that will collect your spam
2. Create a folder to hold it and
3. Create a Message Rule that will send the spam from the account to the spam folder.

After you let us know that you want the spam installed on your account here are the steps to follow to complete the process. These are for Outlook Express:

1. Create a new account to receive your spam.

From the menu at the top of (Outlook Express) OE choose TOOLS, then ACCOUNTS, then choose the "mail" tab, then over on the right side choose Add - Mail.

This should start the Internet Connection Wizard. Enter a display name "my spam" would be ok. then click next. Now put in the email address. For this case it is "youremail-spam@youremailplace.com". For example - If my address is "leon@zaks.com" my address for this account would be "leon-spam@zaks.com". The "-spam" tells OE to go to the spam box that we created. One more example - if my address was "Moreinformation@somewhere.org" I would put in "Moreinformation-spam@somewhere.org".

Now it will ask for Email Server Names. Our incoming server is a POP3 server. If that is not the choice in the "My incoming mail server is a", choose it fromt he drop down box. Next, for the "Incoming mail (called POP3)" ours is named "mail.zaks.com". Our server for outgoing mail is "mail.zaks.com" Same name for both incoming and outgoing. Click next.

Then the account name. Put in "youremail-spam@yourmailplace.com" and the password. The password is the same password you use for your regular non spam account. Click Next. Now you will see the account you just added in the list.

Some versions of OE did carry the name through correctly and you may see it as "mail.zaks.com(1)". You may want to change this so it will be easier to recognize what it is. Click on "Properties" and you can change the name. Close any open boxes but leave OE running.

2. Create a folder on your Outlook Express(OE) called spam -

1. Click once on "Local Folders"
2. Right click and choose "new folder"
3. Name the folder "Spam" (no quotes)
4. Click OK and close that window.

3. At the top of OE click on "Tools", then from the drop down choose "Message Rules", then "Mail".

At the right of that window choose "New". The new mail rule box opens and there are 4 sections 1,2,3 and 4. In section 1 "select the conditions for your rule" choose "Where the message is from the specified account". (You may have to scroll down a bit to see this choice.) Then click the box to the left of it.

Go to section 2, "select the actions for your rule" and choose "Move it to the specified folder". Click it's box.

Now in section 3, "rule description..." there is your rule with the words "specified" highlighted in blue. Click on the first instance of the word "specifed" (it is contained in the sentence "Where the message is from the specified account"). A box will popup with your accounts listed in a drop down. Find and choose "yourname-spam" that you created from the instructions above. Click OK and the word "specified" will be relplaced by the account name.

Now click the other specified, "move it to the specified folder". You'll see a list of your folders. Choose the one we made above "Spam" and click OK.

In the 4th section, you can name the rule or you can leave whatever is there. Then click OK.

Here is a explanation of some of our spam filters:

The main filter is a check against "black lists". A black list is a list of addresses and internet numbers that have been known to send out spam. The filter looks at the incoming mails information and if it matches one on the black list it is marked as possible spam.

Another section of the filter checks to see if the "From" address is valid. If it is not valid, it is marked as spam.

The next test is a Bayesian Statistical filter that uses spam’s characteristics against itself. Words are analyzed based on how frequently they appear in good email versus bad email. Then the message is assigned a probability of being spam.

Next is the phrase filter. This is a list of know phrases commonly used in spam. If the incoming email has any of these phrases it is marked as spam.

The final major filter is a HTML filter. Html is the language used for web pages. Many spammers have turned to using this system because it disguises the words that the phrase filter may catch.

Finally there are roughly a dozen other tests that check some of the internal workings of the email system.

The unforntunate part of spam filtering is that as good as any spam system is, it will check some legitamate messages as spam. So rather than delete the email, we insert a text flag into the header of the email message. The header is usually invisible to you as you read your email, but, your email program can see it. Using this system you can set your email reader (Outlook) to catch this flag and move it to a special folder or remove it completely.

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