Forwarding and FAQ update

[email_support]

I have made a couple of updates to the FAQ I posted a couple of days ago and added some information about the forwarding.

As I receive more information, I'll post it here.

Forwarding details:

Forwarding will be available for at least 12 months from the Sept 30 shutdown.

Forwarding will be at no charge.

There will be a webform on the reporting site http:spamcop.net for changing your forwarding address (AFTER Sept 30) or to stop forwarding (i.e. shutdown the spamcop/cesmail/cqmail.net email address).

Repost of FAQ

1. CESmail email system and Spamcop spam reporting system are two separate entites. The reporting system is owned by Cisco and the email system is owned by CESmail. The systems run on on separate sets of hardware in different colos. They interface at the point of spam reporting - the 'report as spam' button in the webmail system and VER reporting where you can log into the reporting system and see your Held mail/spam and report it.

2. As of 5PM Sept 30, the CESmail servers will essentially be shutdown. Cisco will do forwarding of active spamcop.net/cesmail.net/cqmail.net email addresses to email addresses provided by users.

You need to provide that address by logging into webmail and clicking Options in the navbar and then under General/Spamcop tools select the first link. At that link, a few lines down the page, is an input box to put in the email address you want your mail forwarded to.

Do NOT put in that address until you are ready to stop using the webmail system/POPing with your email application/IMAPing. You will need to add an account/personality to your email application to POP or IMAP to the ISP/hosting company providing that new address. Make sure that you have correctly entered the servername and your name/pw into your email program for that new account by sending a couple of test mails to the new email account. Or if that new email account provides webmail then log into that webmail and make sure you can see the test mail(s).

Once you have this set-up, you can switch to it at any time by entering the new email address into your spamcop webmail account. You do not have to switch immediately.

If you have set up POP entries in your Spamcop account so that we are POPing your mail from outside sources, you will need to have your new email provider POP those entries or change those outside email addresses to forwarding instead.

3. Mail currently in your webmail account/Cesmail email space: you will need to move any mail in your account elsewhere if you want to keep it. There will be no access to those emails after the shutdown. If you POP your mail then those mails should already be on your computer.

If the number of mails is not large then forwarding each individually while time consuming is the easiest way to do it. You can also click Folders in the navbar and then select one or more folders and ask for them to be downloaded - either zipped or not. The download is in the standard MBOX format. There are MBOX reader programs/apps that you can use to read the MBOX files. There may also be a way to get Thunderbird to handle MBOX files.

4. VER/Held mail tab in the Reporting system - this will no longer work as the Held mail folder in your Spamcop email account will no longer exist.

5. SMTP - SMTP will also shut down. You will have to find another SMTP service if your tablet/smart phone etc cannot use your ISP/hosting company SMTP.

6. After the system shuts down you can still use your Spamcop email address as the From on your correspondence if you wish to do that. All mail sent to your spamcop/cesmail/cqmail email address will be forwarded to the new email address you will enter into your webmail account.

7. Here is a list of some alternatives that have been suggested by other users.

Runbox

Pobox

Fastmail

MS Office 365

Redpin

PolarisMail

Gmail

We don't have any 'favorites' but some of the paid options do offer free trials and it might be worthwhile to try them and see if they are suitable for your personal needs.

8. I have received the following information from Cisco regarding the forwarding and spam checking: email forwarded by Cisco will be spam checked using the Cisco Reputation system. You cannot opt out of the spam checking. There is no Held mail folder or equivalent.

9. After Sept 30, there will be no personal whitelists/blacklists/greylisting etc.

10. To export your address book in CSV format, click Address Book in the navbar and follow the prompts.

11. Forwarding details: Forwarding will be available for at least 12 months from the Sept 30 shutdown. Forwarding will be at no charge. There will be a webform on the reporting site http:spamcop.net (AFTER Sept 30) for changing the forwarding address or to stop forwarding (i.e. shutdown the spamcop/cesmail/cqmail.net email address).

[ViRGE]

Thank you for the update.

And if any of the Cisco staff are reading this, cheers to you for taking care of us. I don't imagine modifying the reporting site just for this is a simple task.

Edited August 14, 2014 by ViRGE

[DavidT]

I have made a couple of updates to the FAQ I posted a couple of days ago and added some information about the forwarding.

What about refunds to customers who will no longer be receiving the services they paid for? Please stop simply ignoring this issue.

