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Hi,
I've mentioned this in the 'formmail problem' thread but thought it was worth raising in the 'Services' forum.
Over the last few weeks I've seen a rise in the amount of spam - all of a sexual nature to numerous domains and accounts.
Of course I appreciate there is no easy fix for SPAM but 3 of my Freeola hosted clients have now contacted me asking if anything can be done which has prompted this post.
Both my Outlook junk mail filter and GoogleMail's spam filter is correctly capturing the spam so the senders details must be reasonably static - so I can't see why Freeola's filters can't be updated to manage things better.
I've regularly been sending samples to Freeola's abuse@ address where you receive an automated email acknowledgement.
Could Freeola please provide an update here so I can reassure my clients improvements are in hand?
Thanks in advance :¬)
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I've mentioned this in the 'formmail problem' thread but thought it was worth raising in the 'Services' forum.
Over the last few weeks I've seen a rise in the amount of spam - all of a sexual nature to numerous domains and accounts.
Of course I appreciate there is no easy fix for SPAM but 3 of my Freeola hosted clients have now contacted me asking if anything can be done which has prompted this post.
Both my Outlook junk mail filter and GoogleMail's spam filter is correctly capturing the spam so the senders details must be reasonably static - so I can't see why Freeola's filters can't be updated to manage things better.
I've regularly been sending samples to Freeola's abuse@ address where you receive an automated email acknowledgement.
Could Freeola please provide an update here so I can reassure my clients improvements are in hand?
Thanks in advance :¬)
Search Freeola Chat
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Regarding the attachments, It depends on the email client whether this works correctly or not, However I can see some samples from yourself over the last 3 days, which I think were sent with Outlook (which while it sends the headers through does some reorganisation) which means they cannot be used. Thunderbird does not have this limitation (In fact Outlook is about the only program that does) so I would recommend Thunderbird if you are going to report spam.
Whether it is worth it or not is ultimately your own decision, ISP's (including ourselves) to a large extent rely on these things being reported to keep themselves of blacklists etc. Reporting Spam this way does help to reduce the spam sent, but will not neccessarily reduce the amount that any indvidual account receives.
I spend a fair bit of time dealing with spammers both their sending from our networks and mail coming to our network, and from my own experience I don't see any ncrease in the spam coming through, though its possible that they are being more successful in hitting live accounts
Hmmm... wrote:
> Tony, glad to hear you aren't receiving any spam ;¬)
>
> As I mentioned earlier one of my Freeola clients has had to move
> her email to BT due to the nature of some of the spam to her
> Freeola address.
>
> I have a lot of Freeola domains (100+) so can see the same spam
> is going to a range of accounts - as I've mentioned earlier.
>
>
> Tony wrote:
> It seems most likely to me that spammers are simply getting
> better at circumventing spam filters or solutions, and this
> will
> almost inevitably result in people receiving more spam if their
> addresses are compromised.
>
> As I've mentioned earlier (a couple of times) my local Outlook
> junk filter and GoogleMail's spam filter do pick up the spam 100%
> of the time! - it's just Freeola's filter that's missing it -
> hence this thread. I'm ok, I'm just trying to look after some of
> my clients who are getting fed up with it.
>
> Hmmm... wrote:
> The emails I've sent to the abuse@ address are sent as
> attachments does this give you the header information you
> require?
>
> Can Freeola say if sending the spam samples as attachments gives
> the required header info? But after reading Tony's reply is it
> worth me continuing to send samples to the abuse@ address?
>
>
> Thanks - I'm only trying to help...
>
>
> Search Freeola
> Chat
Whether it is worth it or not is ultimately your own decision, ISP's (including ourselves) to a large extent rely on these things being reported to keep themselves of blacklists etc. Reporting Spam this way does help to reduce the spam sent, but will not neccessarily reduce the amount that any indvidual account receives.
I spend a fair bit of time dealing with spammers both their sending from our networks and mail coming to our network, and from my own experience I don't see any ncrease in the spam coming through, though its possible that they are being more successful in hitting live accounts
Hmmm... wrote:
> Tony, glad to hear you aren't receiving any spam ;¬)
>
> As I mentioned earlier one of my Freeola clients has had to move
> her email to BT due to the nature of some of the spam to her
> Freeola address.
>
> I have a lot of Freeola domains (100+) so can see the same spam
> is going to a range of accounts - as I've mentioned earlier.
