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Spam

Richard_261
Grafter
Posts: 76
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Spam

Is something going on with the email system?
I have been recieving more and more spam recently and tonight I had over 300 spam mails.
When F9 started filtering it, it decreased massively.
There also doesn't seem to be any spam in my spam folder now. There used to be literally thousands all the time.
41 REPLIES 41
Be3G
Grafter
Posts: 6,111
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Spam

I too have noticed a sharp increase in the amount of spam received recently. I have my PN anti-spam settings set to immediately delete all recognised spam e-mails, which means I only ever get to see ones PN haven't marked. If I tabulate the number of unmarked spam e-mails received each day since the beginning of November, this is what we get:
1st:1
2nd:2
3rd:4
4th:4
5th:8
6th:3
7th:7
8th:4
9th:3
10th:9
11th:7
12th:10
13th:5
14th:14
15th:10
16th:11
17th:3
18th:2
19th:3
20th:16
21st:16 so far (the day's not over yet!)

I know that with the relatively small sample size it's not the most statistically significant set of data ever... but I'm accustomed to seeing levels of untagged spam along the lines of the first few days of November - rarely does it ever venture in to double figures. What also has me a tad concerned though is that the entrance to double-digit figures of untagged spam seems to roughly coincide with the completion of the Critical Path roll out. Is there any way that CP could be interfering slightly with pre-existing anti-spam processes?
Richard_261
Grafter
Posts: 76
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: Spam

16 so far today? You're lucky.
As I said, I had over 300 when I got home from work and I've had about another forty since my last post...
Which is how it used to be before F9 started sending them to the spam folder.
Richard_261
Grafter
Posts: 76
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: Spam

And they just keep coming.
A couple more since that post.
Anyone know what's going on?
coastergrotto
Grafter
Posts: 1,016
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Spam

Me too.  For weeks, or maybe months, no spam - now spam is getting through to two of my 'old' mail boxes.
I think we need some explanation.
Pancho
Grafter
Posts: 83
Registered: ‎16-10-2007

Re: Spam

Checking my overnight mail at 8am with Magic Mail shows I have 40 emails coming via the Plus Server; two of those are genuine and 38 are spam. They are clearly spam; most using other names in front of the @sign and many are repeats of the same thing. Might I suggest that any message, which has an alias other than those in my list is most likely spam and could be diverted into a 'this is spam' box. None of this is marked as spam, otherwise it would not get through. This is a normal morning dose of spam and more comes through during the day. One of my fears when I connect a new person to Plus is they will start to get spam, even though I have set things up to not send any. It gives a bad feeling of Plus and they are on the phone to me. I do hope Plus can do something about the spam as a few seconds looking through my mail box will give plenty of examples of it. I am a tolerant person and accept that is how things are but new people may not be and think it is something to do with Plus; I have to spend time with them assuring them that it is not, knowing that Plus could reduce the amount if they tried.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Spam

In manage my mail, on the catch all tab change the status to off and you won't get any mail at all to anything except the mailboxes, aliases etc that you have set up.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
Simon_M
Grafter
Posts: 685
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Spam

I'm seeing the same pattern with email accounts hosted elsewhere, so I think it's general.
An increase in both spam volume & in the number getting through the filters.
The spammers must be learning new tricks.
Richard_261
Grafter
Posts: 76
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: Spam

Quote from: Simon

The spammers must be learning new tricks.

That could be it, but there still appears to be nothing in my spam folder.
They can't all be that clever?
Be3G
Grafter
Posts: 6,111
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Spam

25 untagged spam e-mails yesterday (Thursday). That's got a to be a record for me, aside from when the PN spam filters have been found to be up the creek in the past. Angry
coastergrotto
Grafter
Posts: 1,016
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Spam

I'm at a bit of a loss as to why no one from PlusNet staff has commented on this thread.
Has there been a problem with the Spam filter?
Prod_Man
Grafter
Posts: 287
Registered: ‎04-08-2007

Re: Spam

Hello
I also have started to recieved spam "again" .... After the last episode it eventually dropped to zero for some weeks but is definately on the increase since the beginning of November.
Sad
Mick
Richard_261
Grafter
Posts: 76
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: Spam

So it's not just me then.
I am also wondering why there's been  no 'staff' comment on this.
I had another 300 last night and a hunderd or so this morning, mostly in goups of six...
My favourite had the heading:
"Needle Elephant Car-race Mosquito Magnet Nail Diamond"
And my Spam folder is completely empty, so the spam filter obviously simply isn't working any more.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Spam

There is a good reason why we see these periodic increases in undetected spam. Spammers constantly vary the format of their emails to avoid detection. When new variants come out there is firstly a delay before users start reporting the missed spam back to PN, then there is a delay before the samples are fed back in to the baysian training (and then they only use a sample). By the time this is done many, many of the spams have reached our inboxes undetected.
Any filtering we do at home using spam detection software or junk mail controls in our mail clients benefits from instant training as soon as we hit the "this is spam/junk" button on the first one received.
One of the potential benefits of the Postini solution being trialled is that I see it being far more timely in reacting to new spammer tricks as it operates on such a vast scale and not just the (by comparison) small number of emails that PN handle.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
bobpullen
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 16,869
Thanks: 4,950
Fixes: 315
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Spam

Quote from: coastergrotto
I'm at a bit of a loss as to why no one from PlusNet staff has commented on this thread.
Has there been a problem with the Spam filter?

No. All of the spam processes are still working as intended as far as identifying spam and refusing mail onto the platform is concerned. There are no problems that would increase volumes of spam emails.
Quote from: Richard_261
And my Spam folder is completely empty, so the spam filter obviously simply isn't working any more.

As I've mentioned it's working as intended AFAIK. Check the headers of your email and you can easily see whether or not it has passed through the spam filters.
I suspect what we're dealing with here is a general increase in spam across the board. On a day earlier this week we received more than 10% more email than when compared to the previous week. Clam (which prevents a lot of spam from even reaching customers) has also seen a drop in the percentage of email it is successfully blocking (suggestive of a change to the way spammers are sending their messages). There's not a lot we can do about the former as spam levels are likely to carry on increasing. As far as stopping this getting to customers there are a few things we can do:
Firstly, we plan on switching on the Critical Path subject-line tagging early next week. This will see a positive increase in the volume of messages that are getting detected as spam by our filters.
Secondly, we'll soon be rolling out Postini to select trialists. This will reduce the volume of spam email that actually arrives in your mailbox. If you haven't done already you can register your interest at http://trials.plus.net. Have a read of the info here though before doing so.
Quote from: Pancho
Might I suggest that any message, which has an alias other than those in my list is most likely spam and could be diverted into a 'this is spam' box. None of this is marked as spam, otherwise it would not get through.

As Jelv has mentioned, you can already achieve something similar simply by turning your catch-all mailbox off. It's quite easy to only allow email through that's sent to certain addresses, you just need to know how. Have a read of this and if that doesn't help then raise a ticket to our support team and I'm sure they'll be able to help.
Quote from: Be3G
What also has me a tad concerned though is that the entrance to double-digit figures of untagged spam seems to roughly coincide with the completion of the Critical Path roll out. Is there any way that CP could be interfering slightly with pre-existing anti-spam processes?

Nope, but the increased efficiency Critical Path has brought to the platform means that we're now accepting a lot more email that the mail delivery servers were simply too busy to accept before. This and the previously mentioned upward trend in spam volumes explains what you're seeing.

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
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