DT

[email_support]

What about refunds to customers who will no longer be receiving the services they paid for? Please stop simply ignoring this issue.

DT

I'm sorry but there are no refunds.

[DavidT]

I'm sorry but there are no refunds.

That's unfortunate, but thanks for answering. Those who have paid in the last 45 days may now open transaction disputes with PayPal and likely receive refunds that way. I've provided a link to the instructions in the "No Refunds" topic.

DT

Edited August 14, 2014 by DavidT

[victory3x3]

I have just counted my online credentials, and I have 571 online accounts registered with my %acctName%[at]spamcop.net address.

Since 1999'ish I've always handed out my SpamCop.net account to act as my buffer to my main/private accounts. So...while it's nice that forwarding will happen "for at least a year," it doesn't sound like this will be a permanent offering and I'm compelled to conclude that I have a lot of work to do.

I've noticed some comments on DEA account services like Spamex, E4Ward, etc, but my concern is that they too can get yanked out from under you at any time and/or have their own reputation issues.

I also have over 25 domain names with unlimited email accounts, and I can set up whatever I need. For example I have a LinkedIn[at]%oneOfMyDomains%.com to know where the bot got my address and can easily terminate it if it's too abused with no effect to my main account.

Since this is such a revolutionary, and time consuming change to my processes, I'd like to get some tips/tricks/ideas, that I may not have thought of, that others have successfully used to isolate their accounts.

Thanks.

[victory3x3]

Since this is such a revolutionary, and time consuming change to my processes, I'd like to get some tips/tricks/ideas, that I may not have thought of, that others have successfully used to isolate their accounts.

I think I've sufficiently answered my own questions on this, and since it involves more than just forwarding questions, I posted it under it under the "Spamcop Alternatives?" thread.

[petzl]

I think I've sufficiently answered my own questions on this, and since it involves more than just forwarding questions, I posted it under it under the "Spamcop Alternatives?" thread.

I too just forward to a gmail account which works well

Concerns with Gmail are privacy concerns

ALL email coming and going is electronically read and they are expert at it

I have never given them my real name or address

Scary notes are they can now show me on Google my home,

car parked in driveway

They have got my birthday

All scrapped from email received sent to them

Gmail have on a few times reverted to use the False name I gave them in Google Groups?

Never asked just did it I have gone back to Petzl by working out how and no thanks to google

Also adverts are now targeting my age group, eg (geriatric) lonely heart types using this info not emailed but seen in Youtube also Australian goods and services. I just don't trust them and seeing a a later point this (my) info being sold to dubious parties.

Been given a hint and a wink to try http://pobox.com/

But going to stick with Gmail domain account I got from Email Client I once used

Seem a LOT of clever but ignorant "Charlies" run Google

[gezgin]

8. I have received the following information from Cisco regarding the forwarding and spam checking: email forwarded by Cisco will be spam checked using the Cisco Reputation system. You cannot opt out of the spam checking. There is no Held mail folder or equivalent.

About 50-100 emails/day are currently being caught in my "Held" folder. Does the above statement mean that the Cisco Reputation system is NOT going to forward them?

--

Bob

[mshalperin]

About 50-100 emails/day are currently being caught in my "Held" folder. Does the above statement mean that the Cisco Reputation system is NOT going to forward them?

No, the filtered spam is deleted, not forwarded to your new email address. There will no longer be a "held" folder on spamcop.net.

Edited August 23, 2014 by mshalperin

[mschmitt]

About 50-100 emails/day are currently being caught in my "Held" folder. Does the above statement mean that the Cisco Reputation system is NOT going to forward them?

It depends on what particular thing caused each mail to be held today. For example, today mail may be caught by:

• SpamAssassin score exceeding limit
  
• Personal blacklist set in SpamCop email options
  
• SpamCop blacklist
  
• Other blacklists selected in the SpamCop email options (e.g. Spamhaus SBL/XBL/PBL, Composite Blocking List)
  
• Country source of email, selected in the SpamCop email options (South Korea, China, Nigeria, Argentina, and/or Brazil)
  
• Greylisting
  

The personal blacklist is definitely no more.

Notice that the Cisco Reputation Score is not in the current list.

But one or more of the existing RBLs may be an input into the reputation score.

SpamAssassin wouldn't be used with its current settings; it gets too many false positives.

So... Cisco is not going to hold anything. Some of your current held messages will probably be blocked, but not all. Since they don't have a held mail, they can only block was it 100% certain to be spam.

