What is this? Why did you write this? Why should I send spam reports? Why not just "bounce" spam? Doesn't sending reports expose me to more spam? What about "Freedom of Speech"? Will SpamX work with AOL? How does SpamX detect spam without using lists? Is SpamX designed for me to have to enter in all my spam to the "block" database? I don't understand the difference between Proxy Mode and Scheduled Mode. Why does SpamX use a separate Inbox instead of just flagging the mail as "spam"? What if SpamX "catches" a piece of mail I wanted? What if I get too many 'false positives' What is DNS and what are Name Servers? How do I add sites to the block function? OK, really, what is spam? What if I need to uninstall SpamX?

Frequently Asked Questions Question Answer What is this? SpamX is a tool to both block AND report spam that runs locally on your computer so you do not have to rely on some outside "service" that may be down or completely GONE tomorrow or the next day [and your $money$ with it].  SpamX blocks spam using advanced proprietary technology developed and extensively tested for over 4 years and DOES NOT rely on lists of spammer addresses which change with every new "batch" of spam or even more often and require constant updating.  SpamX also does NOT attempt to use "content" based filtering which is equally usless for spam detection since spammers are constantly changing the content of their junk in an effort to evade such primitive forms of detection.  SpamX IS highly configurable to put YOU in complete control of what IS and what IS NOT blocked and gives any user the option of easily reporting spam to the responsible ISP(s).  SpamX automatically interprets the complexities of email headers, determines the ultimate source of the spam and finds any and all relevant links to spammer websites and/or email addresses in the spam BODY.  SpamX then looks up and returns a list of relevant ISP email addresses, generates a spam report to those addresses [YOUR email address is removed for safety] and allows it to be sent at your option - All with a single click.  SpamX retains copies of all reports sent so there is a record to support any legal action any user may wish to take against any spammer(s) or their ISP(s).  SpamX also allows viewing any intercepted mail in its own SAFE inbox where your computer is protected from any malicious code or viruses [even "Web bugs"]. Why did you write this? We love the Internet and we despise spammers and their mentality.  In addition, Radio, Television, Magazines, the snail-mail box, everywhere we look and even our telephones have all fallen victim to tidal waves of endless advertising.  We believe there is a real need for SOME sanctuary from the constant bombardment and assaults on our intelligence - the Internet can be that place.  We decided to put technology to use to everyone's advantage in one of the last places we can before it's too late. Why should I send spam reports? First, SpamX makes it so easy.   Then see above and bear in mind that unless there is some kind of penalty for their activities, spammers will continue to spam with impunity, raising the cost of the Internet services WE pay for, to pay for the bandwidth they steal and the increased maintenance that is the inevitable consequence of their theft of services.  Thanks to abuse by spammers, there may even come a time when we find ourselves paying a FEE for EACH email WE send! [And not even THAT will stop THEM - They already have ways around it] Why not just "bounce" spam? Never "bounce" a spam.   It's not only pointless since the forged Return-Path address is never monitored by the spammer but it also generates even more usless email traffic on an already overburdened Internet, ultimately costing us more in connection fees.  In addition, many forged return addresses belong to an entirely innocent third party who's only link to a batch of a particular spam would be that of receiving potentially hundreds of thousands of bounces to a spam they never sent were "everyone" to employ such a system.  Please, "challenge-response" systems are already bad enough - thank God they seem to have fallen somewhat out-of-favor.   Bouncing spam would amount to a huge, distributed mail bomb to whatever individual was so unfortunate as to have their email address forged by some spammer - more specifically, many of the "trojan spambots" that infect hundreds of thousands of Windows systems use real email addresses harvested from the address books and saved emails on those systems as the Return-Path address for the spams they send out.   This means that, if someone you sent an email to gets infected by one of those on their system, the person receiving those thousands of bounces could very well be you [and you thought spam was bad...]. Doesn't sending reports expose me to more spam? Well, SpamX will intercept it anyway but, just to be on the safe side, SpamX removes your email address from the spam before sending it back as evidence in order to protect you from any potential "retaliation" by the spammer(s).   In addition, SpamX allows you to enter any email address in the Complaints Account if you wish to remain completely anonymous.   