Outlook 2003 Rules Is this Possible

[mobile]

hello,

is it possible to create a rule that when I receive incoming email that is
not in my contacts. will send the mail to the junk email folder and send a
email to the sender of that email, with a message. then have a rule that
allows incoming emails with text in the header. like "rats taste good" or
some other kind of non standard text to segregate the emails into a good
pile. these would be coming from people not in the contacts list, and would
be a way to distinguish the spam that will not reply to the contacts not
listed in the contacts list that I would like to receive email from.

thank you

 

[Diane Poremsky]

yes, rules support doing things to messages based on address book entries...
so the rule could read:

Send all mail an auto reply except if in my address book... however, it's
really dumb since 99% of the spam will be spam - you'll have a lot of bounce
backs to deal with. Better is to set junk on high and keep the junk filters
updated.

Or try Sue's rules:
http://www.slipstick.com/rules/junkmail.asp

 

[Mark]

It is also not a good idea to reply to spam. It lets the spammer know
they've found a valid address and that only leads to more spam if not worse.
Also a bit risky to say you want no email except from addresses already in
your address book. What about the case where you run into an old friend and
trade addresses. If you don't get his or her address in your book you'll
trash anything they send you. Or a case where you need to enter an address
in a web form for a bank or some other 'valid' use. You may not know what
address they might send something from so you may trash an important
message.

 

[mobile]

what you have described is what I am trying to avoid.

I run into people, all kinds, work, old friends, new friends, more work and
do not have time to get everyone's email address, or I give out a card with
my address and they send email.

I am just trying to cut down on the spam email. getting hard to keep in
control manually,

thank you to the group, I will try to not be so "dumb" and use the four
filters outlined by Susan.

any more ideas, I am all ears.

thank you