Contents
Introduction to Spam Buster™

Are you tired of junk e-mail messages cluttering up your inbox?  Would you like a quick and convenient way to filter out those nasty spamograms as they continually assault your hard disk?   If you answered yes to these questions then take action! Get Spam Buster! - the powerful way to filter out junk e-mail.

What is Spam Buster?

Benefits of Spam Buster

Settings

Why and how to register?

What's new in this version

System Requirements:

Windows 95 or Windows NT4.0, and an email pop account.
Note that Spam Buster does not work with America Online mail.  Sorry.

Spam Buster is a trademark of Contact Plus Corporation.

Copyright © 1998 by Contact Plus Corporation.


What is Spam Buster?

Spam Buster is an e-mail filter designed to help you get rid of that annoying junk e-mail that can clutter up your mail box.  Due to the popularity of the internet and the low cost of sending out advertisements, we are now awash in a flood of junk e-mail.  Rather than ban the transmission of e-mail (which can get into rather thorny first amendment issues) at the source, it is our feeling that we can use technology to help eliminate junk e-mail at the target (that is, your machine).  Spam Buster is not an e-mail program, however, it works great in conjunction with the major e-mail programs.

We recommend that you run Spam Buster before you run your e-mail program as the first line of defense agains the junk. Then from Spam Buster you can launch into your e-mail program to retrieve and read the e-mail that you wish to read after cleaning up the incoming mail.  Since Spam Buster does NOT download the entire message it is much quicker than using your normal e-mail program which will actually have to retrieve the entire message including any attachments.

Spam Buster will delete the junk e-mail before it gets to your mail program.  Then when you get into your mail program you will have a clean set of messages waiting for you after running Spam Buster.  Not only will it flag junk e-mail, it will allow you to preview and selectively delete ANY message (including non-spam) you wish simply by marking it.

What is SPAM?

Popular internet culture has transformed the word, SPAM, into one that really means junk e-mail.  That is all it is.  And usually junk e-mail comes in the form of advertisements.  It seems like the most popular ones are those that advocate get rich quick schemes and pornography.  The first time you get one of these junk e-mails it can be interesting to read, but it sure gets tiresome after the 100th e-mail message advertising a pyramid money making scheme comes into your mailbox.

How does Spam Buster work?

The spammers (those who send junk e-mail) realize that they need to get you to read the e-mail message in order to sell you.  They realize that they only have about 80 characters of the subject line in which to convey a quick message in order for you to keep your finger off of the delete e-mail button.  One effective way to lure you into reading the ad is to clutter the subject with superlatives, and exclamation and question marks.  Generally the spammers are not too creative as they tend to copy other spammers.  Fortunately this allows Spam Buster to easily identify the junk and separate the 'sheep' from the 'goats'.

Most junk e-mail now follows patterns to try to lure you into reading the advertisement.  You can take advantage of some of the known patterns by being able to modify a built in set of rules for the sender, the message subject and the message headers.  For example, those e-mail messages that have to do with money making schemes usually will end with a question or exclamation mark (!) or will have a dollar sign within the message ($).  You can tell Spam Buster to delete all mail that contains a dollar sign or ends with question marks or exclamation points such as the following messages:

  Make real $$$ quick
  Are you ready to be a millionaire?
  You've gotta see this!!!

Also many messages are in ALL UPPERCASE for emphasis.  It is generally unusual to receive a normal e-mail message in all uppercase since by convention it signifies that the sender is SHOUTING. Spam Buster can easily identify these messages as possible spams.

Sometimes the spam will not actually be addressed to you but will be addressed to the originator of the message (due to the mailing software used by the spammer).  This is easily identified by Spam Buster.

Some e-mailers have started to include keywords in the e-mail message header (the header includes special information that you normally do not care about).  These keywords include the term 'X-Advertisement'.  These are again easily identified by Spam Buster.

Some messages come from junk mailers who have all numbers for a user id such as 84323424@aol.com.  Generally a normal sender will not be named with all numbers. This is a good clue and Spam Buster can handle this case.

