Surgemail - Junk Email Filtering

Surgemail User Self-Account Management Help

SPAM (junk email) filtering

These options are located in the User Self Account Management of our Surgemail system. This help file will allow you to define many important email features that will assist you in one of the best features of the Surgemail system: SPAM protection. Spam is unwanted junk email. It is one of the fastest growing problems in the Internet/email industry. While it is not possible to block 100% of all spam, Surgemail lets you have control over all the spam filtering and blocking functions. If the spam filtering programs aren't working, you can even block everyone except your friends from sending you email.

As shown in the graphic below, you can reach these features by logging into the User Self Account Management, then click the Friends button on the left, and you'll be brought to the Global settings.

Global:
Click on the Friends button on the menu on left hand side. This will bring you to Global settings. There are 4 different ways that you can approach spam filtering. The first option lets all mail through. It does not block any messages. If you regularly receive important and/or business emails that could get blocked accidentally, and if spam is not a big problem in the first place, you may want to choose this option.

The second option begins from your address book and builds up a list of people that are allowed to send you mail. It does this by sending a message to each new sender asking them to reply back to the message without changing the subject. This way, the system checks that a "real" person sent the email and not an automatic spam sender. However this does not check the spam rating and sometimes, spam is sent by a person and not a computer program. Also, if you are expecting newsletters or registration confirmations, the person/system who sent it might not reply to the confirmation message.

The third option blocks all email from everyone except those people in your friends list. Thus, if you want someone to be able to send you mail, you have to add them to your list first. Also, if you are expecting an email but you don't know the exact address that it is going to come from, the email will be blocked. This option is good if you know exactly who you want email from and if you want all other email completely blocked. Under the Friends button you can add and remove people to and from your friends list.

The last option rejects spam based on the spam rating and sends a confirmation request message. This method will work best for most people so it will be discussed below.

Smite Spam Mode:

First, change the radio button (circle feature) to SmiteSpam Mode with a score of about three (3). This number is just a starting point, you can adjust it as you like.

The score system works based on the spam rating or score (from 1 to 10) that has already been assigned to each email. Lower numbers are emails that are probably not spam but might be. Higher numbers are emails that are most likely spam. So, the more likely that an email is spam, the higher the spam score. When you set the smite spam score to a lower number it will block more spam. Also, if you set the number too low, you might block email that isn't spam.

You may have to play with this setting a bit to find the level that is right for you. If you are still getting lots of spam, set the number lower, if you are getting wanted email blocked then set it to a higher number. Remember: lower number equals stronger protection.

Emails that are rejected will be place in the Pending, this way no emails are lost.
IMPORTANT: In the Pending section, you do have the option to Block the addresses of the emails there. This is NOT recommended since it will make your exception list extremely long and will not really help. Spammers don't send from the same address for very long.

Also located in the bottom of the screen you'll see Automatically add outgoing email addresses to list, place a checkmark on this feature. So that everyone you send email TO will be considered a friend.

Save your changes.

Now head to the Message button on the top or by loging to Friends:Message section of Surgemail. In this area you will set up your personalized message that will be sent out to anyone who sent you an email that is being requested to be confirmed. You have to at least state that:

The email is received but is being held.
To have the email released, the sender has to respond without changing the subject line. (it can be manually released under the Friends:Pending option)
This is a one time response per email address.

Other than that, you can mention anything you want.

Save your changes.

Activating the Spam Filters:

This must be done before any of your spam filtering will work. Head into the Exceptions button on the left of your screen. The table below shows all SPAM blocking services we provide and in order to benefit from these you'll have to activate each one by using the boxes provided on the last line of the table. You'll also notice the open boxes on each line you add in, those are for tagging the line for removal. You can ignore the first line with the number 1), since it is preinstalled to your personal exceptions list.

Simply refer to the graphic below, and add in each one. You will use the drop down menus to select the action, and the header, and then type in the contains option exactly how you see it on the table below. Then for each one press Add. Basically you want your table to look like the picture below. If you make a mistake, select the box on the left of the line with a check mark and press Delete.

Finally once you see them added to your screen they are now enabled. This part may not make sense, but it has to be done.

As time goes on, any time a spam email is detected and a confirmation request is sent to the sender, the sender's original email is stored in the Friends:Pending area. This way, you can check if any emails are being held that you want to release. First, look for the email, either by searching for the email address or subject line, and you'll have the option to Allow their emails for future delivery. Thus, if an email you've been expecting hasn't come through yet, you can check here to release it.

The Incoming and Outgoing areas keep a record of all email addresses you have sent to or received email from. This way you can quickly add people to your friends list.

Under the Friends area you can manage your friends list, and add and remove email addresses to and from it.

On the left side you will see a Spam button. Here you can customize your spam blocking on a more direct level. You can tell it to hold, bounce or vanish emails based on ratings. Held messages can be viewed under the Messages button in this section. Remember, lower numbers mean stronger spam filtering and less will get through. The add spam indicator option will put a spam warning into the email based on the rating. Don't forget to Save any changes you make here.

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For further help, please consult the Surgemail help file provided by NetWin Server Software.