>
>
> Tony wrote:
> It seems most likely to me that spammers are simply getting
> better at circumventing spam filters or solutions, and this
> will
> almost inevitably result in people receiving more spam if their
> addresses are compromised.
>
> As I've mentioned earlier (a couple of times) my local Outlook
> junk filter and GoogleMail's spam filter do pick up the spam 100%
> of the time! - it's just Freeola's filter that's missing it -
> hence this thread. I'm ok, I'm just trying to look after some of
> my clients who are getting fed up with it.
>
> Hmmm... wrote:
> The emails I've sent to the abuse@ address are sent as
> attachments does this give you the header information you
> require?
>
> Can Freeola say if sending the spam samples as attachments gives
> the required header info? But after reading Tony's reply is it
> worth me continuing to send samples to the abuse@ address?
>
>
> Thanks - I'm only trying to help...
>
>
> Search Freeola
> Chat
Tony, glad to hear you aren't receiving any spam ;¬)
As I mentioned earlier one of my Freeola clients has had to move her email to BT due to the nature of some of the spam to her Freeola address.
I have a lot of Freeola domains (100+) so can see the same spam is going to a range of accounts - as I've mentioned earlier.
Tony wrote:
> It seems most likely to me that spammers are simply getting
> better at circumventing spam filters or solutions, and this will
> almost inevitably result in people receiving more spam if their
> addresses are compromised.
As I've mentioned earlier (a couple of times) my local Outlook junk filter and GoogleMail's spam filter do pick up the spam 100% of the time! - it's just Freeola's filter that's missing it - hence this thread. I'm ok, I'm just trying to look after some of my clients who are getting fed up with it.
Hmmm... wrote:
> The emails I've sent to the abuse@ address are sent as
> attachments does this give you the header information you
> require?
Can Freeola say if sending the spam samples as attachments gives the required header info? But after reading Tony's reply is it worth me continuing to send samples to the abuse@ address?
Thanks - I'm only trying to help...
Search Freeola Chat
As I mentioned earlier one of my Freeola clients has had to move her email to BT due to the nature of some of the spam to her Freeola address.
I have a lot of Freeola domains (100+) so can see the same spam is going to a range of accounts - as I've mentioned earlier.
Tony wrote:
> It seems most likely to me that spammers are simply getting
> better at circumventing spam filters or solutions, and this will
> almost inevitably result in people receiving more spam if their
> addresses are compromised.
As I've mentioned earlier (a couple of times) my local Outlook junk filter and GoogleMail's spam filter do pick up the spam 100% of the time! - it's just Freeola's filter that's missing it - hence this thread. I'm ok, I'm just trying to look after some of my clients who are getting fed up with it.
Hmmm... wrote:
> The emails I've sent to the abuse@ address are sent as
> attachments does this give you the header information you
> require?
Can Freeola say if sending the spam samples as attachments gives the required header info? But after reading Tony's reply is it worth me continuing to send samples to the abuse@ address?
Thanks - I'm only trying to help...
Search Freeola Chat
Dragonlance wrote:
> Hmmm... wrote:
> Since my return I notice the type of spam has moved on to png
> and rtf attachments - again over numerous Freeola domains - I
> wonder if any others are seeing this?
>
> Hi Hmmm, can most certainly agree with this....infact just
> received 3 with rtf attachments...
Thanks for that Dragonlance - As I have a large number of Freeola domains (100+) I like to think what I see is a useful 'barometer' across the board.
'Sort of' glad to hear you are seeing similar activity along with me and some of my clients. Unfortunately Freeola don't seem to see/acknowledge this activity so I'll have to live with it.
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> Hmmm... wrote:
> Since my return I notice the type of spam has moved on to png
> and rtf attachments - again over numerous Freeola domains - I
> wonder if any others are seeing this?
>
> Hi Hmmm, can most certainly agree with this....infact just
> received 3 with rtf attachments...
Thanks for that Dragonlance - As I have a large number of Freeola domains (100+) I like to think what I see is a useful 'barometer' across the board.
'Sort of' glad to hear you are seeing similar activity along with me and some of my clients. Unfortunately Freeola don't seem to see/acknowledge this activity so I'll have to live with it.
