Here are some notes on how to ensure the people you are communicating with don’t get blocked.
Firstly how it works, Spam Assassin will filter unsolicited e-mail using a broad range of spam recognition techniques like blacklists, whitelists, Bayes filters, blacklist servers, statistical filters as well as a the option of manually training desired (ham) and undesired (spam) e-mails. Also included the ClamAV anti-virus scanner which examines incoming e-mail for viruses and removes the infection but tags and delivers the email so you are able to notify the sender they may be infected.
Whitelist:
- A key component of this system is a whitelist, this is to ensure smooth delivery for your regular contacts
- Email addresses are added to the white list every time you email someone
- Critical you must never reply to a spam message
- If you are having issues receiving an email from someone you can simply email them and have them reply this will add an exception to the whitelist for that users address
- An email address on the white list will have no spam processing done for that address, antivirus scans will still be done
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A whole domain can be added to the whitelist or a troublesome single user by emailing
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
the request needs to be formatted as follows:
- Example 1: please Whitelist all users for domain *@seek.com.au
- Example 2: please Whitelist user This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. I have tried email them but the auto whitelist hasn’t worked for this user
- We do not whitelist the following domains due to the vast amount of spam they send: hotmail.com, gmail.com or yahoo.com (or any other free email service)
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We backup all incoming emails (spam or not) for 7 days so if there is an issue we can dig out the offending email for you
System Training Mode:
- This requires about 8-10 days of activity to build a suitable whitelist
- Any outgoing emails addresses are added to the white list (this continues after training ends)
- Email addresses are added to the white list every time you email someone
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During the training phase a tag is placed at the beginning of the subject line this reads [SPAM-#] where # is a rating of how SPAM like the email is the rankings go as follows:
- 1-4 = not likely to be spam and no tag
- 5-9 = probably spam tag has been applied
- 10 or above are not delivered as this is definitely SPAM
- For any legitimate emails that get tagged as SPAM please reply to the sender to add them to the whitelist (Note: remember to remove the tag [SPAM-#] from the subject when replying)
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For your convenience during training mode you can create an inbox rule as follows to move tagged emails to the junk email folder:
- Double click to open the email in its own window (not in the preview window / reading pane view)
- Click the create rule button
- Click Subject contains and type in and enter the parameter [SPAM
- Click Move the item to folder: and use the select folder button to choose the Junk E-mail folder
- Click ok
- Rules run even if outlook is not open
- If an email is missing in transit please check you Junk E-mail folder first
- As we come out of training mode we will stop delivery one SPAM level at a time e.g. we stop delivering [SPAM-9] and up, then a day later we stop delivering [SPAM-8] and up, and so on till we reach [SPAM-4]
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You must ensure any legitimate mails tagged as spam over the next week are replied to so as to add the person to the white list or you won’t even know they are being blocked once the system is out of training mode
Rule Example:
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