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Resources > Instructions > Outlook2003 - Combatting SPAM

Outlook2003 - Combatting SPAM

There are 5 key features in Outlook2003 to help you combat spam:

1. Junk E-Mail Filter
2. Safe Senders List
3. Safe RecipientsLists
4. Blocked Senders List
5. AutoUpdate

Junk E-Mail Filter

The following procedures were tested with Outlook 2003 which is bundled with the Office 2003 software suite. You can determine your version by opening Outlook and clicking on Help > About Microsoft Office Outlook.

1. Open Outlook by double-clicking on the Outlook icon located on your desktop or selecting from Start > Programs > Outlook.
   
   
   
   
2. Click on Tools > Options.
   
   
   
   
3. Click on the Junk E-mail... button.
   
   
   
   
4. The first "Options" tab is where you control the junk filter.
   • No Automatic Filtering essentially turns off the junk e-mail filter.
   • Low will only filter junk e-mail if it scores a high spam confidence level (SCL) rating.
   • High will filter junk e-mail if it scores a medium SCL rating. The lower the rating, the less likely the e-mail is spam.
   • Safe Lists Only turns off the junk e-mail filter and will only allow e-mail to be delivered to your inbox if the sender or the recipient is listed in the "Safe Senders" and "Safe Recipients" lists. You might use this option if you have the attitude "If I don't know the sender of the e-mail, it's spam". This may be ok for personal e-mail but this is definitely not an option for businesses attracting new customers.
   • The last option allows you to "Permanently delete" junk e-mail. If, after you have been using the junk e-mail filter for some time, you notice that the filter has never filtered one of your legitimate e-mails into the Junk E-mail folder, then you might consider simply deleting the filtered spam e-mail rather than keeping a copy for your review.
     
     
     

Safe Senders List

1. Continuing from the previous step, clicking on the "Safe Senders" tab yields a control panel which allows you to add and remove contacts who are your friends and colleagues. This list overrides the Junk E-mail filter and protects any messages sent by your friends or colleagues from being filtered into the Junk E-mail folder.
   
   
   
   
2. To add a contact, simply click the "Add..." button, enter the person's e-mail address, and click "OK". You may also include entire domains by adding "example.com" which will treat all e-mail arriving from example.com as a safe sender.
   
   
   
3. The "Remove" and "Edit..." buttons allow you to remove a contact or edit the email of an existing contact.
4. The "Import from File..." and "Export to File..." are used to backup and restore your Safe Senders list.
5. Placing a checkmark next to the "Also trust e-mail from my Contacts" essentially adds all the e-mails of your contacts to this list. You won't visibly see the addition of your contacts e-mails to the list but they will not be filtered against. It's always a good idea to keep this checked. You wouldn't have a spammer in your list of contacts would you?

Safe Recipients Lists

1. Continuing from the previous step, clicking on the "Safe Recipients" tab yields a control panel which allows you to add and remove e-mails and domains for which you would like to accept e-mail delivery. It is designed for newsgroups and discussion lists in which you participate but where the messages are not specifically addressed to you. Simply add your newsgroup email or domain and the newsgroup messages will not be treated as junk.
   
   
   
   

Blocked Senders List

1. Continuing from the previous step, clicking on the "Blocked Senders" tab yields a control panel allowing you to add e-mail addresses or domains which will always be treated as junk e-mail. This can be considered a "blacklist" of spammers. Be careful in adding domains because if you add hotmail.com, for example, all email@hotmail.com will be treated as spam.
2. Personally, I don't spend too much time updating my blocked senders list. Spammers typically change their email and domain quite often - usually hours after a spam campaign. By tenaciously adding their e-mails to the "Blocked Senders" list, you will quickly find that you have a list of e-mails that no longer exist. However, this list is useful if you have a repeat offender that continues to spam you time and time again.
   
   
   
3. The "Remove" and "Edit..." buttons allow you to remove or edit a spammers e-mail address.
4. The "Import from File..." and "Export to File..." are used to backup and restore your Safe Senders list. They also are useful in sharing your list with your friends and colleagues.

AutoUpdate

1. Microsoft continuously updates the Junk E-Mail Filter. Therefore, you will want to use the Office Update feature to keep Outlook up to date.
2. Click on Help > Microsoft Office Online.
   
   
   
3. On the right hand side of Microsoft's web site, click "Check for Updates".
   
   
   
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to update your Microsoft Office Package.

Links

• Microsoft's description of the Junk E-mail Filter can be found here.
• Microsoft's Outlook 2003 home page, including the "Check for Updates" link.