If these strategies don't catch the spam, Spam Buster comes with a recent list of more than 15,000 pre-entered known spam mailers and allows you to enter any number of built in rules so that you can catch spam and kill it dead in its tracks.

Why doesn't Spam Buster include some sort of retaliation measures?

In designing Spam Buster, this was certainly a consideration, however, it has been our experience that responding to junk e-mail rarely stops the sender from sending more junk e-mail.  In fact, it gives the sender a confirmation that there is indeed someone who is reading and responding to the e-mail which can provide an impetus for the sender to send even more junk e-mail.  If the sender of the original junk e-mail didn't care to respect your privacy why would they respect it later?  Also, oftentimes the reply to address is bogus so your complaint simply gets bounced back to you.


Settings

There are 2 types of settings that you can change to suit your particular environment.  You need to tell Spam Buster how to get your mail, what constitutes a junk e-mail and whether it should run automatically.

Click on the topic below for more information

Spam Settings - rules to filter spam

General Settings - configure automatic mode, log file, sounds, startup options, etc


Benefits of Spam Buster

Let's face it.  We all want freedom of speech but junk mail is getting rather cumbersome.  Rather than suppressing junk e-mail at the source (quite thorny from a first amendment viewpoint), it is much better to catch the e-mail at the destination and wipe it out automatically.   If you've been pestered by e-mail and need a quick and easy way to stop it then you need Spam Buster.  We've listed 12 reasons for you to get Spam Buster below:

Spam Buster is super fast! Since Spam Buster doesn't have to download the entire e-mail message to determine if the e-mail is junk, therefore it is very quick.

Spam Buster comes with a massive list of over 15,000 known spam senders!  A list of e-mail addresses from known spam senders has been collected and gathered from public sources on the internet.  You can automatically check your incoming e-mail against this massive list of known spammers.

Spam Buster allows you to add your own friends to a list of exceptions.  Those messages sent by friends are never deleted.  In fact a message from a friend will be marked with a special icon to catch your attention.

Spam Buster allows you to add special keywords to a list of exceptions.  Perhaps you are on a mailing list and although the e-mail may look like spam it really isn't.  If the e-mail contains a consistent keyword then it will not be marked for deletion.

Spam Buster can warn you of a potential spam. There are some criteria that may look suspicious (i.e. the presence of !! in the message) however, you may not want to delete it but have Spam Buster draw your attention to it with a special question mark.

Spam Buster can run automatically at preset intervals! Spam Buster can operate in an automatic mode where it will notify you if there is e-mail waiting to be checked in pre-defined intervals (say every 60 minutes or so).

Spam Buster handles numerous multiple mailboxes.  Up to 12 POP mailboxes can be handled on a particular computer.

Spam Buster tells you which strategy is getting the most activity.  As you add and select new strategies to filter out junk, Spam Buster keeps a count of the number of hits a particular strategy has matched.  This allows you to fine tune your selection strategies.

Spam Buster will actually let you view your e-mail message before it gets to your mailbox.  If you can't decide whether you should delete a message, you can actually view the message quickly and easily.  Don't worry, viewing a message will not prevent it from ending up in your default e-mail program.

Spam Buster will tell you in plain English why a particular message is marked for deletion.  A particular message will be marked if it matches any of the criteria.  As you build more and more filter criteria it can get hard to keep track of the different reasons a message is suspected of being a spam.  Spam Buster will tell you why it marked the messages in plain English, allowing you to adjust your criteria if necessary.

Spam Buster is powerful yet affordable. Spam Buster can do all this yet is only $19.95 and that includes free updates when we release new versions.

BONUS! Spam Buster comes with a unique junk e-mail tension reliever. Go to the About screen, select the Bust a Spam option and then click on the hammer.  Watch as the SpamMeister takes a hammer to the spam.  Can be quite gratifying ;o).

Questions

Why not just delete the e-mail when you get it within Eudora, Microsoft Messaging or Pegasus?  This is a good question.  The problem with using this strategy is that it takes time to have to scan down the list of junk e-mail and decide which is junk and which should be kept.  Depending on your e-mail settings in your e-mail program you may accidentally delete a legitimate message by a too anxious finger on the delete key.