Search Freeola Chat
Hmmm... wrote:
>
> Since my return I notice the type of spam has moved on to png
> and rtf attachments - again over numerous Freeola domains - I
> wonder if any others are seeing this?
Hi Hmmm, can most certainly agree with this....infact just received 3 with rtf attachments.
I have 5 'active' addresses. 4 are with my domain hosted by Freeola and the 5th is my original free address when I first subscribed many moons ago. This one hasn't been used for years, but interestingly it is the one that receives the most spam:-)
>
> Since my return I notice the type of spam has moved on to png
> and rtf attachments - again over numerous Freeola domains - I
> wonder if any others are seeing this?
Hi Hmmm, can most certainly agree with this....infact just received 3 with rtf attachments.
I have 5 'active' addresses. 4 are with my domain hosted by Freeola and the 5th is my original free address when I first subscribed many moons ago. This one hasn't been used for years, but interestingly it is the one that receives the most spam:-)
I have six Freeola free addresses, of various ages, some extremely old. I also have another eight addresses at my own domains hosted by Freeola.
I have just checked all of my addresses and I have no spam at all except at one address which is known to be compromised and has been widely used. Even my predictable addresses have no spam.
People should avoid using predicable addresses as these can be caught by dictionary or name attack.
In the past I have found that schools, councils and various people who circulate emails have left the recipient addresses in the header (providing all recipients with the entire list of recipient addresses). Very few companies would fall into this trap, but non-commercial organisations constantly do. People receiving emails which give away their email address should complain to the sender.
It seems most likely to me that spammers are simply getting better at circumventing spam filters or solutions, and this will almost inevitably result in people receiving more spam if their addresses are compromised.
If the spam becomes to much of a nuisance then people really do need to change their addresses. In my experience things can improve over time if you take an address out of use temporarily.
I have just checked all of my addresses and I have no spam at all except at one address which is known to be compromised and has been widely used. Even my predictable addresses have no spam.
People should avoid using predicable addresses as these can be caught by dictionary or name attack.
In the past I have found that schools, councils and various people who circulate emails have left the recipient addresses in the header (providing all recipients with the entire list of recipient addresses). Very few companies would fall into this trap, but non-commercial organisations constantly do. People receiving emails which give away their email address should complain to the sender.
It seems most likely to me that spammers are simply getting better at circumventing spam filters or solutions, and this will almost inevitably result in people receiving more spam if their addresses are compromised.
If the spam becomes to much of a nuisance then people really do need to change their addresses. In my experience things can improve over time if you take an address out of use temporarily.
Hi - thanks for the reply, I've been away for a few days, hence the delay in replying.
As I mentioned in my opening thread I appreciate all the issues with spam and I know it's not easy :¬)
As I had been seeing an increase in related spam across a broad range of Freeola domains I thought I would bring it to your attention - but I'm not sure if it was worth raising if you are happy you already do everything you can.
As I also mentioned MS Outlook junk filtering and GoogleMail (I use GMail's mailfetcher) can cope with the spam - this is why I was hoping Freeola would be able to update their filters.
All the individual accounts aren't listed on websites but often 1 main email address per domain is - so I'm guessing as the domain can be found the rest is down to dictionary type attacks. But I don't wish to change the names as charlotte@mydomain etc. is the required account.
Since my return I notice the type of spam has moved on to png and rtf attachments - again over numerous Freeola domains - I wonder if any others are seeing this?
The emails I've sent to the abuse@ address are sent as attachments does this give you the header information you require?
Search Freeola Chat
As I mentioned in my opening thread I appreciate all the issues with spam and I know it's not easy :¬)
As I had been seeing an increase in related spam across a broad range of Freeola domains I thought I would bring it to your attention - but I'm not sure if it was worth raising if you are happy you already do everything you can.
As I also mentioned MS Outlook junk filtering and GoogleMail (I use GMail's mailfetcher) can cope with the spam - this is why I was hoping Freeola would be able to update their filters.
All the individual accounts aren't listed on websites but often 1 main email address per domain is - so I'm guessing as the domain can be found the rest is down to dictionary type attacks. But I don't wish to change the names as charlotte@mydomain etc. is the required account.
Since my return I notice the type of spam has moved on to png and rtf attachments - again over numerous Freeola domains - I wonder if any others are seeing this?
The emails I've sent to the abuse@ address are sent as attachments does this give you the header information you require?
