Spam

What is spam?
What is not spam?
Where did they get my e-mail address?
What does NC State do to stop spam?
What happens when a campus level event occurs?
What does NC State not do to stop spam?
How can I filter spam out of my e-mail?
If I filter out spam, does it still take up part of my e-mail storage space (quota)?
What else can I do to avoid spam?
Additional Resources

Spam is the unsolicited e-mail, also known as junk mail or bulk mail that floods the Internet each day. Some of it is from legitimate marketers, but much is from scam artists who make promises they have no intention of keeping.

What is spam?

Chain letters
Get rich quick schemes
Health products
Offers for pornographic Web sites
Pyramid schemes
Stock offerings

What is not spam?

Campus broadcast messages
Crime alerts
Broadcast e-mails

Where did they get my e-mail address?

Free e-mail accounts (e.g., Hotmail) not related to your Internet service provider
Free e-mail groups
Free Web hosting companies (e.g., Geocities, Tripod and Freespace)
"Get paid to surf" programs
Open lists
Shareware
Web pages that contain your address

What does NC State do to stop spam?

Manages "block" lists for the campus mail relays to stop viruses, mail loops, bad hosts and spam directed at our entire user installation.
Periodically scans the network for machines accepting mail and performs third party (open) relay checks.
Uses spam filtering software.

What happens when a campus level event occurs?

OIT contacts postmaster/abuse@ domain to ask for assistance in stopping the spam. If the site does not respond within a given time period, OIT will add the site to the "block" list.
A site can respond after this period and be removed from the list by contacting postmaster@ncsu.edu or abuse@ncsu.edu.

What does NC State not do to stop spam?

OIT won't block a domain for an individual user but will block one that is targeting our campus population.

How can I filter spam out of my e-mail?

NC State offers PureMessage, a mail filtering agent that attempts to identify spam using text analysis and Internet-based blacklists.
To learn more about PureMessage and how to construct your own e-mail filters, see PureMessage at NC State.

If I filter out spam, does it still take up part of my e-mail storage space (quota)?

Yes, it occupies your e-mail storage space and counts against your quota until you permanently delete it from the system.

What else can I do to avoid spam?

You probably won't be able to avoid it completely, but see Minimizing Spam for tips on reducing it.

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