Also by retrieving the e-mail messages in your e-mail program you are getting the entire message, not just the header or identifying information (which Spam Buster does).  Therefore since spam messages can get large this strategy can be slower than using Spam Buster to identify the e-mail.

Since most junk e-mail follows a pattern you can quickly and easily delete most of the junk.  Those messages that slip through the cracks can be automatically added to the list of spam senders and further messages will thus be filtered out.


Why and how to register?
Why and how can I register?

Spam Buster is ad supported software ... meaning there are no limitations or nag screens.  The product is paid for by advertisers via the banner on the main screen.  The registered version does remove all advertising screens.

Once you decide to pay and register this copy of Spam Buster any and ALL subsequent updates are available on-line for FREE!  If you see an update with a later version number on the internet or on our website, just download and install it.  It will recognize that you have previously registered and turn the unregistered  update into a new registered version!!

On-line ordering and delivery

Spam Buster is only $19.95(US) and can be downloaded and registered on-line with a credit card at our secure web site.  All transactions are encrypted for your privacy and safety.   The full program will be available for download once we process your transaction.  This is by far the fastest and easiest way to get a registered copy of Spam Buster onto your computer.

To order on-line, click on the Register Button while running the program to be directed to our secure registration web page on the internet.

Ordering via fax or postal mail with on-line or diskette delivery

Don't have a credit card or don't trust the internet with your credit card number?  No problem.  You can still order the product by filling out the order form, printing it out, then faxing it or postal mailing it to us along with the payment.  We will then send the registered version to your e-mail account.

If you want a diskette mailed to you, the cost is $24.95 (US).  Just click on the Register Button while running Spam Buster to print out an order form.  You can then fax or mail that order form into Contact Plus Corporation along with payment and we will mail you a diskette when the order is processed.

Do you want to place your order with a live person?

We also can take orders over the telephone during normal business hours from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday through Friday Eastern Standard Time.  Our phone number for orders is 407-984-2592.

If you have more questions you can contact us at:

Contact Plus Corporation
PO Box 372577
Satellite Beach, FL  32937
voice: 407-984-2592
fax: 407-984-8192
http://www.contactplus.com


What's new in this version

Version 1.7 - This version is ad supported freeware.  There are no limitations with this version.  The registered version will eliminate the advertising screens.

Version 1.6 - Now you have the ability to check for invalid domain names.  The black list has been updated and a bug with checking multiple mailboxes has been fixed.

Version 1.5 - Previous versions would stop automatically checking e-mail if an error occurred during the automatic check option.  This has been fixed.

Added a new ability to scan log files and display daily, hourly and day by day statistics.

Version 1.4 - Added more powerful selection options for the list of exceptions.  New version now allows you to search the header searching for a keyword (say you are on a mailing list).  Also up to 12 different bitmaps can be applied to the exception so you can categorize the incoming mail.  For example, an incoming mail with the small box of chocolates icon would be from your SO (significant other).  The ambulance icon may stand for a medical discussion.  Use them as you please.

Also cleaned up the known spammer list so that e-mail addresses belonging to a known domain name were deleted since they are automatically covered under the domain name.

Version 1.3 - Initial Release


General Settings

There are six general settings tabs that allow you to customize Spam Buster.

Mailboxes - up to 12 mailboxes can be checked.  Many people have more than one POP mailbox.  Spam Buster can check up to 12.

Connection - This is your default connection to the internet.  This is the server that will be connected to when ready to collect the e-mail headers.

Automatic  - Spam Buster can run in an unattended automatic mode if you so desire.  It can at predefined intervals check your mail server for new spam messages and notify you automatically or it can also delete the messages.  If you check the automatic/unattended option you can set the interval in minutes.

