MARK TEXT MESSAGE AS SPAM SOFTWARE

You might get an email that is clearly spam to you, mark it as spam, and then later get another nearly identical message that was still not filtered.

It might analyze the contents of the message and identify variousВ characteristics of the message it then records as вЂњlooking likeвЂќ spam to you.В When more email arrives with enough similar characteristics, it might be automatically flagged as spam.В This is the most common, and currently the mostВ effective, email-program-based, spam-filtering technique.ДЄs effective as it can be, the problem with looking for characteristicsВ is that itвЂ™s difficult to predict what will or will not constitute spam.Once again, IP-address-based blocking is also not effective againstВ spam В spammers send from millions of different IP addresses. It might add the IP address of the sender (or the senderвЂ™s email service) to aВ block list.(This is a separateВ function in some email programs.) Unfortunately, block lists based on emailВ addresses are typically not at all effective in the war against spam вЂ“ spammers are constantly changing or faking their email address. It might add the senderвЂ™s email address to a block list.How email programs use the informationДЄnВ email program mayВ use the fact that youвЂ™ve marked something as spam in severalВ different ways: The best I can suggest is to check the help information available for each. There are no blanket rules, and вЂ“ aside from dedicated apps, like the Gmail and Outlook apps вЂ“ itвЂ™s difficult to make assumptions about exactly how your email program works with your email service when it comes to spam. If youвЂ™re using IMAP, when the move is reflected on the serverвЂ™s master copy, itВ may be enough to notify the service that this message is spam. When you mark an email as spam, some email programs simply move it into a spam or junk folder. Change, delete, or move mail around in folders on your PC, and those changes will also be reflected in the master copy on the mail server. IMAP does this by leaving the вЂњmaster copyвЂќ of your email on the mail server, and simply maintainingВ a synchronizedВ copy of your mail on your computer. IMAP is used in desktop email programs to allow you to access your email from multiple different devices and keep everything in sync. Similarly, I have theВ Outlook mobile app, and when I use it to mark something as junk in my Hotmail account, that information also makes its way back to MicrosoftвЂ™s servers. However, since itвЂ™s dedicated to handling Google Mail, when I mark something as spam usingВ the program, the information is transmitted back to GoogleвЂ™s servers. Technically, thatвЂ™s an email program (app) running on my computer (the phone). On my mobile phone, for example, isВ an app I use to access Gmail. SomeВ email services now provide dedicated email programs. Mobile devices have addedВ a couple of twists on whether or not marking something as spam in a computer-based email program will actually make it back to the email service. The result is that it does not affect what email will continue to be downloaded in the future. Particularly if your email account is downloaded using the POP3 protocol, the information about what youвЂ™ve marked as spamВ typicallyВ does not make its way back to your email service provider.

When you mark something as spam (or вЂњjunkвЂќ, as itвЂ™s called in some programs), you are typically telling only that program that the email message is unwanted.

MARK TEXT MESSAGE AS SPAM SOFTWARE

The first thing we need to know isВ whether youвЂ™re marking it as spam in anВ email program running on your machine, or if youвЂ™re using an email serviceвЂ™s web-based interface via your browser.ДЄn email program is software that runs on your computer and downloads messagesВ from your email service to your local hard disk.В Examples of these kinds of email programs include Microsoft OfficeвЂ™s Outlook, Thunderbird, Windows Live Mail, and the Mail program included with Windows itself.В There are dozens, if not hundreds, of others. However, some general concepts applyВ whenВ you mark something as spam. ThereвЂ™s no definitive answer on exactly what happens, for reasons IвЂ™llВ explain in a moment.

Mark text message as spam