Spam Detection Basics
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The problem of spam is getting worse. Internet researcher Jupiter Media Metrix estimates that consumers will receive about 206 billion junk e-mailings in 2006--an average of 1,400 per person, compared with about 700 per person this year. (Source news.com article March 21, 2002) The same article stated that spam costs "… an estimated $1 per piece in lost productivity." Although this estimate seems high, spam certainly does waste time and money. Spam Sleuth™ will recover that time and money for you.

The goal is to eliminate spam (or unwanted e-mail) while retaining all the e-mail that you want. Spam Sleuth™ gives you the tools to make this happen. Spam Sleuth does a great job without any configuration except for your e-mail account. It performs even better if you provide it with additional information about what you consider valuable e-mail.

Most friends and business associates that write you letters are not going to have their messages flagged as spam. You may, however, be on some interesting and informative mailing lists that have some spam characteristics. If you let Spam Sleuth know what these are, it will let them right through. Once you've added your mailing lists and most of your friends, you can really crack down on the spam.

Because an occasional desirable message gets marked as spam, Spam Sleuth™ will keep messages so that you can recover them. The default is to keep them for thirty days, but if you're a pack-rat you can keep them longer. Or, you may figure if it is important enough, they'll send it again, and you can have Spam Sleuth™ trash the messages immediately. Spam Sleuth™ will even let you do both, if a message is 'bad enough,' you can have Spam Sleuth™ dispose of it immediately and permanently. But if a message is questionable, you can have it held for you in the Mail Jail.

Each person has their own individual spam tolerance. Some like all real messages to make it into their InBox even if it means some spam may make it in. Some like all spam removed even if it means a few real messages get flagged as spam (as long as they can get those real messages back). We have configured Spam Sleuth somewhere in the middle. It will eliminate 95% of spam, and occasionally a real message will be flagged as spam.

If a message that you really wanted is tagged as spam, you can go to the Mail Jail and read it there in the spam viewer, or you can just "UnSpam" it and it goes right back into your e-mail program.

Spam Sleuth™ goes much further than its "competition" (and we use that term loosely). Spam Sleuth can also remove dangerous attachments, strip out potentially harmful Java™ script, eliminate image links that send your information, and more. Spam Sleuth is pre-configured to remove attachments that can be executed on your computer. All e-mail viruses are spread by sending executable attachments, which Spam Sleuth™ can remove. If you know the attachment is not dangerous, just go to the Mail Jail and "UnSpam" it. Be careful, though, many times the attachments are sent from somebody you know, but are still dangerous, because your friend didn't send you the dangerous attachment, the virus on their computer sent the attachment.

The folks who send these unwanted e-mails are using tricks to defeat spam programs. Some have even gone as far as encoding the message so that spam programs can't detect key words. Spam Sleuth decodes the messages before analyzing them to counter this underhanded tactic. As new tricks are devised by the spammers, Spam Sleuth will counter them. Spam Sleuth is designed so that new modules can be dropped in and immediately recognized by Spam Sleuth.

Spam Sleuth also uses InstantX™ and Intellimingle™ technology so that it can be updated over the Internet and yet keep all of your settings. You can add your own "BadWords" and the automatic update can update the master list of BadWords also. If you remove one of the words we consider a spam indicator, our updated list will not put it back. Feel free to tailor Spam Sleuth™ to your needs, and allow updates, which keep spam in check.

If an e-mail from a friend or business associate is mistaken for spam, just go to the Mail Jail, right-click and say 'Add to Friends' so that you'll always get their messages in the future and then hit 'UnSpam' to get the message back to your InBox.

More helpful hints for eliminating spam:
·Don't reply to spam messages – then they know you look at your junk e-mail – just add them to Spammers so you don't see their messages.  
·Assume that many of the free Internet giveaways are to get your e-mail address. Decide if it is worth it.  
·Don't buy anything from spammers – just live without the Flat-Hoses, Viagra, $50 University Diplomas, and becoming a millionaire this month.