Start Up - Spam Buster can start up automatically in the system tray.  If this option is set, then the next time you start up Spam Buster you will NOT see the main screen.  Instead, a small hammer icon will be placed in the system tray.  Position the cursor over the hammer and right click to view the options available.  This is really only useful if Spam Buster is set to automatically check the mail.  Set this option and place a shortcut in your startup menu if you want Spam Buster to start in your system tray when you boot up.  Note that if automatic mode is enabled, the small icon will blink indicating that it is ready to check your e-mail automatically.  The number of minutes until it will check your e-mail can be determined by simply placing the cursor over the hammer in the tray.

Activity Logfile - Specify the name of a log file for logging those messages that have been deleted by Spam Buster.  This setting is important if you accidentally delete a legitimate message.  Periodically you may want to clean out the log file.  Just click on the clear button.

Mail Program - The mail program is your default mailing program which can be automatically launched by Spam Buster after the spam messages have been cleaned up.  Click on the search button to locate your mail program.  On installation, Spam Buster will attempt to locate your default e-mail program automatically.


General Settings - Automatic

Spam Buster can operate automatically where it will go out and check your e-mail for junk spam messages on a periodic basis.  The options on the General Settings - Automatic screen are:

Check e-mail manually - Automatic mode is disabled.  E-mail will only be checked on your initiative.

Check e-mail unattended or automatically - will check e-mail on a regular basis every n minutes.

Delete spam automatically - no confirmation - note this option has the potential of deleting legitimate messages since it will delete spam without your confirmation.  It is possible to over delete with this option!  See note below.

Check and delete spam from ALL mailboxes.  If you are deleting messages automatically, Spam Buster can check  and delete from all of your mailboxes.

Important Note: Be careful of the rules set if you wish to delete SPAM automatically without confirmation.  For example, you may have a rule that looks for trailing exclamation points (!!) but you may get a birthday greeting from your sister looking like 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!' which on the surface looks like a spam but actually is a legitimate message.  If your sister was not on the list of exceptions then that message would be deleted ... obviously a mistake.

What if you accidentally delete an e-mail message?  The activity log displays the subject and e-mail address of all deleted e-mail messages.  If you accidentally delete an e-mail message, you can at least use the subject line to request an re-emailing from the sender.


General Settings - Mailboxes

There are 3 bits of information per mailbox or user that need to be entered in the Mail Server Settings in order for Spam Buster to be able to connect to your ISP properly.

1) POP Server - this is the name of the mail server where your mail is normally stored.  It will probably contain the name of your internet service provider (ISP) within the name.  For example, the mail server for The Internet Access Company is 'mail.tiac.net'.  If you do not know this you will have to contact your ISP.

2) User or mailbox name - this is the user name or mailbox that is registered on your mail server.   Again, if you do not know this information you can get it by calling your local ISP.

3) Password - this is the password assigned to the user name or mailbox.  You were probably assigned a password and generally your ISP cannot give this out unless they are changing it.

If you select to delete spam automatically without confirmation you can also elect to delete spam from all of the mailboxes listed.

Note: Spam Buster will make an attempt to try and get this information from your computer when you first run Spam Buster.  Unfortunately we are not able to get the password automatically.  You will need to type this in yourself.


System Tray

This is the small area generally on the right hand corner of the status bar.  You will see a collection of small graphical icons representing programs that are running in the background.  When Spam Buster runs you will see a small hammer icon located in this tray.  Position the mouse cursor over the hammer and right click to see more options.


Logfile
Activity Log File

The activity log file is an ASCII text file that contains a record of all activity performed by Spam Buster.  Everytime you check or delete your e-mail a record of that activity is stored in the log file.  The log file will grow over time as information is continually appended to the bottom of the file.

Since the information in the log file will continue to expand over time, you may wish to use the automatic naming options which will automatically rename the log file thus allowing you to keep shorter separate log files categorized by month or quarter rather than one very large log file.  Spam Buster will automatically generate the name of the file as time goes by.  You do not have to change the name if using the automatic naming options.

There are two options for naming the log files:  (1) pick a new name each month or (2) pick a new name each quarter.  If the month option is selected then the log file will be created for each new month that Spam Buster is run ... Jan98.txt, Feb98.txt, Mar98.txt ... etc.  The quarter option will name the files Q1_98.txt, Q2_98.txt ... etc.

