Block imbedded GIF SPAM email in Outlook 2003?

[S.Gregory]

As I'm sure you all know what I'm referring to. "Penis Patch" .Gif file
SPAM.

The whole email is a Gif file. I love Outlook's new Junk engine. I already
have about 50 'Permanently Delete' rules, and the SPAM I see has gone down a
lot. But......How the heck do you fight this type email? The subject is
always different, so that doesn't help. I've viewed the source for keywords,
but I don't see anywhere in the Rule options to block this type of email.

If there is a way, I would sure like to hear it. Thanks.

 

[Mark Scott]

same domain all the time? otherwise Outlooks security will not open the gif
file so you should be ok

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

have about 50 'Permanently Delete' rules
Why not just use junk mail set on high? it gets rid of 99% of my spam
without additional rules or adding names to blocked senders. Use autoarchive
to delete items from the junk filter every few days or browse it for good
mail and right click, empty.

It takes less time to hit Del than it does to create rules that only apply
to a few messages, so I don't mind deleting a handful of spams a day when
the vast majority are moved to junk mail by the High setting - as long as
the images aren't downloaded.

How the heck do you fight this type email?

I've never seen this spam myself, but I keep images off - or maybe I'm on
the wrong spammers lists. Or the high setting dumps it for me... but I
recommend not allowing downloaded content by default and not trusting names
in your address book. (Most people keep their contact in contacts and many
spammers send from "you", so images are shown.) Add addresses to the safe
senders list if you want to see some images - otherwise it takes a second to
enable them per message.






--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

 

[S.Gregory]

Addendum to below. I have searched Google Web and Groups for the answer. The
only thing I found was selecting "Read all standard mail in plain text." I
know I could then pick out key words and permanently delete the SPAM
etc.....

However, I get HTML mail, as I'm sure most of us do, from Cisco, Microsoft,
a few online stores I like to visit, among other things. I really don't want
to lose the functionality of those emails to just a garble of text.

So, just to let you know, I've done my homework, and am still stumped how to
pick an individual HTML email to block with out affecting other HTML emails.
Thanks.

 

[S.Gregory]

I wish it was the same domain, but it isn't. In fact, it is different every
time. And this is not an attachment email. You open the email and there is
all the verbiage in there, but it is a .gif (picture) instead of text. So
there is no way to block it by particular words.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Should you choose that option, you can click on the infobar and enable
individual messages for html viewing... but I would first use High settings
and not download content. If it's still a problem, go with plain text and
flip it on per message.

I know for a fact that legit messages from MS have blocked content, so if
you are seeing images in those messages, you are allowing downloaded
content. All online stores I get messages from also contain content that is
blocked - you can either add them to the safe list or allow images per
message.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

 

[S.Gregory]

It is set to High. Please clarify what you mean by 'get rid of'? I think you
mean it goes to the Junk folder? So I'll expound on that. See, I thought
about that too, it all goes to the junk folder and bam! not in the Inbox.
But when you think about it. All that is doing is moving the SPAM from one
folder to another. In the Junk folder, you still have to go through the
process of scrolling down the list, making sure a legitimate email isn't in
there, while deleting the SPAM. Really no difference if the SPAM was in the
Inbox; Same process, different folder.

By creating specific rules to Permanently Delete words or phrases that you
KNOW will always be SPAM emails, then they are eradicated, and you never
know you got them. My goal is to get my SPAM down to just a few a day. Well,
actually none, but dream on, right. When I look hard enough, I see
commonalities, and set rules to permanently delete. One trick I see the scum
using is putting multiple .... by the word, making the ....part of the word.
This makes if difficult to filter. So what I did, I created a rule with
about 25 words, each having 1, 2 and 3 periods. The other one is M.0rtg.age
and the like. This makes it very difficult to filter.

It would be great for Microsoft to add the option to delete emails with
"specific letters in a word" and delete emails with two or more .(periods),
or dashes or colons, etc. in the word. Can you imagine how many emails we
could eradicate before they ever hit our box with those rules.

It's obvious, the scum is getting both more clever and desperate at the same
time. By adding periods and dashes to their words and sending emails with
nothing but a .gif picture in the body. It shows we are having an impact on
them.

