steve.clarke.weblog

Finally! I've found an anti-spam solution that works for me. It's called SpamNet. If you use Outlook and want to catch over 95% of spam that comes in your inbox, this is the answer.

(It works with Outlook 2003 Beta2 as well, in case you're wondering. It also works whether you use POP or Exchange Server - haven't tried it with IMAP, but presume it works. They also say that they're working on a version for Outlook Express.)

In the past few weeks, it has caught over 700 spam from me. On an average Saturday I would regularly get over 100 spam. Now with SpamNet, I get about 2 - 4.

It works by users "voting" on spam. When you get a spam that SpamNet doesn't catch, you click the "Block" button. It creates a unique signature of the email and sends it to a central server. Once a certain number of users flag the same message as spam, it gets added to their database of confirmed spam. From that point forward, all users of SpamNet receive the benefit of having that email deleted for them.

Actually it doesn't (by default) actually delete the spam. It puts them in a "Spam" folder. You can go in and review and "Unblock" false-positives. So far the only false-positives I've had are a few unimportant newsletters that I subscribe to. Once you unblock a message from the same address twice, SpamNet is smart enough to ask you if you want to add it to your "whitelist" so it doesn't get blocked by you in the future.

Overall great software that has saved me a tremendous amount of time and frustration.

Speaking of Outlook 2003, one of my favorite new features is that it blocks ALL images in email by default. No more having graphic porno spam pop up in your preview window when you open your mail client! You have to click an extra field to have the images downloaded if you choose. Great new feature!

Update 04/18: The best part is, SpamNet if FREE.
Update 04/28: Version 1.0 was just released. It's no longer free, but a reasonable $4.99 USD / mo.