The address of a "special" account on one of the free services can be used there if you are interested in seeing any responses from your reports. What about "Freedom of Speech"? Nowhere in the Constitution does it say "Anybody can say anything they like to you and, oh, by the way, you have to pay for it".   Plus, it's YOUR freedom of speech to report what they are trying to force you to listen to at YOUR expense - Exercise it! I use AOL as my e-mail client.  AOL does not use the POP-3 protocol.  Will SpamX work with AOL? Simply put, Not yet.   AOL just recently implemented IMAP to access AOL mail so we are working that issue and should have IMAP access to AOL mail available soon. How does SpamX detect spam without using lists? SpamX uses several proprietary methods of analysis developed and tested over a long period of time that allow it to detect spam without using lists, contextual rules or individual "fingerprints". Naturally we are reluctant to discuss the specifics of the detection process lest we give what we have so painstakingly worked on directly to the spammers.  This is a war we're fighting, here, and one does not make the egregious error of disclosing the innermost workings of their defense system directly to the enemy so they can more easily find ways to compromise its effectiveness. Here's what SpamX doesn't do: Spammers change their email addresses, subject lines and text of their messages as often as they send out spam so gathering lists of spammer email addresses, ISPs and generating content-based rules is an interesting pastime with no real value.   Setting up "spamtraps" to supposedly "fingerprint" individual spam is also fruitless since spammers send out spam in batches of hundreds of thousands at a time. What that means is, by the time the spamtrap catches the spam, generates the "fingerprint" and delivers it to the "filter", the spam directed to YOUR inbox from the same batch has already been there for a long time.   As we like to say, "Lists are obsolete before they are complete" so the SpamX process does not bother with them. Is SpamX designed for me to have to enter in all my spam to the "block" database? Absolutely NOT - Like we say "SpamX does NOT rely on lists" as lists are a total waste of time unless the user is really, really bored with life in general. SpamX uses a variety of methods to check the "legitimacy" of incoming mail and none of these depend on lists you would otherwise have to maintain [like the ones all the other 'anti-spam' programs seem to rely on].  SpamX also does not attempt to use context recognition - spammers already have ways of beating that far too easily [i.e. "S-E-X" or "P==O==R==N" or any one or more of many other possibilities]. I don't understand the difference between Proxy Mode and Scheduled Mode. In Proxy Mode SpamX is triggered by and "sits between" your email client and email server(s) passing the retrieval requests to the email server and checking the incoming mail before it is "seen" by the email program.  Good mail is passed on the the email client and spam is directed to the SpamX Inbox.  Proxy Mode uses the email accounts already defined in your email client.  Proxy mode tends to be limited to Outlook Express/Netscape in Mac Classic, Entourage in OS X and Netscape on Solaris/UNIX and possibly Linux.  There are probably several others that will also allow Proxy Mode operation but we have not yet had the resources to investigate all of these completely.  The easiest way to check is look at your email client configuration options. If your email configuration does not allow Proxy Mode operation, there is always Scheduled mode, which works everywhere.  In Scheduled Mode, SpamX checks your email server(s) independently from the email client at regular intervals so it does not so much intercept spam mail on it's way to your inbox but, rather, gets it beforehand, deletes it from the server and leaves the rest of the 'good mail' behind for the regular email client to "pick up".  Scheduled mode does require you to enter your email account(s) into the SpamX accounts, though, so SpamX knows what to check.  Scheduled mode defaults to run every 5 minutes which should catch almost all spam if you use manual checking on your regular email client [We run Scheduled Mode in testing almost all of the time and it's rare that one slips "in between" the checks].  You can also click the Scheduler icon on the Control Strip to turn it OFF, then again to turn it back ON and force another immediate check just before checking with the email client. That 'cinches it'. Why does SpamX use a separate Inbox instead of just flagging the mail as "spam"? Because SpamX does more than just catch spam, it also allows you to report the spammers to their ISPs and make a difference.  We know of no other 'anti-spam' program that allows 'One-Click' spam reporting like SpamX does and this capability is far beyond what any ordinary email client can do. In order to determine the proper reporting addresses, SpamX needs the spam itself so it can perform the header ananysis required to determine the source(s) of the spam.  