Re: How to kill spam?

"Mike Hyndman" <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:ds0ucs$3p2$1$8300dec7@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The To, Cc, Reply-To, and Subject headers are ALL optional. That is, they may appear zero or one times within the *data* of your mail (headers and body since it is all just one message sent during the DATA command from the e-mail client to the mail server to send the message). Those fields are NOT used to specify the recipients of your message. The e-mail client sends a RCPT TO command to the mail server saying who gets the message. Multiple RCPT TO commands are sent following by a single DATA command when sending a message to multiple recipients. The e-mail client aggregates all recipients specified in the To, Cc, and Bcc "fields" (in the GUI form) into a list of RCPT TO commands. In fact, this is how bulk mailers work in that they have a list of recipients that are completely separate of the message.

I can understand getting mail with an incorrect username with correct node name, but how the hell do I get mail when both username and node name are incorrect?

Node name? What's that? An IP address? E-mail cannot be sent to you using your IP address and why it is not a concern that your IP address is divulged in newsgroup posts.

The recipient's e-mail address is listed in the RCPT TO command that the e-mail client sends to their SMTP server. That domain gets the message and it is up to that domain to deposit it into a holding area which is your mailbox, and that does not have an IP address associated with it. E-mail is not delivered to mailboxes based in IP addresses, especially since the vast majority of users have *dynamic* IP address that will change.

I have seen other mail progs, Forte Agent for one, that allow you to put arguments into its kill and watch filters that allow the rejection and deletion of all mail that isn't addressed to the recipient. Is anything similar possible in OE?

Kill and watch filters apply to newsgroup posts, not e-mails. Since no one is posting to Usenet that is specifically addressing their post to you, you are never the recipient. The NNTP server is the recipient.

Sure. Define a rule that deletes/moves/whatever all mails EXCEPT those that have your e-mail address in the To or Cc headers. The action gets taken if you aren't listed in the To or Cc header. However, be aware that some good senders may put you in the Bcc field which you cannot test because it was never included in the header portion of their message (and the rules won't let you test against a Bcc header in the case where the sending e-mail client screwed up and added it). For example, when you subscribe to newsletters or mailing lists, often the listserver sends the message but you are NOT in the To or Cc headers (i.e., it was sent to the "list" which then got distributed and not specifically to you). You will need to define a whitelist rule (before this exclusion rule) to account for any senders whose mails you want to keep that do not put you in the To or Cc header.

I have done just this on my desktop using Forte Agent but can find no way in OE to apply the neccesary arguments to filter out the crap.

Apply this rule after the message arrives
Where the To line does not contain 'yourname@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
and Where the CC line does not contain 'yourname@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx'
and Where the message is from the <youraccount> account
Delete it
and Stop processing more rules

If you have more than one account, you need a duplicate rule as above for each account. If you only have one account, you can omit the "from <youraccount> account" clause since all mails are coming through a single account. Think of it this way (in Boolean logic):

- If you are in the To or Cc field, you want the message, or:

To OR Cc.

- If you are not in either field, you don't want the message, or:

NOT (To OR Cc) = NOT To AND NOT Cc

After entering your e-mail address in the "To line contains" clause, use the Options button to reverse the test (i.e., to 'NOT' it).

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