You said you keep images off. Ok. Lets say you get a legitimate email from
Microsoft in HTML with links to new programs, partner programs, upcoming
seminars etc. If something interests you, you click the link and go. But, if
it's plain text, the HTML is just text, rendering the email useless, or if
you read HTML language, it becomes an extreme hassle to locate the links,
cut and paste them etc.. And by doing this, you are still getting the SPAM
email, that you can set rules to permanently delete, but you are robbing
yourself of the legitimate HTML ones. Is this not so?

have about 50 'Permanently Delete' rules

Why not just use junk mail set on high? it gets rid of 99% of my spam
without additional rules or adding names to blocked senders. Use autoarchive
to delete items from the junk filter every few days or browse it for good
mail and right click, empty.

It takes less time to hit Del than it does to create rules that only apply
to a few messages, so I don't mind deleting a handful of spams a day when
the vast majority are moved to junk mail by the High setting - as long as
the images aren't downloaded.

How the heck do you fight this type email?

I've never seen this spam myself, but I keep images off - or maybe I'm on
the wrong spammers lists. Or the high setting dumps it for me... but I
recommend not allowing downloaded content by default and not trusting names
in your address book. (Most people keep their contact in contacts and many
spammers send from "you", so images are shown.) Add addresses to the safe
senders list if you want to see some images - otherwise it takes a second to
enable them per message.






--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

As I'm sure you all know what I'm referring to. "Penis Patch" .Gif file
SPAM.

The whole email is a Gif file. I love Outlook's new Junk engine. I already
have about 50 'Permanently Delete' rules, and the SPAM I see has gone

down

a
lot. But......How the heck do you fight this type email? The subject is
always different, so that doesn't help. I've viewed the source for keywords,
but I don't see anywhere in the Rule options to block this type of email.

If there is a way, I would sure like to hear it. Thanks.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

I am more interested in getting the junk mail separated from my legit
mail... I browse the junk folder at my convenience once every day or so
looking for false positives, then right click and empty. I don't want
permanent delete because my experience with even the filters that are highly
crafted will catch some legit mail, or they are too loose and let some spam
through. (I've done extensive testing and reviews on many antispam
programs.)

I'm also interested in efficiency - creating and using hundreds of junk mail
rules (only 40 if you use exchange server) is not efficient. Using high and
deleting the few that get past it, plus browsing the junk folder and
deleting it on a right click takes a couple of min a day, max. If you insist
on using rules you are better off with an antispam plug-in or a utility like
MailWasher.

On the show downloaded content and plain text features question - have you
tried either feature? Your questions sound like you aren't familiar with how
either feature works.

Leaving images off puts text in the infobar and messages that says "click
here to show images" - in a split second you can show images. Or you can add
domains to the trusted senders list and only messages from those senders are
displayed. (Spammers could use fake from addresses to bypass it.)

On plain text - when it's enabled, the infobar says something like "click
here to enable html" - when you click the message is converted back to HTML
and you can easily read the messages and click the links. Even as plain
text, you can click the links, although they may be harder to find (depends
on the contents of the messages and how it's designed). You shouldn't have
to copy and paste anything - just click the link once you find it.

--

It is set to High. Please clarify what you mean by 'get rid of'? I think you
mean it goes to the Junk folder? So I'll expound on that. See, I thought
about that too, it all goes to the junk folder and bam! not in the Inbox.
But when you think about it. All that is doing is moving the SPAM from one
folder to another. In the Junk folder, you still have to go through the
process of scrolling down the list, making sure a legitimate email isn't in
there, while deleting the SPAM. Really no difference if the SPAM was in the
Inbox; Same process, different folder.

By creating specific rules to Permanently Delete words or phrases that you
KNOW will always be SPAM emails, then they are eradicated, and you never
know you got them. My goal is to get my SPAM down to just a few a day. Well,
actually none, but dream on, right. When I look hard enough, I see
commonalities, and set rules to permanently delete. One trick I see the scum
using is putting multiple .... by the word, making the ....part of the word.
This makes if difficult to filter. So what I did, I created a rule with
about 25 words, each having 1, 2 and 3 periods. The other one is M.0rtg.age
and the like. This makes it very difficult to filter.

