UGAMail: Anti-SPAM Quick Start

EITS takes spam very seriously, and we are constantly working to improve our ability to eliminate spam and to educate UGAMail users on ways to decrease the amount of spam that they receive in their Inbox each day.

UGAMail provides the user with a suite of tools to help with keeping spam out of your Inbox. All of these tools require that your JUNK MAIL FILTER is enabled.

The first two steps, making sure that your Junk Mail Filter is turned "ON" and creating a Allowed Senders List, are adequate for many users. If you continue to have a lot of spam and Junk Mail in your INBOX, then continue to step three.

All of the spam and Junk Mail tools are accessible from UGAMail Webmail and are located under the Options: Junk Mail Control menu. Log in to UGAMail, then follow the detailed instructions linked at the bottom of each step outlined below.

1. Be sure that your Junk Mail Filter is "ON"

UGAMail has a built in pre-configured Junk Mail Filter. All incoming mail is filtered through this system-defined Junk Mail Filter and assigned a UCE Score (Unsolicited Commercial Email), which indicates the likelihood that the message is spam or Junk Mail. A higher UCE Score indicates a higher likelihood that the message is spam or Junk. Messages that achieve a UCE Score greater than "50" are placed in your Junk Mail folder by the system.

The Junk Mail Filter is, by default, disabled. You must turn it on for it to take effect.

Items in the Junk Mail folder are automatically deleted 9 days after being put there, therefore it is important to check your Junk Mail folder at least once a week.

Instructions: UGAMail Anti-spam Tools - Junk Mail Filter

2. Create a Allowed Senders List

Enter a list of domains or specific addresses that should never be treated as Junk Mail. The Allowed Senders List is protected from action by the Junk Mail Filter, but can be affected by additional filters that you create.

Instructions: UGAMail Anti-spam Tools - Allowed Senders List

3. Create a Message Filter to Lower the UCE (junkmail) Threshold

If you continue to receive a lot of spam in your Inbox, you can create a special filter to send email with a UCE Score lower than the Junkmail default of "50" to your Junk Mail folder.

Create a Message Filter to send messages with a UCE (junkmail) Score of "35" or greater to the Junk Mail folder. Since this filter will affect all or your messages, you must include a provision in this filter to exempt the email addresses and domains on your Allowed Senders List. This is detailed in the step-by-step instructions below.

Instructions: Mail Filters - Example 1: Tough on spam Filter

Additional tools provided by UGAMail. These tools are accessible from UGAMail Webmail. All of these tools require that your JUNK MAIL FILTER is enabled.

1. Blocked Senders List

Enter a list of domains or specific addresses that should be treated as Junk Mail. We find that the Blocked Senders List is not particularly useful at preventing spam, since it is very rare for spam to be sent repeatedly from the same email address or domain.

Instructions: UGAM Anti-spam Tools - Blocked Senders List

2. Allowed Mailing Lists List

Enter a list of domains or specific addresses of LISTSERVs which should never be treated as Junk Mail.

Instructions: UGAMail Anti-spam Tools - Allowed Mailing Lists List

Contact the EITS Helpdesk for additional help. http://www.eitshelpdesk.uga.edu.