Using Mac OS X Panther to Stop Spam

By Larry Ullman and Marc Liyanage

Spam is nothing short of a pox on the world of the Internet and e-mail. Unwanted and unsolicited e-mail is slowing down networks, costing businesses billions of dollars, and cluttering up mailboxes. Okay, maybe it is or isn't all of that, but it is a pain and a fact of e-mail life. Despite the overwhelming permeance of this plague, you can use Mac OS X Panther to fight this time-waster.

Fighting spam with the Junk Mail button

One of Mail's stronger suits is its ability to identify and filter out spam. It's a breeze to get going, and, over time, teaches itself how to be more accurate at guessing which messages are spam.

1. Open the Mail preferences panel.

You can do this by choosing Preferences under the Mail menu or by pressing Command+, (comma).

2. Click the Junk Mail icon.

3. Make sure that the Enable Junk Mail Filtering check box is marked.

This check box should be enabled in new installations of Panther, and you'll want to keep it that way.

Junk Mail filtering is enabled by default in Panther. That's a good thing, and you shouldn't mess with it.

4. Make sure that the Leave It in My Inbox option is selected.

You'll want to use the training mode for about a month or so (depending upon how much e-mail and junk you receive).

After about a month of usage, open the Junk Mail preferences and select the Move It to the Junk Mailbox (Automatic) radio button under When Junk Mail Arrives. By having the Junk Mail filter move it to the Junk mailbox, you won't have to look at it anymore, but you still have an opportunity to review the message later.

5. Mark the check box next to Sender of Message Is in My Address Book to exempt these senders' messages from filtering.

Presumably, people in your Address Book will not be sending you spam, so these messages shouldn't be filtered. They might end up unintentionally sending you viruses (particularly if your friends run Windows), but those can be dealt with by using the Rules feature.

6. Mark the check box next to Sender of Message Is in My Previous Recipients to exempt these messages from filtering.

Spam is often sent using different permutations on an e-mail address; therefore, you aren't likely to get spam from the same address twice. Enabling this option helps to avoid false positives (incorrectly identifying mail as spam).

7. Mark the check box next to Trust Junk Mail Headers Set by Your Internet Service Provider.

Many ISPs use their own software to filter spam. Some providers automatically block those from ever reaching you. Others send the messages anyway but mark them as spam. In those cases, you want Mail to trust the preliminary spam designation. In the worst case, you'll just need to fish non-spam messages out of the Junk mailbox later.

8. Close the Junk Mail preferences panel.

9. If spam still slips through the cracks, select the message and click the Junk icon on the toolbar to let Mail know that the message is spam.

Although Mail's spam filter does a really good job, sometimes it needs a little help.

Use the Junk icon to help Mail learn what you think qualifies as spam. During the training mode, this button will be your greatest ally. If you just delete spam, Mail will never improve upon its filtering skills. As you continue to indicate what you think is spam, Mail becomes more efficient at catching it first.

Bouncing spam

One of the more effective methods of stopping spam is to indicate that the e-mail address wasn't valid. You can do this by bouncing the e-mail back to the sender. When you bounce a message, it indicates to the sender (or the sender's computer) that the e-mail address doesn't exist. With any luck, this might get you off the offender's list. Here's how to handle this:

1. Click the Junk mailbox to view its contents.

Over the course of the day, your Junk mailbox gets filled up with the messages that either Mail thought was junk or that you manually marked as junk.

2. Press Command+A to select every message.

3. Looking at the Subject names and From addresses, Command+click any messages that might not be spam to deselect them.

You or the Junk filter might have erred in marking a message. In those cases, you don't want to bounce the message.

4. Double-check to make sure that all the highlighted messages are spam.

5. Click the Bounce icon on the toolbar or press Command+Shift+B.

6. Click OK at the prompt.

After you bounce an e-mail, it's moved from the Junk mailbox into the Trash. When you empty the Trash, bounced e-mails are also be deleted.

7. Review the remaining messages (which you marked as not junk in Step 3) and click the Not Junk button to tell Mail that a message wasn't spam.

The Not Junk button is just as important as the Junk button in teaching Mail how to identify bad e-mail.

There's a good chance that a percentage of the bounced messages will be returned to you with a Mail Undeliverable (or similar) message. This just indicates that the original sender's e-mail address was bogus, and you can delete the undelivered message. Or, you can make a Rule to automatically send undelivered mail to the Trash.