Search Freeola Chat
ncrs wrote:
> Regarding the abuse address, we use that address to complain on
> behalf of the user receiving the spam to the ISP's that are
> forwarding the mail on. If you do have anyone sending mail to
> that address, can you please make sure that they include the
> headers for the mail, as at least 50 percent of the mail sent to
> that address is not possible to chase as they only include the
> contents not the headers.
That's a better way of explaining what I was trying to say.
> Regarding the abuse address, we use that address to complain on
> behalf of the user receiving the spam to the ISP's that are
> forwarding the mail on. If you do have anyone sending mail to
> that address, can you please make sure that they include the
> headers for the mail, as at least 50 percent of the mail sent to
> that address is not possible to chase as they only include the
> contents not the headers.
That's a better way of explaining what I was trying to say.
Unfortunately trapping spam is a constantly moving target, and we will never be able to all spam coming through. We run both greylisting and content filtering on our emails, and we trap the majority of spam that comes through, but the only way to prevent spam (in the end) is being very careful with who knows your email address and making sure that your email address is not posted on public pages (or if you must do this, make sure it is displayed as a graphic.)
I maintain my own freeola email address which has been live for roughly eight years and I do not get any spam, but I also know other people who have email addresses who get spam within days of setting up their addresses. I also maintain some other email addresses (both with Freeola and with other email providers) that I use as disposable address which I will give if I am not secure about the source I am giving the address.
Avoiding addresses that are easy to dictionary attack is another method of avoiding spam, we get large amounts of spam to our sales and enquiries email addresses, but this is because when a domain is set up (both with freeola and with anyone else) the first thing people set is sales@mydomain and enquiries@mydomain which gives the spammers a easy target.
Regarding the abuse address, we use that address to complain on behalf of the user receiving the spam to the ISP's that are forwarding the mail on. If you do have anyone sending mail to that address, can you please make sure that they include the headers for the mail, as at least 50 percent of the mail sent to that address is not possible to chase as they only include the contents not the headers.
I maintain my own freeola email address which has been live for roughly eight years and I do not get any spam, but I also know other people who have email addresses who get spam within days of setting up their addresses. I also maintain some other email addresses (both with Freeola and with other email providers) that I use as disposable address which I will give if I am not secure about the source I am giving the address.
Avoiding addresses that are easy to dictionary attack is another method of avoiding spam, we get large amounts of spam to our sales and enquiries email addresses, but this is because when a domain is set up (both with freeola and with anyone else) the first thing people set is sales@mydomain and enquiries@mydomain which gives the spammers a easy target.
Regarding the abuse address, we use that address to complain on behalf of the user receiving the spam to the ISP's that are forwarding the mail on. If you do have anyone sending mail to that address, can you please make sure that they include the headers for the mail, as at least 50 percent of the mail sent to that address is not possible to chase as they only include the contents not the headers.
Warhunt wrote:
> The abuse@ is generally for use tracking Freeola customers who
> are sending spam. We take this seriously, and the OM does
> continously resolve issues in that regard.
Hi Warhunt.
Are you aware of this recent growth in spam (all of a very similar sexual nature) to Freeola domains or are you saying it's just 'business as usual'?
As I have quite a number of Freeola domains, I can see the problem is generally across the board and not just isolated accounts.
As I mentioned my junk filters capture it all so it should be possible for Freeola to do the same?!
In the last week some of my Freeola clients are raising this with me and one of them (a teacher) has asked me to change their email from Freeola to BT(!) as they can't risk the children seeing this spam!
Thanks in advance.
Search Freeola Chat
> The abuse@ is generally for use tracking Freeola customers who
> are sending spam. We take this seriously, and the OM does
> continously resolve issues in that regard.
Hi Warhunt.
Are you aware of this recent growth in spam (all of a very similar sexual nature) to Freeola domains or are you saying it's just 'business as usual'?
As I have quite a number of Freeola domains, I can see the problem is generally across the board and not just isolated accounts.
As I mentioned my junk filters capture it all so it should be possible for Freeola to do the same?!
In the last week some of my Freeola clients are raising this with me and one of them (a teacher) has asked me to change their email from Freeola to BT(!) as they can't risk the children seeing this spam!
Thanks in advance.
Search Freeola Chat
im no expert and offer no solution, but out of interest are these addresses receiving spam due to the addresses being published online? or are they being received via web mail forms?
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