ApK Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 Hi, This is my first time here and I hope someone out there can help me get started. I gather from reading some of the post here that forwarding spam message as attachments to my submit.xxxx address is the right way to do it. I'm supposing that the discussions I've seen on Outlook 2003 vs. OE6 are merely concerned with how to get the spam into an an attachment in a forward message, not with some other difference once that's accomplished, correct? In other words, once the spam message appears as a little envelope icon attached to the email to spamcop, then it pretty much doesn't matter what client I'm using or how I managed to get it that way, right? Assuming all that's correct, my next question is, can I forward several spam message all attached to a single message to spamcop, or do I have to forward each individually? I notice that while Outlook 2003 always forwards a single message as in-line content, if you select more than one message and click forward, they will all go as attachments. Thanks in adavance for the help, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wazoo Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 Quick answer ... please see FAQ at http://www.spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/118.html ... there has been some recent discussion that seems to hint that forwarding multiple attachments in one e-mail via Outlook seems to work, there are others that disagree ... Bottom line, Outlook was not designed for this type of usage .... you can try some of these recently posted methods .. if they work for you, great ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turetzsr Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 Hi, ApK! ...Well, from the long conversations in System slow - 2nd update, I would conclude that e-mail reporting may not be completely reliable. I would go with reporting using the web page (My reply with instructions to get to web page reporting) for now. ...As for the e-mail reporting process with Outlook, I had some trouble getting it to work until I followed ealesnj's instructions pretty much to the letter. I find this works maybe, oh, 60% of the time. And you can use it to report multiple spams in one go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApK Posted April 15, 2004 Author Share Posted April 15, 2004 Quick answer ... please see FAQ at http://www.spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/118.html ... there has been some recent discussion that seems to hint that forwarding multiple attachments in one e-mail via Outlook seems to work, there are others that disagree ... Bottom line, Outlook was not designed for this type of usage .... you can try some of these recently posted methods .. if they work for you, great ... Hmm. OK. I've submitted twice from OE6 so far, once with a single atached spam, and once with 8 attached spam. I got a reply from Spamcop both times. Now, since I'm acting as a mole, I won't get any acknolowledgement from the ISP, so once I hit the "report now" button, I just have to trust that some good is being done behind the scenes, right? I'll have no way of knowing if the reporting is acting working? I have OL2003 at work and I'll try submitting some today, but I'm not sure how to tell if it's working proberly...if I get a reply from spamcop, is that all I need to be concerned with, or do I need to learn how to interpret the content of that reply to see if spamcop got the right info? Thanks again, ApK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Betsy Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 Quick answer: Mole reporting adds the IP address to the blocklist algorithym so it does good. Before you hit the "report now" button, you should look over where spamcop is pointing to as the IP address it will add to the blocklist. Most of the time you will not know whether that is a good result or not. However, once in a while, you will catch something that is obviously wrong - like your own ISP or a subject line that doesn't really look like spam that you have included by mistake. HTH Miss Betsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApK Posted April 15, 2004 Author Share Posted April 15, 2004 Hi, ApK! ...Well, from the long conversations in System slow - 2nd update, I would conclude that e-mail reporting may not be completely reliable. I would go with reporting using the web page (My reply with instructions to get to web page reporting) for now. ...As for the e-mail reporting process with Outlook, I had some trouble getting it to work until I followed ealesnj's instructions pretty much to the letter. I find this works maybe, oh, 60% of the time. And you can use it to report multiple spams in one go. In my personal experience, I'm having a 100% success rate with email submissions...I've submitted twice and got a reply both times. Thanks for the links, I'll try to catch up on the forum threads. I'm trying to do my bit of anti-spam crusading, but, like most others here I'm sure, I have a job and family and can't afford the time for a new hobby, so I'm trying to figure out how to do the most good (for the 'net and for my own inbox) with the least amount of effort. Hopefully between SpamPal on my client, and multiple-attachment email reporting, I can do both. Thanks again, ApK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApK Posted April 15, 2004 Author Share Posted April 15, 2004 Quick answer: Mole reporting adds the IP address to the blocklist algorithym so it does good. Before you hit the "report now" button, you should look over where spamcop is pointing to as the IP address it will add to the blocklist. Most of the time you will not know whether that is a good result or not. However, once in a while, you will catch something that is obviously wrong - like your own ISP or a subject line that doesn't really look like spam that you have included by mistake. HTH Miss Betsy Oh, I'm not doubting that the concept of a mole is a good thing, it's just that without knowing what feedback I should be getting from the system, I can't know if I'm doing something wrong and my reports aren't doing what they should. So if I understand correctly, if the report page doesn't show me that I accidently submitted a non-spam, or if I don't recognize one of the "To be reported to:" IPs as my own or other known good server, I can just hit the report button and not have to disect the parsed data? The answer to the above I'm hoping for is "yes", by the way.... Also, I notice that I don't have an option to "uncheck" any of the proposed reporting destinations...I can on;y hit the report button, or not....is the reference to "unchecking" certain IPs only for paid accounts, perhaps? TIAA, ApK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Betsy Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 Yes. Though