Spam Filter

November 30, 2010 5:06 PM

I receive a couple of non-Gmail-filtered spam emails a day, from a friend's compromised machine/account. I can easily deal with them / filter them / discard them. Besides hitting "Report Spam" I'm just wondering if there is a better place to report these consistent messages. I've been getting them for 6 months or so, doesn't seem the Big G's learning algorithm is ever gonna catch on...
posted by Exchequer to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

You can create a Gmail filter to put these away automatically without you ever seeing them.

Go to settings, and then filters. Create a new one that filters that specific email, and then deletes it. You have myriad other options, such as marking it as unread, as well.
posted by Askiba at 5:08 PM on November 30, 2010

Oops, I'm sorry, I totally missed you saying filter... but that'd just be the best way to handle it. Google's a bit big for this sort of thing, I suppose.
posted by Askiba at 5:09 PM on November 30, 2010

I don't think that there's a specific email address to which to send these emails, if that's what you're asking. Can't you just use the filter capability to shunt the emails to the trash and be done with it?

Or is there something you're trying to achieve with the spam reporting?
posted by dfriedman at 5:11 PM on November 30, 2010

Response by poster: It just occurred to me that since these specific messages are so good at consistently slipping through all the spam traps in the mail system, (and they've been doing it for so long) that they might be of interest to someone, somewhere, who has the wherewithal to deal with them.

I can filter them and forget about them, if that's the only worthwhile option.
posted by Exchequer at 5:15 PM on November 30, 2010

Best answer: Isn't it more likely that Gmail is whitelisting your friend's e-mail account because you've exchanged e-mails before, rather than the spam being more sophisticated than the norm?
posted by jaffacakerhubarb at 5:31 PM on November 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Make sure the sending account is completely obliterated from your contacts, not only from the list that shows when you click Contacts, but also from the autocomplete file (go to Contacts, search on email address, delete both name and address from the form that comes up; doublecheck that autocomplete no longer shows the address). Now gmail will not recognize this as a contact - report as spam next time and you should be done.
posted by beagle at 5:47 PM on November 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Is there a reason not to report them to the friend, or to whoever runs the compromised account? That would seem to be the most effective approach.
posted by hattifattener at 7:12 PM on November 30, 2010

Response by poster: Great thinking, beagle and jaffacakerhubarb, will wipe the contact and see if that does the trick...

Guess I was giving the spammer more credit then due.
posted by Exchequer at 7:15 PM on November 30, 2010

Response by poster: hattifattener, my friend has abandoned the email account as they were unable to wrest back control.
posted by Exchequer at 7:20 PM on November 30, 2010