Spam Buster includes a View Statistics button which will summarize the number of times you have checked your e-mail, how many e-mail messages were deleted and how many messages were waiting on the file server.  The View Statistics function allows you to select different activity log files if you use the automatic naming option.


Spam Settings

Spam Buster uses multiple strategies in attempting to identify a spam message.  The number of strategies can get large therefore they are organized onto 6 different tabs.  Each tab focuses on a different set of strategies.

Subject  - strategies that focus on the e-mail subject line

Headers - strategies that will peek inside of the e-mail header

Sender - who is the e-mail sent from and does it follow a known pattern

Size - is the e-mail message too large or too small (zero length)?

Exceptions - these are known friends and colleagues ... these messages are never deleted

Blacklist of Known Spammers - a list of the e-mail addresses of known spammers

Valid Domain Name Check - is the domain name valid? or was it made up?

Search strategy:

To determine if an e-mail is a spam here is how Spam Buster goes about searching through the different strategies:

1) First the exception list is searched to see if the sender is a friend or known user.  If found, then the remaining strategies are skipped.

2) Starting at the top of the Subject Strategies, Spam Buster searches from the top to the bottom until it runs out of strategies or it matches the e-mail with a check mark.

3) If a match using a check mark strategy was found then the remaining strategies are skipped.

4) The Size, Headers, Sender are all checked from top to bottom for a match.  If a match is found anywhere the remaining strategires are skipped.

5) Finally if none of the strategies matched, the blacklist is then searched.

Note that the hit count is updated from the top of the list to the bottom.  Hint: You may want to position the most frequent rules at the top of the list by clicking on the Up or Down arrow or by sorting by 'Hits'.


Subject line
Spam Settings - Subject Line

When Spam Buster checks your e-mail it does NOT download the entire message which saves much time.  It only will check the subject and from information to quickly make a determination of whether or not to delete the junk e-mail.

The subject line is compared to a number of rules that you can define including:

contains
contains (whole word)
equals
starts with
ends with
is blank or empty
is all UPPERCASE

The messages can be marked with a check mark or a question mark.  Only those messages marked with a check mark will actually be deleted.  The ones with a question mark will not be deleted but only meant to give you a visual clue about a particular e-mail.

Use the check if case matters option if you want a precise match above.


Check If Case Matters

If the case (upper or lower) matters, then Spam Buster will compare the strings on a strict character by character basis.  For example the string 'This is a Spam' will NOT match 'This is a SPAM' since the word 'Spam' does not match 'SPAM'.  This is a strict search therefore less matches will be uncovered.  Note that case NEVER matters for the sender e-mail address or domain name.


Contains (whole word)

This is similar to the 'contains' type of match except that it will only match on whole words instead of a partial word.

For example the search string : 'come' will match the following if you use the simple contains type of match:

Welcome to the show
Become a better speaker!
Come to our web site

With a whole word match, the search is more restrictive and it will only match the following:

Be sure to come to our site
Come to our web site
Please do [come]


From
Spam Settings - Sender

When Spam Buster checks your e-mail it does NOT download the entire message which saves much time.  It only will check the subject and sender information to quickly make a determination of whether or not to delete the junk e-mail.

The Sender line (who the e-mail is from) is compared to a number of rules that you can define including:

contains
equals
starts with
ends with
all numeric
50% numeric
first character numeric

Note that there is no upper/lower case comparison check on the e-mail address.  For example, the e-mail address 'SUCCESS@ContactPlus.com' will match 'success@contactplus.com'.

The messages can be marked with a check mark or a question mark.  Only those messages marked with a check mark will actually be deleted.  The ones with a question mark will not be deleted but only meant to give you a visual clue about a particular e-mail.


All Numeric

The sender address is all numbers (which many spam e-mail messages follow this convention).  For example: 324323432@juno.com.  Note that the domain name (the portion to the right of the '@') is ignored in determining if the sender address is all numeric.


