- What is Junk Email?
- What does the Spamcontrol filter do? How does it work?
- What are the configuration options? Which one should I choose?
- How do I activate spam filtering?
- Do I need any special email programs to use Spamcontrol?
- Do I have to pay to use Spamcontrol?
- How do I know Spamcontrol is working?
- What do I do if email messages have been filtered incorrectly?
- Does Spamcontrol detect messages containing viruses?
- Does anyone read my email?
- Do I need to take any additional measures to avoid junk email?
- Will Spamcontrol filtering only work with email that I receive through WebMail, or will it
also work if I use email software on my PC such as Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, or Eudora, etc?
1. What is Junk Email?
Junk email (a.k.a. spam) messages are unsolicited email advertisements.
Depending on what service or product they are advertising, these messages may be
offensive or even fraudulent. Sorting through these messages is time-consuming and
annoying.
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2. What does the Spamcontrol filter do? How does it work?
Spamcontrol is a free feature that helps protect your email addresses from
junk email. It operates on the email servers, using advanced technology to
accurately identify junk email. Its rules for identifying junk email are updated
constantly, adapting to changes in the way junk emailers try to mask junk email as
legitimate messages. You can choose how your junk email
messages are handled by selecting an option in the WebMail Preferences (under
"Options", then "Spam Filters"). If you wish, you can even choose not to use
Spamcontrol and allow any junk mail to continue through to their Inbox. (See "What
are the configuration options? Which one should I choose?" below.)
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3. What are the configuration options? Which one should I choose?
There are three different options for handling junk email:
- "Spam filter OFF" - which allows all junk mail to be delivered (that is, no filtering occurs)
- "Quarantine Suspected Junk Email" - which holds junk mail in a quarantine folder for up to 10 days
- "Delete Suspected Junk Email" - which deletes all suspected junk mail (note: deleted items cannot be recovered)
This information is displayed when you set up your Spamcontrol Preferences.
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4. How do I activate filtering?
You can activate Spamcontrol by modifying your Spamcontrol Preferences in
WebMail under "Options" and "Spam Filters".
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5. Do subscribers need any special email programs to use Spamcontrol?
No. Spamcontrol operates on the email servers, not on personal computers.
No additional software is required and the email program you currently use
will continue to work when using Spamcontrol.
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6. Do I have to pay to use Spamcontrol?
No. Spamcontrol is available to all AlamedaNET Internet customers free of charge.
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7. How do I know Spamcontrol is working?
If you select "Quarantine" as your junk email configuration option you will
be able to see any email that has been identified as spam by viewing the
Quarantine folder in WebMail (remember, junk email
will be automatically deleted from the Quarantine folder after 10 days). If
you selected "Delete" then you will notice a significant decrease in the
amount of junk email they receive.
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8. What do I do if email messages have been filtered incorrectly?
If you are using Spamcontrol to Quarantine or Delete suspected junk email,
you can also use Whitelist and Blacklist features to increase the accuracy of the
filtering. By adding the email addresses of your friends and associates to your
Whitelist, email from those senders will be assured of not getting caught by
Spamcontrol. Adding email addresses to the Blacklist of senders of spam or email
addresses that you do not want to receive email from will ensure that
messages from those senders will get caught by Spamcontrol in the future.
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9. Does the Spamcontrol detect messages containing viruses?
To some extent, yes. While Spamcontrol focuses on detecting junk email, many
messages that contain viruses have similar characteristics as junk email messages
and will often be detected as junk email. However, using Spamcontrol is not a
substitute for using anti-virus software.
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10. Does anyone read my email?
No. Spamcontrol is a computer software system. Detection and filtering of junk email
is therefore accomplished without human interaction with the messages.
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11. Do I need to take any additional measures to avoid junk email?
While you should not require other anti-spam software programs for your
AlamedaNET provided email, regular precautions should still be taken to help avoid
becoming a target for junk emailers. See our suggestions.
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12. Will Spamcontrol filtering only work with email that I receive through
WebMail, or will it also work if I use email software on my PC (such as
Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, or Eudora, etc.)?
Spamcontrol filtering will work on any email received through the AlamedaNET
provided email account that has the preferences set on. Once you have set
your preferences for your account via WebMail, the filtering will also take effect on
the email for that account if you check it using email software such as Microsoft
Outlook, Outlook Express, and Eudora, etc.
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