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Getting spammed in Greek

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by nick in austin

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I got on someone's mailing list and I'm getting all this junk in some language that I don't recognize. Looks like this: Американское. I have tried to use key word filters in Outlook Express (Windows XP Home) to catch this crap. I copy one of the words and insert it into a message rule. Outlook doesn't recognize the word and just shows "???" after the rule is logged. Any suggestions on how to filter this stuff out?

12 replies

by deadly ernest

Apart from the standard anti-spam stuff of blocking the sender, I suggest you try using 'reply' to send them a message thta says you only speak English, live in (insert your country), and not interested.

Good luck.

by deadly ernest

Another option would be to use a different application to Outlook Express. I use Forte Agent to access newsgroups and it has a very good filter program that allows me to filter on anything in the title, user, user domain etc. I can also use Agent toact as my e-mail program and it can apply the filters to either the mail, the newsgroups, or both depending upon how I set up the filter. I generally do not use Agent for mail but I have friends who do and love the way it kills spammers via the filters, I also have others who use other applications with similar abilities. Other friends have special anti-spam software that will check all mail prior to passing it on to the e-mail program.

Which ever way you go you still get stuck with having to download something in order to do the screening.

Best system to deal with spammers I have seen is a friend who sends a reply to the spammer, then they identify the spammers ISP via the headers etc and sends copies to their spammers ISP and has a little script that then automatically sends all future messages from that spammer to the ISP administrator. Soooner or later the administrator gets pissed off with the mail and kills the spammer's account.

by nick in austin

I figured out a screen in OE. You can't copy and paste a greek letter or word into an OE "subject filter" (Message - Create Rule from Message, etc) or "body of message filter". You CAN however use the "Alt-Number Keys" to enter a greek letter from the ANSI character set. in this case ALT + 0299 creates an small "o" with two dots above it (for some reason I can't duplicate it here). Any email I now get with that letter in the body of the message is automatically deleted. So far no more Greek emails. Problem solved.

by nick in austin

I tried blocking sender, but like most spam, they give you a different sender each time. I sent a reply explaining, but it was returned unopened.

by nick in austin

I figured out a screen in OE. You can't copy and paste a greek letter or word into an OE "subject filter" (Message - Create Rule from Message, etc) or "body of message filter". You CAN however use the "Alt-Number Keys" to enter a greek letter from the ANSI character set. in this case ALT + 0299 creates an small "o" with two dots above it (for some reason I can't duplicate it here). Any email I now get with that letter in the body of the message is automatically deleted. So far no more Greek emails. Problem solved.

by ann777

Once they've gotten your e-mail address, the only real option is to delete that e-mail address and get another and maybe another two so that you can have one for close friends/family (people you trust) and the other for everyone else -- so that when spam begins (and it will begin again), you can get rid of the account and start anew again.

As you found out, blocking does not work, because two or three months down the line, they change their domain.

Your e-mail address is on a list... the list is sold... and your addy gets on more lists. Most list generators do not care if you want off (e-mail them and they know they have a valid address)... every name counts for some $'s or cents.

by nick in austin

I figured out a screen in OE. You can't copy and paste a greek letter or word into an OE "subject filter" (Message - Create Rule from Message, etc) or "body of message filter". You CAN however use the "Alt-Number Keys" to enter a greek letter from the ANSI character set. in this case ALT + 0299 creates an small "o" with two dots above it (for some reason I can't duplicate it here). Any email I now get with that letter in the body of the message is automatically deleted. So far no more Greek emails. Problem solved.

by nick in austin

Hold on, I have had alot of luck blocking spammers using key words (such as "nude", "won", "breast", and much worse) in the subject line. So how can I get OExpress to recognize these foreign words? Also, shouldn't there be some kind of regional block you can use, (like anything from outside the US)?

by nick in austin

Thought about extra software, but just one more memory hog starting at around $20. I figured out a screen in OE. You can't copy and paste a greek letter or word into an OE "subject filter" (Message - Create Rule from Message, etc) or "body of message filter". You CAN however use the "Alt-Number Keys" to enter a greek letter from the ANSI character set. in this case ALT + 0299 creates an small "o" with two dots above it (for some reason I can't duplicate it here). Any email I now get with that letter in the body of the message is automatically deleted. So far no more Greek emails. Problem solved.

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