50% Numeric

The characters in the Sender's E-mail Address are composed of 50% or more of numbers.  For example: 1234abc@hotmail.com would qualify.  Many spam e-mail messages have this characteristic which is not generally true of real e-mail messages. Note that the domain name (the portion to the right of the '@') is ignored in determining if the sender is 50% numeric.


First Character Numeric

The first character of the Sender's Email address is a number.  This can be another clue to the fact that the incoming message is from an advertiser.  Generally most people do not start their user id with a number.


Size/Date
Spam Settings - Size

The size of the e-mail may give you a clue as to whether the e-mail is junk or not.  If the e-mail you normally receive is under 20,000 bytes then you may want to check this value.  Generally the size of the e-mail message is not a very useful indicator.


Exceptions
Spam Settings - Exceptions

The list of exceptions allows you to put known e-mail addresses into Spam Buster so that no matter what these individuals send to you they will never be marked to delete.

You can insert either an actual e-mail address such as 'info@contactplus.com' or a domain name such as 'contactplus.com'.  The domain name means that anyone that sends an e-mail message from 'contactplus.com' will be automatically accepted.

Note that you can automatically add people to the exception list by right clicking on the retrieved e-mail messages on the main screen.  A popup will enable you to add the selected e-mail messages to the exception list.


Right Clicking

You may right click on the selected items that appear on the main screen.  A small popup window will appear enabling you to select all messages, send the selected e-mail from addresses to the exception list or send the messages and their senders to the spam list.  After retrieving your messages, Spam Buster will also tell you WHY it marked a particular message. To manually mark an e-mail message, double click on it.


Known Spammers
Spam Settings - BlackList of known spammers

Spam Buster comes with a sorted list of over 15,000 e-mail addresses and domain names of those who are known to send junk e-mail.   As each e-mail message is scanned, it is compared to this list of known spammers and if a match is found, the e-mail will be marked with a BLACK check mark.  The black check mark is identical to the red check mark except that it tells you that the spam came from somebody on the black list.

The list is composed of both explicit e-mail addresses such as 'nobody@nowhere.com' and selected domain names such as 'makelotsofmoney.com'.  A domain name is considered to be anything that does not have a '@' symbol within the e-mail address.

Two quick searches are done for a particular e-mail message:

(1) Spam Buster first searches the blacklist for the specific e-mail address which includes the domain name  (upper/lower case does not matter).  If there is an exact match then the e-mail will be considered a spam from a known sender.

(2) Spam Buster will then search for the domain name only if the first search failed.  The domain name of the sender of the e-mail message is then compared to the list of domain names on the black list and if there is a match, the e-mail will be considered a spam.

You can add to and delete from this list if desired.  To edit, simply click on the Edit button and start making your changes.  Once you have finished, click on the Save button to save the changes.  The list of known spammers will be automatically re-sorted.   You'll be surprised as to how quick the comparison is, even with over 15,000 e-mail addresses.

Note that upper/lower case does not matter for e-mail addresses and domain names.  In other words, the e-mail address 'Success@ContactPlus.com' is treated the same as 'success@contactplus.com'

You may elect not to compare the incoming e-mail with this list of known spammers.  If you do not wish to compare then simply click on the option at the top of the screen.


Domain Names

A domain name is the name of the organization or company that an e-mail address is attached to.  For example in the e-mail address 'success@contactplus.com': the domain name is 'contactplus.com'


Headers
Spam Settings - Headers

When you receive an e-mail message all kinds of hidden detailed information accompany the message which may help in identifying a spam message.  A typical header will look something like the following:

