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HOTMAIL'S ADVICE
ON SPAM
IF YOU ARE NOT A HOTMAIL CUSTOMER AND
ARE REPORTING SPAM FROM HOTMAIL:
Please note that we will need to see full message headers when you forward the
offending mail to Hotmail. Full message headers are required for us to take any
necessary action on the reported account. If you need help on how to view
complete header information, please consult the Help associated with your e-mail
program.
IF YOU ARE A HOTMAIL CUSTOMER:
While you are awaiting response from a Support Representative, here is some
additional information about how to protect your account. We realize that this
e-mail message is lengthy, but please read the entire message below because the
answer to your question may be included.
Within this message is information on:
I. Limiting Junk E-mail ("spam")
II. Turning on the Junk Mail Filter
III. Reporting Unwanted, Abusive, or Fraudulent E-mail
We strictly enforce the MSN Hotmail Terms of Use (TOU), which forbids e-mail
abuse. We ask for your support to help Hotmail prevent unwanted, abusive, or
fraudulent e-mail.
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I. Limiting Junk E-mail ("spam")
Hotmail employs the following methods to protect you from spam:
- We limit the number of individual recipients for each e-mail message.
- We don't allow numeric characters at the beginning of an e-mail
address. Any Hotmail sign-in name beginning with a numeric character is a
forgery.
- We include "X-[Originating-IP]: [xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx]" in the
header of each e-mail message that Hotmail delivers. Any e-mail message without
this entry in its full header didn't come from Hotmail.
- We block our relay hosts from those who send spam.
- We take legal action against senders of unsolicited bulk e-mail who
forge Hotmail addresses.
List brokers and individuals who send spam use many tools and techniques to
gather e-mail addresses wherever they appear online. Here are some suggestions
to help you reduce the amount of spam that you receive.
Do:
- Remove yourself from any unprotected member directory.
- Open another e-mail account that you can use as an address for
newsgroup and listserve publications or for posting on bulletin boards.
- Use the "Block Sender" option in Hotmail to block the
delivery of e-mail from a specific sender.
- Use the Junk Mail Filter feature of Hotmail to filter spam into your
Junk Mail folder.
Don't:
- Use your primary account to post to an online service or any Internet
bulletin board.
- Use your primary account to post in a Usenet newsgroup or mailing list.
- Spend time in chat rooms or an online service that displays your
address of your primary account.
- Include yourself in an unprotected member directory of an online
service (the Hotmail Member Directory is protected because we do not display
member addresses).
- Reply to unsolicited e-mail messages with a "remove" request
because this only validates to the sender that your address is current.
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II. Turning on the Junk Mail Filter
The Junk Mail folder protects you from unsolicited e-mail messages (also known
as "spam"). Hotmail examines all incoming mail that you have not
blocked or filtered. If it determines that the message is junk mail, Hotmail
directs the message to the Junk Mail folder. You can specify how long messages
remain in this folder before they are automatically deleted.
>>> To set the Junk Mail Filter
1. Click "Options" to the right of the "Address Book"
tab. The "Options" page appears.
2. Under "Mail Handling", click the "Junk Mail Filter"
link. The "Junk Mail Filter" page appears.
3. Select "Low", "High" or "Exclusive" to
enable the filter. See below for descriptions of what happens with each filter
level.
4. Click "OK" to save your settings or "Cancel" to
return to the "Options" page.
What is filtered at each level setting:
- Off. When you have your Junk Mail Filter set to "Off",
Hotmail accepts all mail and sends nothing sent to the Junk Mail folder. Note
that turning off the Junk Mail Filter does not turn off your "Block
Sender" list.
- Low vs. High. The Junk Mail Filter looks at a number of different clues
in e-mail and tries to determine whether the message you received is junk mail.
Setting the filter to "High" results in a stricter interpretation of
what mail is valid than setting it to "Low". A "High" filter
can result in more valid mail being filtered to the Junk Mail folder than you
want, and you may need to check the folder from time to time to ensure that
nothing you want has been defined as "junk". If you find valid mail in
your Junk Mail folder, select the message and click the "This is not
Junk" button.