The other thing to bear in mind is, since SpamX puts spam checking right on the desktop for instant access, it's no further than a mouse click away to check the current spam.  Having the spam in a different location than the normal email can also help keep your email just a bit more "Kid-Safe". What if SpamX "catches" a piece of mail I wanted? First of all, you will never "lose" an email to SpamX.  Many mailing lists and sometimes regular email users' ISPs send mail in a manner that will trigger SpamX to intercept it as "spam".  Should this happen, simply click the "Resend" button in Check Spam with that email selected.  The email is sent back to the email server for the original destination address and the senders address is automatically added to the Friends List so mail from that address will never be intercepted again.  Your regular email client will pick up the resent email the next time it checks for mail.  SpamX is highly critical of mail but is also highly configurable so its level of checking can be tailored to meet individual needs although this is seldom necessary. What if I get too many 'false positives'? To reduce the number of false positives [yes, SpamX is aggressive but the spammers have not been able to beat it in over 6 years - God knows they've tried everything and keep doing so]: a) Make sure you have Imported your Address Book into the Friends File and that Use Friends is ON. b) Turn OFF Strict Checking in Config.  You can also try turning off Source Consistency and Strict Checking to see which works best for the types of mail you receive.  You can also use Parse in Check Spam on the false positives.  That gives you the reason they got flagged as spam and an indication of which of the above can be the most effective. If people you know are sending you mail through open relays/open proxies/blacklisted IP Addresses [insecure servers] the above will not change anything. We DO NOT recommend turning off Reject Open Relay as most spammers send through those and that's your first line of defense - It also allows SpamX to process incoming mail more efficiently when it's ON. If you find people you know are sending you mail through or from insecure servers it's best to let them know about it and tell them to complain loudly to their ISPs. What is DNS and what are Name Servers? DNS Name Servers are what translate domain names that humans can relate to [like yahoo.com] into numeric addresses known as IP addresses [66.218.71.198] that the computers use to communicate with one another on the Internet.  An IP address is very much like a street address on the Internet. If you want to contact your ISP for their/your most immediate name servers, make absolutely sure the person you speak to fully understands that you need the "Primary and Secondary DNS Name Servers" that they are running for you.  These are often named along a loose convention of ns.domain.com but there's so much "creativity run amok" out there that all kinds of naming including things as far from that as bigguy.domain.com and littleguy.domain.com have been seen so it's impossible to rely on any naming convention with any certainty. IF IN DOUBT: Use the Selection dropdowns right under the Primary and Secondary Name Server fields to select two valid, different servers - We suggest the one regionally closest to where you are for the Primary and "Main" for the Secondary [yes, it sounds backwards but you want to ask the nearest server first] - These will work right away as they are the main DNS servers for the U.S.  run by NOAA.  If you are outside the U.S., Select "Main" as the Primary and one of the others as the Secondary. For additional information on locating DNS Name Servers, see Name Servers How do I add sites to the block function and what is spam? First of all, only _addresses_ and _domains_ may be added to the Block list - not "sites" - as an FYI. [www.testme.com will not work whereas testme@testme.com will block all email from that address and testme.com will block all email from that domain].  If you are receiving an error that says "invalid _XReject file format", however, it means the _XReject file is somehow corrupted [did you mess with it?] - Simply purge it. The most important file for SpamX is the Friends [_XAccept] file as there is very little you should ever need to block unless the person is a friend that started sending you email that you do not appreciate [in which case we suggest you contact that person, since you can, and make them aware of your displeasure]. That is not considered spam, BTW! OK, really, what is spam? Several links may offer a better definition but, bear in mind, there is always some margin of interpretation so use your head! This is about my favorite... Another reasonable one What if I need to uninstall SpamX? SpamX is entirely self-contained within the SpamX folder and places NO files anywhere else on your computer unless you specifically told it to [like changing the location of the spams storage folder in Config]. To uninstall SpamX, simply delete the SpamX folder from your computer.