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Hi Malcolm,
Filtering email is a touchy problem. To be vigilant, legitimate email
is in danger of being snagged and deleted because many 'free' mail
services like Google's GMail and Yahoo pay for their 'free' service by
placing ads within the email, especially many in html. Filters designed
to look for html or keywords in spam will also grab that email and,
although it's supposed to divert it, in some instances, it might be
deleted.
To prevent overzealous grabbing of everything that may look like spam,
we tone the filters down a little. Also, depending on how much mail is
flooding through the filters, some may get through while others, using the
same criteria, are caught. This gives the appearance that the filters
aren't working but, in fact, they are. It's all dependent on just how
email flows in at any given time. Over 95% of all email received by CCN
is spam; literally, millions of pieces a day.
As for 'mail from me to me': spammers use addresses they skim from
mailing lists, newsgroup postings, webpages (like Facebook or MySpace) etc
to forge outgoing email addresses to millions of unlucky recipients. They
used your email address as a 'From:' knowing that any bounces will go to
you and not them. Spammers use 'valid' forged addresses because many mail
services will check (via a ping across the internet) to see if a sender
address is valid before even allowing an email into their queue.
There's really nothing you (or anyone) can do about it. The only way to
minimize spam and things like email forging is to never post, write or
advertise your email address anywhere including webpages. Even then, you
would be surprised how spammers can still get your email address. Since you
weren't the one sending the emails, just delete the bounces and chalk it up
to experience on the internet. No one has gotten into your account but
you can always change your password, if it will make you feel more secure.
Spammers rotate among millions of addresses at any given moment so your
address may or may never be used again. The reason you see the bounces is
that lazy admins of spam filters around the world send bounces back to the
sender, even though that address may be forged (instead of checking the path
and IP numbers which will give them the real sender most of the time), so
the innocent address owner gets the bounce from the email the spammer
sent.
If you use POP3 to check your mail, you can use Thunderbird (by
Mozilla, maker of the Firefox internet browser). This will give you even
more control over your email and even more filters, which you, yourself,
can manage. These filters will work in addition to CCN's broader filters.
You can download Thunderbird (for free) at: www.mozilla.org.
CCN Help
----------------
On Fri, 19 Dec 2008, Pat & Malcolm Bayne wrote:
> I have left messages on two occasions on your phone line to contact me
> but neither has been acknowledged.
> 1 - I am concerned by the amount of junkmail in my Inbox which now on
> occasions exceeds that in my Junkmail box. What bothers me is that, by
> subject matter anyway, the junk that is getting into my Inbox is the
> same as that in my inbox. How come it is not being rejected also?
> 2 - Sitting in my Junkmail box at the moment are 11 notifications to me
> about messages, etc. All these messages are addressed from me to me. How
> can this be?
> If you wish I will forward them individually to you or you are probably
> able to look into my Junkmail. Does this mean someone has access to my
> e-mail address?
> I know I am belabouring on a matter I took up before but when I could
> set my own filters I never had the problem I am having in (1) above.
> I am extremely concerned with the problem in (2)
> Malcolm
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