spam

Bill keeps getting a ton of spam. If he clicks on unsubscribe, will that end it? Leo says not likely. More likely it'll just confirm you're a real person. You can use the spam filter in your email, but often a false positive will mean you lose an email you actually want. The best way to do it is to check and see if your service offers antispam at the server level. That way you'll never see it. So check with your ISP.  Leo used to use Gmail, which has some really good spam filters. So that's an option. Can I block the sender?

Bhil keeps getting spam on his Gmail account. It's largely due to a spoofed address. How can he filter it? Leo says that Gmail has some of the best spam filters out there, but no system is perfect. To create a filter, long-press on the email itself, and it'll populate the filter with the sender's email address. Then anything that comes from that email will then be routed to your trash or wherever you want it to go. But remember that if it's a spoofed address, they'll change that address and keep sending them. But at least Gmail's spam filter will get smarter as a result.

Rich has two domains registered at Hover. One personal and one business. He then uses it with Gmail and his Apple Mail client. But recently, several emails have been lost in transit. Some are personal, some are business. Leo says that there are "black holes" in the system, due to spam filtering. It's possible that is what is happening between Gmail and Hover. If the carrier judges that the sending IP address may be a spammer, then the email will simply vanish. Or it could be intercepted by the spam filters. Gmail is very aggressive about fraudulent emails.

Herb has been having issues with one of his AT&T email accounts just stopped working in Apple Mail, and he had to spend hours to fix it. AT&T uses Yahoo mail, and it's going through a bad patch right now.  What are his alternatives for a new email client? Leo says that Gmail is a great free email client that will also let you keep your existing email at AT&T and go get it from time to time. Gmail also has great spam filters. You can also get a third-party app called Spam Sieve to filter out spam before it gets to your mailbox. 

Louis thinks his website may have been hijacked. Every time he searches for his website, he gets results that include viagra websites and others. Leo says his site has been hacked, and he's not using the SSH encryption code required by Google. He suspects that his web host, GoDaddy, has a bug in its service. Lou's DNS record has probably also been modified. Leo suggests changing his WebHost password to lock out the hacker. 

Richard wants to know how he can stop all the spam he gets. Leo says you really can't. You can block emails and send the spam directly into the trashcan, but it's like playing wack-o-mole since spammers know you're going to do that and change the emails they send from. They also use spoofing to fool email clients to get past filters and change them regularly. All told, up to 80% of all email traffic comes from spammers.

Bruce keeps getting spam but the email address they are using isn't his. What gives? Leo says that spammers can "spoof" the address in the to and from settings, but it's likely a BCC of Bruce's email address that is causing it. He can't see the BCC, so he keeps getting it. But he may be able to filter out all those addresses through Gmail. Also, be sure not to open those emails. They could be potentially dangerous. He can block them, but it's like playing whack-a-mole. Eventually, they'll move on to another target.

Jimmy woke up to dozens of text messages claiming that he's been calling and texting people non-stop. Leo says that his number has been "spoofed," and the only thing he can do is wait until the spoofers move on to a new number. It's called "Neighbor Spam," and it's being used to get people to answer a local call. Eventually, enough people will block the phone number, and then they will move on to yet another number. Unfortunately, there's not much else he can do. 

Anne is having issues with people texting her for someone else. How can she stop it? Leo says it's likely that Anne got the number and people are still trying to contact the previous owner. But it could also just be SPAM, which has become an epidemic. UP to 80% of texts are spam. She can block the number, but that's like playing a game of wack-a-mole. But check with the carrier. Anne's is Comcast Xfinity, they have a robocall blocker called HiYa.

Steve Martin also uses a Windows computer and an iPad, and often they don't talk well together. He's also been getting a lot of his emails being routed into SPAM. He's had to physically move them back to the Inbox, and he's worried that he'll miss an important email from business or friends. Leo says that the SPAM filters have gotten so good, that they're now starting to get false positives as ISPs get really aggressive with the spam filters.