Content filtering rule not working

I created a domain-wide Content Filtering rule. When the Subject contains one or more of the words Viagra, VIAGRA, VIAGRAA, or VIAGRAÂ, then SmarterMail is to simply delete the message, so it never appears in our Inboxes.

This rule is not working. We still are getting these messages. Is there some other setting I am not doing correctly? When I go back into the Content Filtering page this rule is present.

(In SmarterMail I went to Settings, Domain Settings, Content Filtering, and created this rule.)

Thanks,
Gene

 

No, there are no other rules present, other than the default SPAM settings. None of the Viagra messages are arriving with SPAM-Low, Medium, or High prefixes to their subjects. They seem to be getting through without being tagged.

I checked personal settings, too, and there are no rules set for the accounts.

We are new to DiscountASP.net, and this is the first time I have used SmarterMail, so I may be missing or not understanding something. The obvious settings look right to me, but I must be missing something somewhere.

Any suggestions what to look at?

Thanks,
Gene

 

The spam settings are complicated, and we can't offer much specific support on them beyond our Knowledge Base article. I assume you have tried consulting the SmarterMail help docs?

 

Yes, I have read both the KB article and the SmarterMail docs. I will go over them again. I am new to this, so it is very likely I missed something.

Thanks.
Gene

 

Hello Dmitri,

No, I am not trying to send messages to myself. We (each person in our office) is receiving many, many spam messages each day with the control words in them.

I have gone to the postmaster account, selected Settings, then Domain Settings, then Content Filtering, and created a new rule. Then, under "Contains specific words or phrases" I selected "Subject" and clicked Next. I selected "OR" and entered my key words one per line, and Saved the rule.

The spam continued for two days, so I changed the rule from "OR" to "AND", and this morning the spam is still continuing.

I have also gone into my personal account settings and set up a similar rule, but it is not doing anything for me. The other accounts in the office also continue to get the spam.

Arrggh!

 

Eureka! I think I have solved it. I just discovered that all of today's Viagra spam has the dreaded word in the From Address, not the Subject. My rule specified the subject only. I just updated the rule to be Subject OR From Address, and have saved it. I expect there to be no more problems.

The reason I was so slow to pick up on this has to do with the setup of Outlook 2007. In my Inbox the Subject of the message is the first column. But in my junk folder, where my antispam software was placing these messages, I just realized the first column is the From Address column, not Subject. Whereas the spam used to come with either or both fields containing the viagra keywords, yesterday and today only the From Address contained them. So, clearly, the rules work, and the problem has been reduced to "human error" or one of those "duh" moments.

Thanks to Bruce, mjp, and dmitri for your help. And thanks for your patience while I learned my way around.

Have a Merry Christmas, and a prosperous New Year, all of you.

Problem resolved!

Gene

 

Well, I'm glad you figured it out. Spammers are always working to bypass filters, but it looks like you have the upper hand on them now.

For a while.