Wikiposts
Search
Computer/Internet Issues & Troubleshooting Anyone with questions about the terribly complex world of computers or the internet should try here. NOT FOR REPORTING ISSUES WITH PPRuNe FORUMS! Please use the subforum "PPRuNe Problems or Queries."

Increase in spam?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 19th Mar 2015, 16:45
  #1 (permalink)  
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Lemonia. Best Greek in the world
Posts: 1,759
Received 6 Likes on 3 Posts
Increase in spam?

I use MS outlook to get my mail in to my desktop from Btinternet.

Up until a couple of days ago, BT internet was brilliant at diverting spam to its own spam file before it got to MS outlook.
However, over the last couple of days the MS Outlook "junk" container has been getting lots more in it.

My main inbox is thus currently protected, mainly.

Is there a recent hike in spam mail generally? Anyone else have problems with the BTinternet filter?

I had a look at the BT community website, and whilst complaints are up, the complaints are from relatively few users. Maybe I'm just unlucky.

thanks

AO
Ancient Observer is offline  
Old 19th Mar 2015, 17:35
  #2 (permalink)  

Official PPRuNe Chaplain
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Witnesham, Suffolk
Age: 80
Posts: 3,498
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I've had many more spams in the past two or three days than normal. The filters are catching most of them, but they're still a pesky nuisance.

Probably the botnet scammers trying to rebuild after the authorities demolished one.
Keef is offline  
Old 19th Mar 2015, 19:13
  #3 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Yate
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Less Spam

I use Thunderbird to read my mail which comes via BT. Interestingly I have had less 'Spam/Phishing' than normal during the past week or so.
Rasthem is offline  
Old 19th Mar 2015, 19:23
  #4 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: In my head
Posts: 139
Received 12 Likes on 7 Posts
AO - I had the same problem about a month, 6 weeks ago. I was getting 20/30 a day.

I have never had spam problems before, perhaps one or two emails a week, if that, despite my email address being all over the internet due to me running a website.

Anyway, after a month or so, it all stopped. Just like that, as TC used to say. No idea why it started or indeed stopped as it did.
Helol is offline  
Old 20th Mar 2015, 10:53
  #5 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Down Under somewhere not all that far from YPAD
Age: 79
Posts: 570
Received 14 Likes on 7 Posts
I've had a significant increase in spam over the past couple of weeks. All of it was trapped by the filter at my Australian IPS, bar one.

The common factor would seem to be the email address I use for eBay transactions. Perhaps someone's data base was either hacked or sold....?

FOR
FullOppositeRudder is offline  
Old 20th Mar 2015, 11:06
  #6 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Australia
Posts: 159
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Helol
AO - I had the same problem about a month, 6 weeks ago. I was getting 20/30 a day.

I have never had spam problems before, perhaps one or two emails a week, if that, despite my email address being all over the internet due to me running a website.

Anyway, after a month or so, it all stopped. Just like that, as TC used to say. No idea why it started or indeed stopped as it did.
Same story here (Australia), but for approx an 8-week period that ended probably around end January. Very few now.
david1300 is offline  
Old 20th Mar 2015, 11:59
  #7 (permalink)  
Psychophysiological entity
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Tweet Rob_Benham Famous author. Well, slightly famous.
Age: 84
Posts: 3,270
Received 34 Likes on 17 Posts
Yep, same here. Yahoo normally very good at filtering them but some rather obvious ones are slipping through.

How much of the filtering is done by humans?
Loose rivets is offline  
Old 20th Mar 2015, 13:12
  #8 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: YMML
Posts: 1,838
Received 16 Likes on 6 Posts
Zero directly, after all would you really want your mail provider reading your mail? Besides, they have better things to spend their time on. Indirectly, humans train the filters by flagging mistakes. Occasionally the spammers manage to work out something that fools the filters for a little while, but the filtering catches up soon enough.
le Pingouin is offline  
Old 21st Mar 2015, 00:05
  #9 (permalink)  
Psychophysiological entity
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Tweet Rob_Benham Famous author. Well, slightly famous.
Age: 84
Posts: 3,270
Received 34 Likes on 17 Posts
Yeh, but it seems to me they have to know the enemy to make the filters hit the target.
Loose rivets is offline  
Old 21st Mar 2015, 09:29
  #10 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Exeter UK
Posts: 280
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
That's why ISPs rely on their customers marking emails as spam.
By doing so you are helping to "educate" your ISP's spam filters. In the main, spam filters work by recognising the IP address or email address of the sender - not the title of the email. Eventually the filters should catch up and recognise spam as such.

My contacts at BT say that they have noticed a large increase in spam being generated recently.
Are PCs still using Windows XP coming back to bite us?????
EGTE is online now  
Old 21st Mar 2015, 13:09
  #11 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: YMML
Posts: 1,838
Received 16 Likes on 6 Posts
The ISPs subscribe to assorted lists that collect spam from many different sources - they aren't just relying on their own users. Much the same as the anti-virus companies share their finds.
le Pingouin is offline  
Old 21st Mar 2015, 18:20
  #12 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Earth
Posts: 3,663
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
The ISPs subscribe to assorted lists that collect spam from many different sources - they aren't just relying on their own users. Much the same as the anti-virus companies share their finds.
What he said, and quite frankly those lists are better than unpredictable users who can have vastly differing opinions of what "spam" is.
mixture is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.