It would be great for Microsoft to add the option to delete emails with
"specific letters in a word" and delete emails with two or more ..(periods),
or dashes or colons, etc. in the word. Can you imagine how many emails we
could eradicate before they ever hit our box with those rules.

It's obvious, the scum is getting both more clever and desperate at the same
time. By adding periods and dashes to their words and sending emails with
nothing but a .gif picture in the body. It shows we are having an impact on
them.

You said you keep images off. Ok. Lets say you get a legitimate email from
Microsoft in HTML with links to new programs, partner programs, upcoming
seminars etc. If something interests you, you click the link and go. But, if
it's plain text, the HTML is just text, rendering the email useless, or if
you read HTML language, it becomes an extreme hassle to locate the links,
cut and paste them etc.. And by doing this, you are still getting the SPAM
email, that you can set rules to permanently delete, but you are robbing
yourself of the legitimate HTML ones. Is this not so?

Why not just use junk mail set on high? it gets rid of 99% of my spam
without additional rules or adding names to blocked senders. Use autoarchive
to delete items from the junk filter every few days or browse it for good
mail and right click, empty.

It takes less time to hit Del than it does to create rules that only apply
to a few messages, so I don't mind deleting a handful of spams a day when
the vast majority are moved to junk mail by the High setting - as long as
the images aren't downloaded.

I've never seen this spam myself, but I keep images off - or maybe I'm on
the wrong spammers lists. Or the high setting dumps it for me... but I
recommend not allowing downloaded content by default and not trusting names
in your address book. (Most people keep their contact in contacts and many
spammers send from "you", so images are shown.) Add addresses to the safe
senders list if you want to see some images - otherwise it takes a

second

to
enable them per message.






--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:

http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

down

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Or scan the folder while you're on hold and right click, empty when you are
satisfied it's all spam.

--



This is way too much effort, IMO. There is no need to go through all these
items and delete them individually. Set AutoArchive on the folder to do that
for you.

If you're worried about the rare false positive (I haven't seen one in a
long time), scan the subject lines quickly next time you're on hold on the
phone. Shouldn't take more than a few seconds to determine if any might be
legitimate messages. If you see more than you're comfortable with, drop the
setting from High to Low. The important thing (and this goes for any
anti-spam program) is to tune your spam filter so that you trust it enough
to "set it and forget it."

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP]]

This is way too much effort, IMO. There is no need to go through all these items and delete them individually. Set AutoArchive on the folder to do that for you.

If you're worried about the rare false positive (I haven't seen one in a long time), scan the subject lines quickly next time you're on hold on the phone. Shouldn't take more than a few seconds to determine if any might be legitimate messages. If you see more than you're comfortable with, drop the setting from High to Low. The important thing (and this goes for any anti-spam program) is to tune your spam filter so that you trust it enough to "set it and forget it."

As for messages with images, you can turn the on for a specific message or permanently for a specific sender.
--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Outlook and Exchange solutions at http://www.slipstick.com
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming: Jumpstart
for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[S.Gregory]

Actually, I just found a way to get rid of the HTML messages. I set up a
test folder and created the rule to have all email where my name is not in
the To field to be moved to the test folder. I ran the rule and only the
junk went to that folder. Sure I may miss a few jokes from friends, but it's
worth it.

I understand what you're saying about manually deleting the junk while on
hold. My personal preference is not to see them at all. This is just for my
pop email at home, so no Exchange. I would rather miss an occasional
legitimate email than delete junk every day. Just in 3 days, the Spam I see
has been reduced by at least 50%. When I turn on permanently delete email
where my name is not in my To field, I imagine it will go down at least 25%
more. Yeah, it's a lot of work now, but in the long run, it will be worth
it.

 

[N Watson]

I instituted several Key words today that seem to catch most of the picture ads that come through email....The key is, the pictures are links to external websites...

Add the following to your Body text key word search and you should see a big improvement..It has helped me to scrap a lot of the junk mail that shows up.

<img src="http://www.
http://www.
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