How to Test Your Spam Filter
Avoiding spam emails can prove frustrating for many email users. Spam can infect a computer with a virus or draw the email recipient into a con. Spam emails that clutter people's inbox cost businesses billions annually in lost productivity. Symantec, an Internet security company, notes that spam makes up for more than 75 percent of all email messages. Email users who rely on their email for professional, personal or business use can test their spam filter to make sure that it filters spam and protects their email program.
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Instructions
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Register with a email security check program, such as Emailsecuritycheck.net, which will send several test emails to determine how well the email filter works. Alternately, send yourself test emails with the trigger words that the filter should send to the spam folder. Watch your inbox to see how well the filter blocks these emails.
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Check your email spam protector. Review the "rules" that guide the filter when it filters spam. Each email program has its own filter. Some email programs rely on their own filters to identify spam while other filters expect the user to create filters with "rules" -- for example, delete all emails with specified words or that come from specified addresses. Make sure that the filter's rules meet your needs and expectations. Add, subtract or modify rules as needed.
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Observe to see whether spam enters your inbox. When it does, move it to the spam folder or report it to the email provider so that in the future, such emails will be directed immediately into the email's spam folder.
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Check the email program's spam folder or junk mail folder to make sure that legitimate emails do not languish in the spam folder. Review the spam folder periodically. Even top email programs can mistakenly place a legitimate email in the spam folder.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit spam drawing image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com