From ???@??? Sat Sep 13 13:48:05 1997
Return-Path: 8535412061@aol.com
Received: from stimpy.globecomm.net (stimpy.globecomm.net [207.51.48.4]) by mun.xx.net (8.8.5/8.6.11) with ESMTP id NAA15739 for <freod@mnu.net>; Sat, 13 Sep 1997 13:38:27 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from raven.sat.net (raven.sat.net [198.170.216.3]) by stimpy.globecomm.net (8.8.7/8.8.0) with SMTP id NAA05502; Sat, 13 Sep 1997 13:30:13 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from mail.sat.net (1Cust20.max63.los-angeles.ca.ms.uu.net [153.34.101.148]) by raven.sat.net (8.6.12/8.6.12) with SMTP id MAA04560; Sat, 13 Sep 1997 12:19:01 -0500
From: 8535412061@aol.com
Date: Sat, 13 Sep 97 10:07:39 EST
To: friendsover@aol.com
Subject:         25,000,000 Fresh Green Eggs and Ham
Message-ID: <>
Reply-To: bosmansam@concentric.net
Content-Type: text

E-mail messages are passed from one computer to another in order to get to the final destination.  The header contains detailed routing information not normally seen or important to the end user.  This information is normally filtered out by e-mail programs since it is generally irrelevant.  However, it is relevant to a filter program such as Spam Buster since the header can give us clues about deleting the junk mail.

For example, sometimes junk mail will have the keyword:

X-Advertisement: Visit http://www.xxx.org for name removal information.

Just the occurrence of the 'X-Advertisement' will enable Spam Buster to delete all messages containing such message within the header.

In the example above,note the From field above does NOT match the Reply-to field.  This can be an indicator of a junk e-mail as it may indicate that the mail was not sent by the originator of the message.  Spam Buster can spot this discrepancy.

Also note that the field To: friendsover@aol.com above doesn't match our actual e-mail address.  This is another good indicator that the message is a spam.

Nowadays, some spams are addressed using the same name of the sender.  If the message above was from 8535412061@aol.com and addressed to the same 8535412061@aol.com then here is another good indicator of a spam.

You may do a 'contains' type of search on anything within the header.  For example, you can search for the word 'stimpy' (which appears in the example above) by specifying that the Message Header should contain (Whole word) 'stimpy'.


Hit Count

This is the tally of the number of hits that a particular rule matched.  Everytime you 'Check E-mail'  the hits are incremented.  To clear out a hit count, simply type directly on the grid and overwrite the old value with a 0.


Valid Domain Name Check

Spam Buster can check for valid domain names which will enable it to more accurately determine if a particular message is coming from a bogus sender.

It does this by checking the domain name of both the Reply-To and Sender fields.  For example, let's say you get an e-mail from a 'sam@hardeeharhar.com'.  The sender's domain hardeeharhar.com will be checked to see if it is actually a valid domain name.  If it isn't then the e-mail can be considered junk.

Note: It is possible to misidentify junk e-mail using this technique since the sender may have inadvertently typed in the wrong reply-to in his e-mail program.


Check Mark

Those e-mail messages that are marked with a check mark will be deleted.  Other e-mail messages that are marked with a question mark will NOT be deleted.  The question mark is only meant to draw your attention to a potential junk e-mail.


popreplyto
If a Reply-to exists in the header and if the Sender is not the same as the Reply-to field then this is a good indicator that the e-mail message is a spam.  This could indicate that the originator of the message is not the same as the person who responds to it.


popupTo
Click here if you want to make sure that the 'To:' always contains part of your actual e-mail address.  For example, the user ContPlus@contactplus.com should have the word 'contplus' somewhere in the To field.


popMsgHeader
Click here to scan the message header for a particular field or match.


popEmailHeader
Select the matching strategy when peeking inside of the e-mail header.


popXheader
Enter the string that will be searched for in the e-mail header.  Clue: Many spams will contain the string X-Advertisement in the header.


popToSameAsFrom
Often when junk e-mail is sent in bulk it will be addressed to the same person who sent the mail.  For example, a spam from 'schmoe01@hotmail.com' will be addressed to 'schmoe01@hotmail.com' within the headers.


popupIntervalCheck
If checked, the program will run in an automatic mode in that it will check your mail-server for spam on a regular basis.


popListFriends
This is a list of friends or people who you always want to receive e-mail from regardless of the content or size.


popupSubjectGrid
The grid is a list of all rules or criteria that will be used to identify spam.  You may edit the 'Matches' column directly by simply typing over the old entry in that column.


