On Tue, 9 Dec 2003 09:12:29 +1300, Maxine wrote: >A anti-spam filter which my daughter uses is called mailwasher. It is a free >download, or if you register, you can get a better version. Try >www.mailwasher.com the last I heard the site was under construction, >hopefully it will be back up now. It's brillant as you can return the spam >mail to the sender without opening it! (Which appeals to my sense of humor!)
Please don't return spam email. Almost all the spam email uses forged addresses for the sender - and any that actually gets to the spammer they will filter out. By returning the spam, you send it somewhere non-existent so some ISP has to delete it, or you send it to an innocent victim of the spammer. There's an episode of this going on at the moment where someone spamming non-existent AOL addresses is using legitimate addresses from my ISP as the send address. I get probably 20-30 bounces per day from AOL. (I'm not blaming AOL for this, they are another victim here, they've got no alternative but to bounce mails to non-existent users). Now start multiplying that number up to each customer of my ISP and you'll see that it substantially increases their traffic. As the amount of spam mail increases all ISPs have to invest in bigger and faster machines which we as customers pay for. So by 'returning' spam you are making the problem worse. I'll join you in a gleeful cackle as your anti-spam tool filters or deletes unwanted mail, but please don't return it. -- A husband is what's left of the lover once the nerve has been extracted. - Helen Rowland Steph Peters, Manchester, England [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