- Exclusive: An "Exclusive" filter means that messages reach
your Inbox only if they are from an address in your Address Book. This is the
best protection against junk mail. By setting your Junk Mail Filter to
"Exclusive", you accept only e-mail from your friends. This is e-mail
equivalent of "don't talk to strangers".
Hotmail helps you to maintain your Address Book by offering to add e-mail
addresses to your Address Book when you send out e-mail.
Note: If you want to accept mail from an address but don't want that address in
your Address Book, you can add an address to your "Safe List" (You may
want to use this for newsletters, for example).
IMPORTANT: Remember to check your Junk Mail folder at regular intervals to
ensure that the filter catches only the messages that you want to delete. For
example, mailing list mail and mail forwarded from another e-mail address may be
filtered to the Junk Mail folder. To ensure that these e-mail messages go to
your Inbox, create Hotmail filters or add the sender's address to the Safe List.
>>> To add an address to your Safe List
1. Click "Options" to the right of the "Address Book"
tab. The "Options" page appears.
2. Under "Mail Handling", click the "Safe List" link.
The "Safe List" page appears.
3. In the box at the left of the page, type the address.
4. Click the "Add >>" button to add the address.
5. Click "OK" to save your settings or "Cancel" to
return to the "Options" page.
>>> To change the status of a junk mail message
If you receive a message in the Junk Mail folder that you do not consider junk
mail, do one of the following:
- In the Junk Mail folder, select the check boxes next to the
messages that you do not consider junk mail and click the "This is not
Junk" button. The selected messages are moved to your Inbox, and messages
from these senders are not sent to the Junk Mail folder in the future.
- In the Junk Mail folder, select the check boxes next to messages and
select a folder from the "Move to" drop-down list above the message
list. This method moves the selected messages to that folder, but does not
guarantee that messages from that sender are not sent to the Junk Mail folder in
the future. Follow the direction above to ensure future mails from that
sender arrive in your Inbox.
Note: Mailing list mail and mail forwarded from another e-mail address may be
filtered to the Junk Mail folder. To ensure that these e-mail messages go to
your Inbox, create Hotmail filters or add the senders of these messages to your
Safe List.
*************************
III. Reporting Unwanted, Abusive, or Fraudulent E-mail
>>> To report spam by forwarding it with full headers
If spam is sent from a Hotmail account:
Using Hotmail:
1. Click "Options" to the right of the "Address Book"
tab. The "Options" page appears.
2. Under "Additional Options", click the "Mail Display
Settings" link. The "Mail Display Settings" page appears.
3. Under "Message Headers", select "Full" and click
"OK".
4. Forward the resulting mail to:
abuse@Hotmail.com
Using Outlook Express or Outlook:
1. On the unopened mail, place your cursor over the mail, right-click, and
click "Options".
2. Under "Internet headers", copy the contents of the full
header.
3. Open the e-mail in question and forward a complete copy of the message,
including the full message header you copied at the beginning of your message,
to:
abuse@hotmail.com
Using MSN Explorer:
1. Open the message, and then click "More" in the upper right
corner.
2. Click "Message Source". The message opens in a new window
with all of the header information visible.
3. Copy all the text and paste it into a new message. Send this message
to:
abuse@msn.com
If you're not a Hotmail member, consult the Help associated with your e-mail
program to determine how to view complete header information. Then forward the
message with full headers to:
abuse@hotmail.com
If spam is sent from an account other than Hotmail:
If the unsolicited junk e-mail or "spam" comes from a non-Hotmail
account, or does not reference a Hotmail account, you can send a complaint to
the service provider that sent the mail.
In the full header, look at the last "Received" notation to locate the
sending service provider. It looks something like:
[service name].com
Forward the offending pieces of e-mail to abuse at the service provider you have
identified:
abuse@[servicename].com
If the service does not maintain an abuse alias, forward your spam complaint to:
webmaster@[servicename].com
To log a complaint, add a polite message such as "Here's a copy of the spam
I received."
To report abuse from a source other than e-mail, include the following
information:
- The media involved (such as chat, ICQ, or Usenet).
- The Hotmail account involved.
- The content of the offensive or unsolicited message.
- Any user information that you have.
You can keep up to date with the fight against spam at:
http://www.cauce.org/
Remember that MSN Hotmail also has comprehensive online help available--just
click "Help" in the upper right corner.
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