[petzl]

It depends on what particular thing caused each mail to be held today. For example, today mail may be caught by:

• SpamAssassin score exceeding limit
  
• Personal blacklist set in SpamCop email options
  
• SpamCop blacklist
  
• Other blacklists selected in the SpamCop email options (e.g. Spamhaus SBL/XBL/PBL, Composite Blocking List)
  
• Country source of email, selected in the SpamCop email options (South Korea, China, Nigeria, Argentina, and/or Brazil)
  
• Greylisting
  

The personal blacklist is definitely no more.

Notice that the Cisco Reputation Score is not in the current list.

But one or more of the existing RBLs may be an input into the reputation score.

SpamAssassin wouldn't be used with its current settings; it gets too many false positives.

So... Cisco is not going to hold anything. Some of your current held messages will probably be blocked, but not all. Since they don't have a held mail, they can only block was it 100% certain to be spam.

Pay to wait and see Cisco scoring is used worldwide. You don't see spam so no need to report it

Cisco servers are second to none so reliability is no longer a concern

My experience is sending Email direct to a email address that uses their system (not forwarded from other servers that may not). In my case I just use SpamCop as my own address.

For Windows and one account FREEWARE Mail washer can be set up to catch countrywide email or any blacklist you want

bl.spamcop.net

sbl.spamhaus.org

pbl.spamhaus.org

xbl.spamhaus.org

Country Brazil is

br.countries.nerd.dk

If you want Russia just change BR to RU and add to filter Ukraine is UA and so on.

But you shouldn't need it

spam caught by SC can also be easily reported using MailWasher without it going to your email client.

Used to be reporting spam if by some miracle gets through their servers Cisco gave a reporting address?

[showker]

What they're effectively saying is that the days of fighting spam are over. Right?

There's no need for us to hang around any more ... no need for us to track down the cyber criminal and correct Spamcop's mistakes or inability to actually see the "real" criminal at work. They no longer see the need to warn other people about the dangers of this or that post ... they're assuming everyone already knows about spam and phishing, stalker and predator links, malware and so forth. We no longer have to warn people not to download that embedded file, or that those Wells Fargo checks are not really checks.

I don't know whether to be happy to give up the fight, or sad that I know nothing really has changed.

Edited September 11, 2014 by showker

[turetzsr]

...Hm, I don't see that at all. All I see is the end of the CES "SpamCop" e-mail. As mentioned elsewhere, SpamCop parser reports and the SpamCop blacklist are not at all dependent upon reports from CES e-mail users (although I'm sure that the blacklist benefits to some degree from the ease of reporting offered). The SpamCop spam Traps, web site reporting and reporting by forwarding spam via e-mail remain, as does the SpamCop Forum.

[anyone8]

What they're effectively saying is that the days of fighting spam are over. Right?

There's no need for us to hang around any more ... no need for us to track down the cyber criminal and correct Spamcop's mistakes or inability to actually see the "real" criminal at work. They no longer see the need to warn other people about the dangers of this or that post ... they're assuming everyone already knows about spam and phishing, stalker and predator links, malware and so forth. We no longer have to warn people not to download that embedded file, or that those Wells Fargo checks are not really checks.

I don't know whether to be happy to give up the fight, or sad that I know nothing really has changed.

I'd encourage you to keep at it. I've been reporting spam that gets to my hotmail account for about 15 years and am have just recently started seeing days where it doesn't get spam. If this is any indication, change takes time.

[freewheeling]

I neglected to set a forwarding address or change my IMAP server, and am now getting an invalid certificate. I went to the spamcop.net address and read the note about forwarding, but don't see any form there for entering a forwarding address, and I noticed I can no longer do it on my spamcop webmail account. I tried changing forwarding address in the "Preferences" section of spamcop.net, but it never sent a confirmation email to that address. Have tried it several times. Any suggestions?

[Ex_Brit]

I neglected to set a forwarding address or change my IMAP server, and am now getting an invalid certificate. I went to the spamcop.net address and read the note about forwarding, but don't see any form there for entering a forwarding address, and I noticed I can no longer do it on my spamcop webmail account. I tried changing forwarding address in the "Preferences" section of spamcop.net, but it never sent a confirmation email to that address. Have tried it several times. Any suggestions?