when you have time, you might look at the details, it will help you to understand the whole process (you don't really have to understand it, but when it is referenced, you will have a better idea of what is happening. You probably won't visit the forums either very often because of your time constraints, but when you do, some of the strange terms will look familiar.) spamcop will tell you (either by an error message) or by an email that you have made a mistake. So don't worry. Probably mole reporters only have one option. I don't know for sure. Miss Betsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farelf Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 Also, I notice that I don't have an option to "uncheck" any of the proposed reporting destinations...I can on;y hit the report button, or not....is the reference to "unchecking" certain IPs only for paid accounts, perhaps? That's correct. There's a lot of commonality in the processing of the several reporting types which is a little confusing at first. Since there are no mole reports as such there's not the same choice of options - just go/no go really. The spam originator's ID is noted for the SCBL stats but mole reports go nowhere, they are just nulled (scrapped). Similarly with the indicated reports to the host admins of "spamvertized" websites found in the body of the spam. The mole versions don't actually do anything - but the same identification of the admins is done and moles who might want to send their own reports can retrieve the contact information easily. From your earlier comments I gather you wouldn't be thinking of doing this but it's possibly worth knowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wazoo Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 The mole versions don't actually do anything I know that this isn't what you meant to say <g> There is an increment of the count against the source IP ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wazoo Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 report page doesn't show me that I accidently submitted a non-spam I'm not really sure that this is a condition ... there will be a bit of an announcement if you try to submit a bounce, a virus, and a few other types of "SpamCop is not to be used for this" e-mail types, but there is nothing to actually stop one from submitting stuff that wasn't actually spam .. have seen too many "I didn't mean to send it", "I reported myself / a friend / a list I signed up for", and even those that submitted "SpamCop has processed your spam" status messages .... Also, I notice that I don't have an option to "uncheck" any of the proposed reporting destinations...I can on;y hit the report button, or not....is the reference to "unchecking" certain IPs only for paid accounts, perhaps? In a correction to a response I offered somewhere else, it was noted that these selection boxes were for "other than mole" reporters. So this would include any of the free and paid type accounts, just whether or not that user went with the "mole" configuration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Betsy Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 QUOTE report page doesn't show me that I accidently submitted a non-spam I'm not really sure that this is a condition ... I think that this is in response to my comment to also check the subject line of the spam being submitted to make sure it is really spam and not a real email that was inadvertently sent to spamcop. An additional check that the spam submitted was *meant* to be submitted to avoid all the other things you mention. Miss Betsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApK Posted April 15, 2004 Author Share Posted April 15, 2004 The mole versions don't actually do anything I know that this isn't what you meant to say <g> There is an increment of the count against the source IP ... Yes, I hope it does SOMETHING toward stopping spam...would be sort of a downer to find out I misunderstood the basic premise here.... Seriously, though, I thought I read that mole reports were sent in aggregate, which I hoped would eventually move honest admins to secure their systems and close spam accounts. If it merely adds to the block list and spamcop statistics, I'm thinking I might be better off switching to a non-mole account, and take my chances. ApK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApK Posted April 15, 2004 Author Share Posted April 15, 2004 The mole versions don't actually do anything - but the same identification of the admins is done and moles who might want to send their own reports can retrieve the contact information easily. From your earlier comments I gather you wouldn't be thinking of doing this but it's possibly worth knowing. OK, I think I see now. Yes, I've been looking for a way to automate spam reports, so I wouldn't have to do it manually, or individually via the website. I am trying to find the perfect balance between noble and lazy. I tried spam Inspector for while, but it didn't seem to work...it said it was reporting, but nothing happened....too bad, because the one button reporting and forwarding to spamcop, plus the filtering is exactly what I'm looking for. I'm currently using SpamPal plus forwarding to spamcop as mole. Maybe, as I alluded to above, I should switch to a non-mole account. Is there a serious risk of retailiation? spam is bad enough. Mail bombs are worse and I don't feel like changing my email address.... ApK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wazoo Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 read that mole reports were sent in aggregate, speaking while in a bit of a haze .. but I seem to recall that the aggregate reports "would be made available" .... it's a decision by the ISP whether or not to take advantage of that. Devil's advocate mode .. as confused as some of the SpamCop users seem to be over the "mole reporter" issue, it would be surprising that some ISPs don't have a clue about it either .... seeing so many of the "why am I blocked, I've received no notifications" ...??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Betsy Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Considering your situation, IMHO, mole reporting is the balance you were talking about. There is no real risk of reporting any more. That happened in the beginning, but there are too many reporters nowadays for the spammer to attack. They now attack the web sites. spamcop has been attacked more than once. Still without a lot of time, your best course is just to report what you can. Sort of like litter - you pick up what blows in your yard; if you have time, you take a bag with you on a walk. You don't try to pick up every piece of litter you see. Yet, whatever you can do, helps. Miss Betsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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