The Junk mail problem has increased and that they are a total waste of time and resources. Spamming is the practice of sending large quantities of emails to people who did not request it, do not want it, and are not interested in it. This is a global issue and is not limited only to NTU or Singapore. This issue also mentioned in a Singapore Parliament Debate on 20 March 2003.
Sources of SPAM are from agents who buy and sell mailing lists. These agents could obtain their lists via the use of programs scripts which crawl through web sites (eg. your home web page) searching for email addresses. Email addresses could also be gathered from "subscribed" sites like free MP3 music, quote of the day, etc. Another technique used is to try all possible combinations of email addresses: abcd@ntu.edu.sg, bcde@ntu.edu.sg ... We are in no legal position to stop people from selling databases of email addresses and sending SPAM to our mailboxes. Spamming is illegal when it affects the normal operation of the system receiving the spam. This is covered under Section 7 of the Computer Misuse Act 
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CITS is aware of the SPAM problem and is taking actions to combat it. We are actively filtering (blocking) known sources of SPAM. (Internal emails are not blocked.) Currently we have hundreds of sites or addresses blocked from sending mails to NTU. However, as you know Spammers can change their source address and we have a catch up job. We only block sites which continuously SPAM us and ignore our request to stop the SPAM. Same sites are more cooperative and will take action against their subscribers to stop SPAM from their sites. Suspected spam mail is tagged as [Possible Spam], and you may configure a mailbox rule to direct these emails to your Junk E-mail folder. You may then scan through the Junk E-mail folder before emptying it.
Automatically move [possible spam] tagged e-mail messages (using Outlook client)
To create a rule to move [possible spam] to your Junk E-Mail folder:
Click on Tools menu followed by Rules and Alerts.
Click on New Rule
Select the second option Move messages with specific words in the subject to a folder
Click on specific words and enter "[possible spam]" without the quotes
Click on the specified folder and select your Junk E-mail folder.
Click on Finish
Automatically move [possible spam] tagged e-mail messages (using Webmail Premium)
To create a rule to move [possible spam] to your Junk E-Mail folder:
- Click on Rules icon on the bottom-left
- Click on New to create a new rule
- Enter [possible spam] in the Rule Name box
- Enter [possible spam] in the Subject contains box
- Click on specified on the Move it to the specified folder option, and select the Junk E-mail folder
- Click Save and Close button.
Our current action may appear to be non-aggressive. However, we do believe that our users do not want to have their legitimate emails blocked. Current email filtering "firewall" software which is based on keyword search may blocked legitimate emails. On the other hand, this is not to say that CITS will not continually seek suitable software or new filtering mechanism in the future.
If you receive SPAM, it is better NOT to reply or attempt to unsubscribed the mail by using the email address or web link provided. These will only increase the amount of SPAM to your mailbox as your action would signal to the Spammer that your mailbox is 'active'. (However, if the source is from reputable sites, for example professional societies, it is safe to unsubscribe from their mailing list.) Simply ignoring and deleting the junk mail is a better option.
To allow you to fine tune the process even further, Outlook has some junk mail filtering features which offer even greater flexibility. You can set the level of filtering for junk mails and even maintain your own list of junk senders or safe senders. To enable this on Outlook:
Set Junk E-mail filtering in Outlook 2003
Follow the steps to set the level of junk mail filtering. You can also delete the junk mail directly without storing it in the junk folder.
- From the Tools menu, select Options.
- In the Preferences tab, click the Junk E-mail button.
- Select the desired level (Low is the default).
- Click OK twice to close all dialog boxes.
Add a sender to the Junk Senders list
To redirect all mails from a particular sender to the Junk E-mail folder, you can add his name to the Junk Senders list.
In Outlook Client:
- In Inbox, click a message from the sender whose messages you want to automatically treat as junk.
- From the Actions menu, point to Junk E-mail, and then click Add Sender to Block Senders list. (Another way is to right-click on the email and select Junk E-mail > Add Sender to Block Senders list.)
In Outlook Web Access:
- First enable your Junk Mail feature under Options, and checked on Filter Junk E-mail.
Click on Save and Close (on the top of the page)
- In Inbox, click a message from the sender whose messages you want to automatically treat as junk.
- Right-click on the email and select Add Sender to Block Senders list.
Make an exception in your Junk Senders list
Sometimes emails from people you know are incorrectly treated as junk. You can manually inform Outlook not to treat their emails as junk. Messages sent from these e-mail addresses will appear in your Inbox as usual, even if the e-mail address is part of a domain listed in your Junk Senders list. Any rules you applied to the domain will not be applied to this sender.
In Outlook Client:
- In Inbox, click a message from the sender whose messages you do not want to be treated as junk.
- From the Actions menu, point to Junk E-mail, and then click Add Sender to Safe Sender list. (Another way is to right-click on the email and select Junk E-mail > Add Sender to Safe Sender list.)
In Outlook Web Access:
- Check that your Junk Mail feature has been enabled under Options, and Filter Junk E-mail is checked.
Click on Save and Close (on the top of the page)
- In Inbox, click a message from the sender whose messages you do not want to be treated as junk.
- Right-click on the email and select Add Sender to Safe Sender list.
If needed, please feel free to report continuous SPAM to us here
