FAQs about Email Spam

search the site

Need help with a question that's not on this page? Search our website, or contact the ITS Client Services Center for assistance.

What is spam?

Spam is unsolicited commercial email. The key word is "unsolicited"— if you signed up for a mailing list (commercial or otherwise) which you no longer wish to receive, that is not spam. The easy way to tell the difference is that legitimate businesses will have a mailing policy posted on the site where you sign up for the mail, and will give you *correct* information about how to unsubscribe.

BEWARE—spammers will often include an "unsubscribe" link on their mail. DO NOT USE IT. It merely confirms that your email address is read by a live human being and will cause you to get even more junk email.

Does NYU have a spam filter?

Yes, ITS has implemented a spam filter in NYUHome. You can also use this new filtering tool with other desktop email clients such as Outlook, Macintosh Mail, Netscape Messenger, or Eudora (available on the ITS-Licensed Software page). In the NYUHome mail client (Messenger Express) this filter is turned on and set to "Light" by default. If you use a non-NYU email client, you will have to configure the filter yourself. You can help to train our spam filtering software by forwarding as attachments spam email messages you receive to is.spam@nyu.edu. (In order for the training to work, spam emails must be forwarded as attachments, not as inline text.) For more information about the spam filter, see the Spam Filtering at NYU page.

I'm IMAPping my NYU email using a non-NYU email program (e.g., Eudora, Outlook Express). Why don't I see my Spam folder?

It's possible that your IMAP client doesn't "see" the Spam folder (as it was created dynamically by the NYUHome mail server). You may need to manually subscribe to the Spam folder. The process of subscribing to folders is different in each email client. Also, depending on the client, you may need to log out and log back in again.

I'm forwarding my NYUHome email to another NYU email account. Will spam still be filtered out?

No. If you have set up your NYUHome account to forward your email to another NYU account, spam will not be filtered out of your mail. The mail will be "marked" as spam, but you will need to set up a separate filter on your other NYU account to handle the filtering of the spam.

I'm forwarding my NYUHome email to a non-NYU account. Will spam still be filtered out?

No. If you have set up your NYUHome account to forward your email to a non-NYU account, spam will not be filtered out of your mail. The mail will be "marked" as spam, but you will need to set up a separate filter on your non-NYU account to handle the filtering of the spam.

Can I send spam to the trash without looking at it?

No. Regardless of what program you use to filter spam, you should still look through the spam messages on a regular basis. Spam filtering tools use various techniques for defining what does and does not seem like spam, but none of them are perfect. Some legitimate messages will end up in your spam folder if they exhibit characteristics of spam, for example, lots of capital letters, many exclamation points, or phrases such as "click here".

Why don't spam filters always work?

Spammers, especially porn site spammers, are notorious for changing locations, subject lines and email addresses, which makes blocking or filtering difficult. Once you put a block in place, they just change the element that you're blocking. They also ignore all attempts to stop their mail or to "unsubscribe" from lists that they add you to. You can help to train our spam filtering software by forwarding as attachments spam email messages you receive to is.spam@nyu.edu. (In order for the training to work, spam emails must be forwarded as attachments, not as inline text.) For more information about the spam filter, see the Spam Filtering at NYU page.

How do I complain about spam?

To complain, you can contact the ISP responsible for the mail. In order to do that, you need a complete copy of the message with mail headers showing. Those headers show the machines that the mail passed through on its way to your mailbox. Instructions for the most common mailers are included below. More detailed instructions (including screenshots) are available in the What Are Full Email Headers? FAQ.

Messenger Express (NYUHome web mail):
Open the message. Click on the triangle in the upper right corner of the message, then choose Forward.

In regards to spam received through NYUHome, see "Does NYU Have a Spam Filter", above. We also recommend that you report spam to SpamCop. If you receive threatening or harassing messages, however, please forward the mail to ITS Technology Security Services right away: security@nyu.edu.

Netscape:
Open the email; go to the view menu; pull the 'Headers' menu over and click on 'all'. Highlight the headers displayed in the email and copy them into the message that you send to the ISP.

Outlook / Outlook Express 4.0:
Open the email; go to the view menu; select options. You will see a box labeled 'Internet Headers'. Highlight and copy (right click, copy) these into the email you send to the ISP.

Outlook / Outlook Express 5.0:
Open the email; go to the file menu; select properties. A box will appear with a general and details tab. Click on the details tab and copy the headers of the message from there.

Outlook 2000:
Open the message, from the menu choose 'View' then 'Options'. Cut and paste the contents of the box titled 'Internet Headers' into the message you want to forward.

Eudora:
Open the email; click on the small button that says 'Blah, Blah, Blah'. You will see the full headers displayed. Highlight and copy them into the email you send to the ISP.

SpamCop:
You can also use a service like SpamCop (http://www.spamcop.net) that will take a message with headers and send it to the appropriate contacts for you. The company also offers a paid service which filters your email for you.

Someone emailed me a financial opportunity or chain letter. What should I do?

As a general rule, you should not respond to or forward these types of messages. Electronic junk mail wastes valuable computer resources. Even if an email message urges you to forward it to all of your friends, you should never do so. Forwarding spam is not an appropriate use of your NYUHome account, which, of course, is to be used for academic purposes.

Unsolicited email offering financial opportunities or products should be viewed with a healthy dose of scepticism. It is almost always a good idea to simply delete this mail. Please also note that if a spam message offers you an "unsubscribe" link, you should NOT click on it. See the "What is spam?" FAQ at the top of the page for more information.

What can I do to help prevent all this spam?

We recommend that all email users visit the Center for Democracy & Technology website for more information on protecting your email address from spam. We also recommend that you install an anti-virus software program (such as Symantec AntiVirus), set it to run regular scans of your computer, and keep the virus definitions up to date. Some computer viruses, which can be avoided using this software, generate a large number of spam email messages. You may also want to consider raising the level of your NYU spam filter from light to medium. You can help to train our spam filtering software by forwarding as attachments spam email messages you receive to is.spam@nyu.edu. (In order for the training to work, spam emails must be forwarded as attachments, not as inline text.) For more information about the spam filter, see the Spam Filtering at NYU page.

If you own one or more web pages on NYU Web, you can also help avoid spam by preventing the harvesting of your or your organization's email address. To do so, we recommend that you implement one of the two solutions offered below to replace "mailto" links on your web pages.

JavaScript Replacement
For example, if your email address is webmaster@nyu.edu, you would insert the following code, replacing "user" with the information to the left of the @ sign and replacing "site" with your host name.

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">

</SCRIPT>
ASCII Code Replacement
You can replace the "@" sign in your mailto links with the ASCII code equivalent:
"@".

For example, if your email address is webmaster@nyu.edu, you would use the following code:<a href="mailto:webmaster@nyu.edu">webmaster@nyu.edu</a>

This will produce a link that says webmaster@nyu.edu.

Page last reviewed: January 5, 2009