Spam, as defined by Webopedia, is electronic junk mail or junk newsgroup postings. It is also referred to as "unsolicited commercial email" (UCE) or "unsolicited bulk email" (UBE), including advertising, chain letters, virus warnings, etc. Spam usually contains forged return addresses, and your own address often does not appear in the headers.
On Fallon, the primary email server for undergraduates, NSHE (Nevada System of Higher Education) subscribes to several blacklist sites that employ spam filtering.
In an atmosphere of academic freedom, we realize that email considered as spam by some members of the University community may be considered educational or research opportunities by others.
Spammers are very creative and often "spoof" (fake) their return address, making it difficult to track and/or reproduce. To mask the sender, the address changes each time you get a new piece of spam from them. To create an effective filter, you must identify common features within the address and build a filter. Depending on the sophistication of the spammer, you may not be able to block incoming messages, so you must delete or file them.
Filters are specific to the email client. Before you can define filters, you must know the name and version of the email client you are using. General directions for many common email clients are provided below:
