[imp] Spam problems

[Simon B]

On 7 Oct 2015 11:38 pm, "Ricki Levitan" <phillyfilly at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>  Hi,
> Sorry if these sound like rookie questions, but hey, I'm a rookie!
> I have a client who hasn't wanted any spam filtering applied because
she's self-employed, has clients all over the world who send files, and
doesn't want any legit email to be missed.

This was the first mistake.  Any reasonable implementation of an MTA should
do some basic checking.  Even if accept the email..

SMTP is not a reliable transport and most people understand that.  Client
education is key here.


>  It's worked well for a few years, but spammers have found her - with a
vengeance!
> Couple of questions:
> She tried logging into her Horde webmail and right-clicking /
blacklisting hundreds of emails. That not only didn't work, but it seems to
have increased the number of spam emails.  And now she's getting duplicate
spam messages about half the time (and I'm talking 100's per day).  Beyond
marking them for blacklisting, is there another step that needs to be taken
to actually have these addresses blacklisted?  I know that's not a
catch-all solution as they change all the time, but it should have helped
at least a little.  (I've had a Hotmail account for more years than I care
to let on, and the spammers finally found me about a year ago / built up to
about 500 per week. They landed in the junk folder, appropriately most of
the time, and when I started blocking the spam messages it worked like a
charm and now I'm only getting about 30 a week.  I was hoping that by her
blacklisting them the same thing would happen for her, but not so much.)
> What else can be done to help stop this onslaught?  Is the only answer
using BoxTrapper or SpamAssassin?  What are your preferences and do you
have any helpful tips to be on the lookout for, for someone who will be
setting up one of these services for the first time?
> I've been thinking about website hosts anyway, and of course her mail
would be moved to the new host.  Would that be of any benefit (until they
find her again)?
> Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated!!

Basic checks on the MTA
Spamassassin/Amavisd - even if you just use to classify and move the mail
to a holding or junk folder.

Simon