Using SpamGuard Plus

Getting Started Working With the Bulk Mail Folder Setting Up the Spam Button Training the Filter Resetting the Filter

Getting Started With SpamGuard Plus

Spam is any message or posting, regardless of its content, that is sent to multiple recipients who haven’t specifically requested the message. Spam can also be multiple postings of the same message to newsgroups or list servers that aren’t related to the topic of the message. Other common terms for spam include junk mail, UCE (unsolicited commercial email), and UBE (unsolicited bulk email). The most effective way to prevent spam from entering your AT&T Yahoo! Mail Inbox is to use SpamGuard Plus.

The SpamGuard Plus utility includes filters that automatically send suspected spam to a special mail folder called Bulk. This folder is created the first time you receive a message that SpamGuard Plus identifies as junk mail.

The Bulk folder in the list of mail folders.

When SpamGuard Plus is turned off, AT&T Yahoo! Mail delivers all incoming email, including junk mail messages, to your Inbox and, if you use filters, to other folders. When turned on, SpamGuard Plus identifies suspect messages and routes them to your Bulk folder, where you can review them.

SpamGuard Plus enhances basic SpamGuard functionality by using your own personal spam filter, in addition to the general SpamGuard filter. By marking messages as Spam or Not Spam, you develop a training history for your personal spam filter.

 

Here’s How

  1. In a browser, go to your AT&T Yahoo! Mail page.

  2. In the upper-right corner of the page, click the Options link.

    Click the Options link.

    The Mail Options page appears.

  3. Under the Spam topic on the Mail Options page, click the Spam Protection link.

    Click the Spam Protection link.

    Tip: The first time you access Spam Protection, AT&T Yahoo! Mail takes you through the Spam Protection wizard. When you access Spam Protection after your initial setup, you see one page titled Spam Protection. The following steps describe this page.

  4. In the Spam Filter section of the Spam Protection page, you should see that SpamGuard Plus is on.

    The current status shows that SpamGuard Plus is on.Enlarge

  5. If SpamGuard Plus is off, click the Turn SpamGuard Plus ON link to turn it on.

    Click the Turn SpamGuard Plus ON link to turn it on.

  6. Choose one of the following options to specify what SpamGuard Plus should do with spam messages:

    • Immediately delete these messages upon receipt.

      Tip: Sometimes, based on the information it uses for filtering messages, SpamGuard Plus may classify a valid email message as spam and deliver it to the Bulk folder. If you select the "delete immediately" option, you won’t have a chance to review the messages in your Bulk folder before AT&T Yahoo! Mail deletes them.

    • Save the messages in the Bulk folder. If you select this option, you can also indicate how long your messages are stored in Bulk before AT&T Yahoo! Mail deletes them.

  7. Click the Save Changes button to save any new settings.

 

What’s Next

SpamGuard Plus becomes even more effective as you use it because you train it to recognize what you consider to be junk mail.

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Words to Know

  • Bulk folder: a permanent folder that SpamGuard Plus uses to hold messages it identifies as spam.
  • Filter: a rule that AT&T Yahoo! Mail uses to direct an incoming message to a particular folder.
  • Folder: a container that holds individual elements specific to the context; for example, email messages in AT&T Yahoo! Mail or bookmarks in the Bookmarks Sidebar module.
  • Junk mail: unsolicited email on the Internet; also called "spam".
  • Spam: unsolicited email on the Internet; also called "junk mail".
  • Training history: the information that SpamGuard Plus collects about the messages that a user considers spam and not spam.