Stopping or Preventing Email Spam

The following is a list of ways Ameravant Web Hosting helps clients from the ongoing battle against Email Spam.

The items below only apply if you are an Ameravant client with the C-Panel web hosting Control Panel.

1) MAKE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS INVISIBLE:
If you have your Email address posted on your web site, Internet spammers can crawl your site and copy your Email address into their system.
HOW: To prevent this Ameravant can encrypt your Email address on your web site so visitors can view and click the link but spammers cannot see the link.

2) BOX TRAPPER:
There is a feature called Box Trapper that comes with Ameravant Web Hosting. When Box Trapper is activated, anyone sending an Email to your Email address would get a reply Email asking them to click a link and verify they are a real person. Once they click that link they get put on your White List and you receive their Email, and all future Emails from them. Because spammers are automated systems & don’t reply to Emails, they are never added to your White List. The following link offers more information on this feature, http://www.cpanel.net/support/docs/11/cpanel/mail_boxtrapper.html
HOW: Here is a link showing you how to set up Box Trapper, http://www.cpanel.net/media/tutorials/boxtrapper.htm
3) TURN ON SPAMASSASSIN:
SpamAssassin is widely used by Email Service Providers, like Ameravant. SpamAssassin will allow you to filter your Email and remove spam before you check your email.
HOW: From the home page of your Control Panel, click the “SpamAssassin” icon. Then click the “Enable” button next to SpamAssassin. Once SpamAssassin is turned on, you can tighten the default settings. The average Score setting is 5. You can reduce this to 4 or 3. This number represents how many tests an Email fails before it is considered spam. If you are concerned that reducing the Score will delete legitimate Email, you can enable “Spam Box” from this same page. This will direct all spam into a separate folder in your Webmail system. You can occasionally visits that folder to see if any legitimate Email is there.

4) BLACKLIST DOMAINS OR EMAIL ADDRESSES:
Blacklisting domains or individual Email accounts will prevent spam Email from getting into any Email account at your domain. Here is a tip. If you are getting spam Email that indicates it is From your Email account and To your Email account, you can blacklist your own Email address to prevent the spammers from sending this type of Email spam to you.
HOW: You can set blacklist domains or Email addresses from your Control Panel. Click the Spam

5) SET YOUR DOMAIN SPAM FILTER FOR Words or Phrases:
Words or Phrases: Any filters(word or phrases) you create in this area will effect all Email accounts for your domain. If you see Words in your spam Email that clearly identify them as spam, you can put these words in your Spam Filter. For example if I put the word “penis” in my spam filter, all future Emails with the word penis will be automatically deleted, redirected to another Email account or moved to a spam folder. You get to choose the action for each word you put in your Spam Filter.
HOW: In your Control Panel, click the “Account Level Filtering” icon. Then click the “Create a new Filter” button

6) SET YOUR PERSONAL EMAIL SPAM FILTER FOR Words or Phrases:
Any filters(word or phrases) you create in this area will affect only your individual Email account. If you see Words in your spam Email that clearly identify them as spam, you can put these words in your Spam Filter. For example if I put the word “penis” in my spam filter, all future Emails with the word penis will be automatically deleted, redirected to another Email account or moved to a spam folder. You get to choose the action for each word you put in your Spam Filter.
HOW: In your Control Panel, click the “User Level Filtering” icon. Then click the “Manage Filters” text next to the Email account you want to apply filters.

7) ENABLE DOMAIN KEYS
DomainKeys is an e-mail authentication system that allows for incoming mail to be checked against the server it was sent from to verify that the mail has not been modified. This ensures that messages are actually coming from the listed sender and allows abusive messages to be tracked with more ease.
HOW: From the home page of your Control Panel, click the “Email Authentication” icon. Then click the “Enable” button next to DomainKeys.

8) ENABLE SPF AUTHENTICATION:
SPF will specify which Email Servers are authorized to send email from your domain(s). This means that only mail sent through your Email server will appear as valid mail from your domain(s) when the SPF records are checked. This prevents what is known as “Spoofing”, where spam Email appears to be coming from your domain.
HOW: From the home page of your Control Panel, click the “Email Authentication” icon. Then click the “Enable” button next to SPF.

9) SET YOUR LOCAL SPAM FILTER:
If you are using an antivirus/antispam program on your local computer, most of them have spam filters that work with your local Email application. Check with your vendor to see how to filter out spam locally.

10) SPAM PROTECTION FROM EMAIL IMAGES:
The most difficult type of spam to prevent is the Email that has an image in the body of the Email. When that image becomes visible it is reporting back to the spammer that your Email address is valid. After validation you can be sure more spam is on the way.
HOW: To prevent this type of image validation, many Email program have a feature where you are not able to view images in your Email unless you identify that Email/Email Address as a Friend. Outlook 2007 offers this feature. Check with your Email application provider to see if they offer this feature and how to activate it.

11) CANNOT STOP ALL SPAM:
Unless you use the Box Trapper feature described above, it is impossible to prevent all spam from coming into your Email account. Sadly, it’s part of our new online culture.

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