Knowledgebase

This article is for cPanel Accounts. Determine where your account is with this guide.

Over time and depending on how you display your e-mail address in public places, your e-mail address(es) will become more susceptible to receiving spam. As spammers employ new techniques daily, it is important to update your spam protection from time to time to better defend against unwanted email messages.

Here is a guide to better protecting yourself against spam:

     1. Enable SpamAssassin

One tool on the account that you have is called SpamAssassin. It does not block incoming e-mail messages but will tag them as spam so that you are aware the message is suspect when you review the contents of your inbox. You can also black- or white-list specific domains and e-mail accounts so that they are always considered spam [blacklist] or always considered legitimate [whitelist]. You can modify SpamAssassin settings by logging in to your cPanel and looking under the Email section.

You can set it up to auto-delete messages, but we don't recommend this setting until you've configured SpamAssassin to let legitimate mail through while filtering out what you consider to be spam.

      2. Protect Your Email

Wondering where all those spammers are getting your e-mail address? Likely from public Web sites. Don't give out your usual e-mail address whenever possible. Sometimes it might be useful to set up an account that is meant to receive spam and use that to register for all your public accounts.

      3. Disguise Your Address. 

You can do this by simply replacing the @ symbol with “at” or coding the addresses in HTML instead of in regular text. Remove the address from public view: web pages, forum postings, and other easily readable formats so that spam bots cannot easily pick up your address.

      4. Opt Out Of Subscriptions

If you use this e-mail address for mailing lists, website membership subscriptions, and more then you should opt out from any of these locations. You should also verify that the website includes a policy to not sell OR rent your e-mail address to third-party advertisers. Spam that is technically coming from a legitimate source must always have an Unsubscribe option in every e-mail message sent. If so, remove your e-mail from their list.

      5. Protect against Brute Force Attack.

In a brute force attack, the spammer tries many different letter combinations to try to guess active e-mail addresses. Short e-mail addresses, such as bob@something.com, are more likely to get spam from brute force attacks than longer addresses.

      6. Private or ISP Spam Filtering.

Consider a spam filter if your Internet service provider offers one. You can also find many programs that can be installed on your computer to help you filter spam. You might look at reviews of them beforehand to find out which one will work best for you:

http://spam-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/

Unfortunately, no matter what steps you take, spammers will always work to find methods for getting spam to as many inboxes as they are able. If you have any questions about anything specific to your account or about spam in general, please contact Support.