Automatically Delete Image Spam With MailWasher Pro
If you are barraged with spam for junk stocks, with an image and garbage text, and want to put a stop to it clogging up your inbox, MailWasher Pro is the right tool for the job. If you already have a licensed version of MailWasher Pro you probably know how to use custom user created filter rules to detect and delete spam. But, you may not know how to block image-only spam that comes from zombie home and office computers that are part of a BotNet. I have created and tested filter rules to delete this crap off the mail server without ever seeing it. Learn all about MailWasher Pro here.
If you are already using custom filters you just have to add my filters to the MailWasher Pro filters.txt file. This file is located in your profile under Documents and Settings > (Your_Account_Name folder) > Application Data > MailWasher Pro. You will need to set your Folder View Options to display Hidden Files and Folders and to display known file extensions, or these items will not be visible. If you need to set these options follow the instructions in the Extended Comments ("Read more...").
You will see a file named Filters.txt, inside the MailWasher Pro Application Data folder. Open in it Notepad then open my special filter rules: Select all and copy the rules in the popup window, then paste the rules into Filters.txt, near the top of the filters list. Make sure that each rule is on it's own continuous line, starting with [enabled]. Be sure that you do not have any blank spaces after the end of any filter rules, or any blank lines between filter rules. These things cause problems in the program. The last rule in Filters.txt should end after the last character, without a linefeed or carriage return.
Since spammers change their particulars from time to time I will alter these rules, or add new ones to continue to block this senseless spam for junk stocks and all other spam. These and the rest of my custom filters are available on my MailWasher Pro page. To be safe in case a legitimate email is deleted by one of these filter rules I have included a rule to display any email that you restore from the MailWasher Pro Recycle Bin. You should turn on this feature by going to Tools > Options > Summary > Recycle Bin and check the option to restore email, then type a valid email address from which you can send email, into the Outgoing Mail Settings field.
Never, ever buy anything that is advertised in a spam email, and never reply to one. Delete, delete, delete! If you are a reporting member of SpamCop you can also report, report, report! MailWasher Pro has a checkbox to forward spam manually to your SpamCop account, but you must respond to their reply message to actually file the report.
MailWasher Pro is free to try for 30 days, and costs only $37.00 to register, which includes a one year, renewable subscription to the FirstAlert! spam reporting system, plus, FREE Mailwasher program updates for life.
MailWasher Pro has always supported Windows and now supports Mac OS X 10.3 and Linux (for list of supported distributions, please see the download page link on this page).
Here is how you reset your Folder View Options to display the contents of hidden folders and to show the file extensions of known file types.
- Open any folder, like "My Documents"
- Click on Tools
- Click on Folder Options
- Click on View
- Check this if available: "Display the contents of System folders"
- Place a dot in this: "Show hidden files and folders"
- Uncheck this: "Hide extensions for known file types"
- Click APPLY
- Click OK to close the Folder Options dialog
- Refresh the view in the folder by pressing the F5 key
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