Set it up at SC Reporting > Preferences tab

[turetzsr]

Hi, freewheeling,

&nbsp &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp If I'm reading correctly, it's not just you! Please see the following other Topics (which should probably be merged):

• System Migration
  
• HELP, no field for entering a forwarding address!!!
  
• Forwards not working
  
• Changing forwarding address after today?
  

[freewheeling]

Hi, freewheeling,

       If I'm reading correctly, it's not just you! Please see the following other Topics (which should probably be merged):

• System Migration
  
• HELP, no field for entering a forwarding address!!!
  
• Forwards not working
  
• Changing forwarding address after today?
  

Just thought I'd mention, I finally got a delivery notification at the forwarding address, although I didn't notice it until I checked the spam folder. Sort of ironic, I guess. Anyway, I authenticated so assume the forwarding will work now.

[spwalker]

Per the login at webmail.spamcop.net, "Email stored here can be read and retrieved until October 3. After that, webmail and IMAP will be shut down."

I can still log in to webmail with my username and password. IMAP is not working (repeatedly asks for my password). I'd like to make a backup of my data before you kill it.

[anyone8]

I can still log in to webmail with my username and password. IMAP is not working (repeatedly asks for my password). I'd like to make a backup of my data before you kill it.

In case no one provides a better answer, here's one option:

1. Log into webmail
   
2. click the "folders" icon on the top row
   
3. select a folder
   
4. from the "choose action" menu, select "download folder(s)"
   

Note: This is for emails. You may also want to save other things such as address book. If so, please mention that and hopefully someone will have an answer for you.

I'm not sure what software you would need to make use of the download, but unless someone can offer a better option, it's better than not having a copy of the emails at all.

Another option, if it's just a few important emails, is to forward each email somewhere. Just this morning I logged into webmail and forwarded one that I had somehow misplaced previously.

Whatever you do, I would suggest doing it as soon as possible.

[JohnM]

Per the login at webmail.spamcop.net, "Email stored here can be read and retrieved until October 3. After that, webmail and IMAP will be shut down."

I can still log in to webmail with my username and password. IMAP is not working (repeatedly asks for my password). I'd like to make a backup of my data before you kill it.

If you click on "folders" on top bar of webmail (new to New message) - one of the options in "chose action" is download folders - opps didn't see someone answered already :s

Edited October 1, 2014 by JohnM

[craigt]

Apparently forwarding is still not working -- just sent a test email to my spamcop address and received

I'm sorry to have to inform you that your message could not

be delivered to one or more recipients. It's attached below.

For further assistance, please send mail to postmaster.

If you do so, please include this problem report. You can

delete your own text from the attached returned message.

The mail system

<me[at]spamcop.net>: connect to vmx5.spamcop.net[184.94.240.124]:25:

Connection refused

So the initial reception of the email was refused

[anders_o]

In case no one provides a better answer, here's one option:

1. Log into webmail
   
2. click the "folders" icon on the top row
   
3. select a folder
   
4. from the "choose action" menu, select "download folder(s)"
   

Note: This is for emails. You may also want to save other things such as address book. If so, please mention that and hopefully someone will have an answer for you.

I'm not sure what software you would need to make use of the download, but unless someone can offer a better option, it's better than not having a copy of the emails at all.

Another option, if it's just a few important emails, is to forward each email somewhere. Just this morning I logged into webmail and forwarded one that I had somehow misplaced previously.

Whatever you do, I would suggest doing it as soon as possible.

I used Thunderbird and a plugin that can import MBOX files. Works like a charm, and as we speak I'm uploading folder by folder to Gmail using IMAP from Thunderbird.

Make sure you export the folders one by one (except all the Sent folders, which I exported as one large file).

Then, follow the instruction at https://backupify.zendesk.com/entries/20644...-Gmail-account-

Good luck!

[salamandir]

forwarding is not working...

i set up forwarding when i first got the message, back in august.

as of 140929 i was getting mail at spamcop.net

as of 140930, no more mail for spamcop. i set up a new forwarding address, just to make sure. i got one message, the "Email Delivery Confirmation" from spamcop, and nothing else. just to make sure, i sent messages to spamcop.net from several other accounts, and i had a friend send mail to spamcop.net. none of those messages made it, and there were no bounce notices. it was as though they vanished into the ethernet.

as far as i can tell, cisco has abandoned us...

i have been a spamcop user for more than 10 years, and i find this incredibly irresponsible. :angry: