Rules defined, spam still gets through

Mr David · 11 Jun 2009, 09:39 AM

A tiny trickle of spam sent to a couple of addresses that appear consistently in the "To" fields is getting through to my FM inbox. Unfortunately I have set rules to have such messages rejected in the Define Rules screen to no avail.

Let's say the problematic addresses are:
forumleak@myname.fm.dom
ivm@myname.fm.dom

In attempting to block forumleak@myname.fm.dom I tried this rule:
Message with "To/cc/bcc" That "glob matches" |*forumleak*|

Spam sent to this address kept getting through so I left that rule in place and added another:
Message with "To/cc/bcc" That "contains" forumleak@myname.fm.dom

In spite of both these rules spam using this address still appears in my FM inbox.

It's a similar story with the ivm@myname.fm.dom type addresses. (There are other problem addresses of this format, each of them prefixed with three random letters that are used consistently.) In these instances I first made a rule to block messages in which the To/cc/bcc fields contains a single problem address. When this rule failed to block spam messages I kept it and added another:
Message with "Any header" That "glob matches" |*ivm*|

Still the spam gets through. Aaaarrrgh!

I don't understand why spam is still getting past the rules I've defined. What have I done wrong?

zhak · 12 Jun 2009, 10:45 AM

Do you have a secret word?

You seem to be having just the opposite issue as another poster, where I just recommended they use the secret word.

n5bb · 14 Jun 2009, 09:25 AM

In addition to a secret word, check the items in this post:
A few ideas about checking your rules

Bill

Mr David · 15 Jun 2009, 04:30 PM

Thank you, Bill and zhak for your replies.

Secret word:
No, I haven't used one, but thanks for pointing me to that other thread with a working example of how this feature might be used.

A few ideas about checking your rules:
Thanks, Bill, for directing me to this concise yet comprehensive run down on use of the Define Rules screen.

Reading through it I've probably confirmed what's been causing the spam to slip through my rules: I'd created rules, clicked "Save Changes" but exited the screen without clicking "Apply All Changes". Woops!

I'd made the rules months ago and was confused why they weren't working. Every time I reviewed the Define Rules screen and re-checked them the rules were still up there and everything looked OK.

I'll see how it goes over the next month or so, hopefully no more nuisance messages!

Thanks again,
David.

rabarberski · 15 Jun 2009, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr David

Reading through it I've probably confirmed what's been causing the spam to slip through my rules: I'd created rules, clicked "Save Changes" but exited the screen without clicking "Apply All Changes". Woops!

I'd made the rules months ago and was confused why they weren't working. Every time I reviewed the Define Rules screen and re-checked them the rules were still up there and everything looked OK.

Had the same issue as you some time ago. The user interface for this really is very bad...

11 Jun 2009, 09:39 AM	#1
Mr David Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Melbourne, Aus Posts: 116	Rules defined, spam still gets through A tiny trickle of spam sent to a couple of addresses that appear consistently in the "To" fields is getting through to my FM inbox. Unfortunately I have set rules to have such messages rejected in the Define Rules screen to no avail. Let's say the problematic addresses are: forumleak@myname.fm.dom ivm@myname.fm.dom In attempting to block forumleak@myname.fm.dom I tried this rule: Message with "To/cc/bcc" That "glob matches" \|forumleak\| Spam sent to this address kept getting through so I left that rule in place and added another: Message with "To/cc/bcc" That "contains" forumleak@myname.fm.dom In spite of both these rules spam using this address still appears in my FM inbox. It's a similar story with the ivm@myname.fm.dom type addresses. (There are other problem addresses of this format, each of them prefixed with three random letters that are used consistently.) In these instances I first made a rule to block messages in which the To/cc/bcc fields contains a single problem address. When this rule failed to block spam messages I kept it and added another: Message with "Any header" That "glob matches" \|ivm\| Still the spam gets through. Aaaarrrgh! I don't understand why spam is still getting past the rules I've defined. What have I done wrong? Last edited by Mr David : 11 Jun 2009 at 04:47 PM.

12 Jun 2009, 10:45 AM	#2
zhak Master of the @ Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Indiana, USA Posts: 1,861	Do you have a secret word? You seem to be having just the opposite issue as another poster, where I just recommended they use the secret word.

14 Jun 2009, 09:25 AM	#3
n5bb Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: May 2004 Location: Irving, Texas Posts: 8,926	In addition to a secret word, check the items in this post: A few ideas about checking your rules Bill

15 Jun 2009, 04:30 PM	#4
Mr David Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Melbourne, Aus Posts: 116	Thank you, Bill and zhak for your replies. Secret word: No, I haven't used one, but thanks for pointing me to that other thread with a working example of how this feature might be used. A few ideas about checking your rules: Thanks, Bill, for directing me to this concise yet comprehensive run down on use of the Define Rules screen. Reading through it I've probably confirmed what's been causing the spam to slip through my rules: I'd created rules, clicked "Save Changes" but exited the screen without clicking "Apply All Changes". Woops! I'd made the rules months ago and was confused why they weren't working. Every time I reviewed the Define Rules screen and re-checked them the rules were still up there and everything looked OK. I'll see how it goes over the next month or so, hopefully no more nuisance messages! Thanks again, David.