Getting a lot of SPAM from this list

[Larry Bates]

I'm getting a lot of spam to the email address I use to post
to this list. Since this email address doesn't appear elsewhere,
I know that people are scanning this list to get the email
address and spam me. Does anyone have a suggestion as to a
way that I can get less of this spam? I could have another
email address, but that won't help as I'd still get the spam
and have to wade through it. I'm running spamassassin, but it
isn't catching all that much of it. Any suggestions would be
greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Larry Bates

 

[Ed Leafe]

I'm getting a lot of spam to the email address I use to post
to this list. Since this email address doesn't appear elsewhere,
I know that people are scanning this list to get the email
address and spam me. Does anyone have a suggestion as to a
way that I can get less of this spam? I could have another
email address, but that won't help as I'd still get the spam
and have to wade through it. I'm running spamassassin, but it
isn't catching all that much of it. Any suggestions would be
greatly appreciated.

Spammers don't scan lists as much anymore; they now rely on machines
infected with malware to extract addresses out of email programs. I
know this doesn't help you, but it is good to recognize that it isn't
always the fault of the list admins.

I have an advantage in that I run my own mail server, and can create
as many aliases to my account as I like. When a particular address
"goes bad", I change that alias to point to /dev/null, and create a
new one. If it's an alias for a list, I first unsub using the old
alias, and then re-sub with the new one.

-- Ed Leafe
-- http://leafe.com
-- http://dabodev.com

 

[BartlebyScrivener]

Does anyone have a suggestion as to a
way that I can get less of this spam? I could have another
email address, but that won't help as I'd still get the spam
and have to wade through it.

Why not just open a separate gmail address? And use it for comp lang
python only?

I find it much more convenient to browse to

http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python

than to wade through emails. You can read and post or just quickly scan
for new stuff of interest. Also, the search box is invaluable.

Meanwhile, back at the gmail account, the spam filters aren't perfect,
but they do a pretty good job and, as I say, I'm mostly reading and
posting via the Goggle Group. So I don't really care if spam
accumulates back at my gmail address.

If they still require invitations, I'll send you one

rd

 

[John Bokma]

Spammers don't scan lists as much anymore;

There is still a lot of harvesting from websites going on as far as I can
tell. And Usenet, since "this list", or at least your post, also pops up
on Usenet.

machines
infected with malware to extract addresses out of email programs. I
know this doesn't help you, but it is good to recognize that it isn't
always the fault of the list admins.

It *never* is, since the problem is the spammer. They have no right to
abuse your email address.

 

[skip]

Larry> Does anyone have a suggestion as to a way that I can get less of
Larry> this spam? .... I'm running spamassassin

Get a better spam filter?

Skip

 

[Gabriel Genellina]

Does anyone have a suggestion as to a
way that I can get less of this spam? I could have another

I use a discardable email address from Yahoo. Spam filtering is good,
and when you get too much spam, just delete that address and create
another one.


--
Gabriel Genellina
Softlab SRL

__________________________________________________
Correo Yahoo!
Espacio para todos tus mensajes, antivirus y antispam ¡gratis!
¡Abrí tu cuenta ya! - http://correo.yahoo.com.ar

 

[skip]

Gabriel> I use a discardable email address from Yahoo. Spam filtering is
Gabriel> good, and when you get too much spam, just delete that address
Gabriel> and create another one.

Maybe it's just me, but creating and discarding email addresses makes me
think the spammers have won. I'd prefer to face them down at high noon.
Six guns at twenty paces (figuratively speaking, of course).

Skip

 

[Colin J. Williams]

Larry> Does anyone have a suggestion as to a way that I can get less of
Larry> this spam? .... I'm running spamassassin

Get a better spam filter?

Skip

Any suggestions for Firefox?

Colin W.

 

[skip]

Get a better spam filter?

Colin> Any suggestions for Firefox?

You can try SpamBayes (http://www.spambayes.org/). It has both POP3 and
IMAP filters that sit between your mail client and mail server. You control
and train them via a local web interface.

Skip

 

[Colin J. Williams]

Colin> Any suggestions for Firefox?

You can try SpamBayes (http://www.spambayes.org/). It has both POP3 and
IMAP filters that sit between your mail client and mail server. You control
and train them via a local web interface.

Skip

Thanks, I'll try it.

Colin W.

 

[Eric S. Johansson]

Gabriel> I use a discardable email address from Yahoo. Spam filtering is
Gabriel> good, and when you get too much spam, just delete that address
Gabriel> and create another one.

Maybe it's just me, but creating and discarding email addresses makes me
think the spammers have won. I'd prefer to face them down at high noon.
Six guns at twenty paces (figuratively speaking, of course).

using a baseball bat to chase them across one or more yellow jackets
nest work for me.

But to address your issue about spammers having won, I would argue that
they have. mailing list archives are cluttered with so much junk
they're useless, people are losing e-mail they should otherwise get,
folks are abandoning e-mail addresses rendering contact information on
webpages and memory useless.

Filters are not the answer. Filters are actually the problem because
since they operate on a probabilistic basis, spammers gain more
visibility by increasing traffic. Filters improve, volumes go up.

It's gotten so bad, people are making serious plans to introduce
identity-based systems to authenticate servers and possibly even
addresses. What's scary is that this kind of technology can be easily
abused by various powers to shut down the ability to speak. Just think
about the judicial load needed to adjudicate complaints in either direction.

I have a solution that has been working for me for the past three or
four years. I'm almost done with the next release (I pray) with a
better installation process as well as improvements throughout the system.

I'll post the announcement here when things are working.

---eric

 

[Paul Rubin]

I have a solution that has been working for me for the past three or
four years. I'm almost done with the next release (I pray) with a
better installation process as well as improvements throughout the
system.

I've given up on email pretty much. I no longer have a public email
address of any type. I just give out a URL (including on my resume,
business cards, etc), which leads to a HTTPS contact form. It's been
quite reliable and I get very little spam that way.

 

[Fredrik Lundh]

How do you send and receive this email?

email?

</F>