popStrategy
Select a strategy for matching the subject line to the information you enter here.


popAlarmSoundFile
This is the folder and name of the WAV or sound file that will be played when an alarm comes in.  Spam Buster comes with 2 alarm files - a harp sound and a noisier brass band with percussion sound.  If this is empty no sound will be played.


popAlarmRepeat
If automatic mode is turned on then checking this will repeat the alarm sound over and over until you mouse click or press a key on the main Spam Buster screen.


popPlayAlarm
When running in automatic mode, If there is e-mail on the mail-server the alarm will sound if this is checked AND if an alarm sound file has been initialized below.


subject line
Type in a pattern that will be used to match.  Or click on the downarrow to view some pre-defined choices.


popConnection
Click to select which internet connection you use.  If you do not use a dial-up connection, select NONE.


popupper
Click if upper and lower case matters.  If it is checked, the search will be more restrictive.


popQuestionMark
If a message is marked with a check mark it will be deleted on request.  Otherwise it will be marked with a question mark which will at least flag the message for further consideration.  Messages with question marks are not deleted.


popLogfile
The log file is a simple ascii text file which will store a record of each message that was deleted.  The subject, sender, size and date/time of the message are displayed.


poplogerror
Click to view the contents of the log file.  If the log file has not been created you will get an error message.


popLaunchEmail
Click to launch your default e-mail program.


popCount
Each time you delete a junk e-mail with Spam Buster, the count is incremented.  To clear out the count, simply click on the reset count button which will reset it to 0.


popLaunch
This is the name of the folder and program that will be run when the launch button is displayed after checking the mail.  After checking the mail with Spam Buster you can launch your normal e-mail program.


popupInterval
If set to run in an automatic mode, you may select the number of minutes in the interval to check the mail server for new spam.


popManual
This is the default mode - manual operation.  We suggest that you start off using this mode first since you may be a bit ambitious in setting up the spam filters and select too many messages.


popAutoRun
If you did not select all messages to be deleted, checking this option will automatically run your e-mail program after the spams have been cleared out.  If you are using multiple mailboxes, you may not want to use this option.


popVerifyDelete
In the manual mode, you will be prompted to verify your desire to delete the messages that are marked with the question mark.  If this is not checked, Spam Buster will simply delete the messages once the Delete Messages button has been clicked.


popCheckExit
If this option is checked, after the Check E-Mail button has been pressed, the program will exit.  This is not recommended if you use multiple mailboxes and wish to check more than one mailbox.


Contains

A string is contained within the subject if is located anywhere within the subject.  For example the string adult is contained within the following lines:

  Hot, new adult site for you
  Adults only!!
  Don't adulterate this message!
  this is for the adult in you
  On adultery
  Adult


Equals

A string will equal another string if all characters within both strings match on a character by character basis.  If there is only one character difference from one string to another it will not match.  If the case-sensitivity is turned on, the both the upper and lower case letter must match exactly.

For example, the message 'Hot Site!' will only match:

Hot Site!

Check out this Hot Site! today

but will NOT match

Hot Site

A new hot site

Check out this new hot site


Starts With

A string starts with another string if it starts at the left hand side and matches character by character.

For example: the string 'Hot'

will match

Hot new site

Hot Hot Hot

Hot babes!

but will NOT match

A hot new site

Check out this hot site!


Ends With

A string ends with another string if character by character it matches at the end of a string.  This especially useful when looking for punctuation as many spam messages will end with either a question (?) or exclamation mark (!).

For example ends with !!!

will match:

Check this out!!!

Want to make some money!!!

Have you seen this?!!!

but will NOT match

Hello!!!  What have you been up to?


Is Blank Or Empty

If a subject is blank or empty then you may want to erase it.  Some spam messages have been known to come in with a blank or empty from subject line or sender address.


Is All UPPERCASE

A spam subject line generally is in all uppercase letters.  Use this option to identify it.  For example:

TRY THIS PLEASE

ARE YOU READY TO MAKE MORE MONEY!

READ THIS MESSAGE