[ramoki]

Has anybody else with Yahoo email been having a problem with spoofed Yahoo email address appearing in the spam folder?

I've had my Yahoo email ID for years. Lately, I've been getting a lot of spam from (fakeuser)@Yahoo.com with an ID that is the same as mine except for the last one or two letters. I've even received a couple that use my own actual Yahoo email address. It's so bad that I even tried sending an email to myself and it ended up in the spam folder.

I forwarded the messages to Yahoo several times, and they dutifully replied that the addresses were fake, and that they are aware of the problem. And, the use of my actual address was just part of the dictionary attacks that spammers use.

I understand that Yahoo can't prevent anyone from spoofing a return email address. But, each time I forwarded a fake spam I asked them why thay can't check their own database of active accounts and elimate the ones that don't have a valid Yahoo ID. After all, their filters know enough to put the messages in the spam folder, so why can't they check to see if the address even has a valid Yahoo ID before putting it there? Since my own valid email ended up in the spam folder, I'm afraid that someone else with a valid yahoo email address, whose mail I want to read, could also end up in the spam folder. So I have to at least scan the messages in the spam folder (most of which are the spoofed Yahoo addresses), then check them for deleting. It would be so much easier if Yahoo would just police their own mail ID's. To date, none of the replys from Yahoo have answered why they don't keep their own fake ID out of my spam.

I apologize if this is posted in the wrong spot. I just needed to vent.

[Adama]

Hi, ramoki. Welcome to PC World. I get a lot of spam in my Yahoo! account too. I sympathize with you and the problems you're having with Yahoo! giving you a clear, truly helpful answer. They say "the wheels of progress are in motion" but really, where do those wheels take you, to a solution or to more garbage? Needless to say, this is the right place to vent.

The problem with using a web-based email service - which typically has built-in spam filters - you may need to dig into the options and turn on or configure filtering. In Yahoo! there's no way to set spam filtering levels. Yahoo! uses SpamGuard, a tool that automatically filters spam.

However, if you have Outlook or Outlook Express as your browser, you may want to try iHateSpam. iHateSpam works within your email program, so there's no need to load and use a separate program. It adds a toolbar to both Outlook and Outlook Express that lets you bounce email, mark messages as spam (or not spam), and add senders to an enemies or friends list. You can grab a trial copy of the $20 utility from www.oreilly.com/pcannoyances (Thank you, Steve Bass.)

If this does not work with your Yahoo! account - but Yahoo!'s SpamGuard is not doing the job you'd like it to do - you may want to consider switching to another web-based email service, like Gmail. A good number of people in these Forums like Gmail for their lack of spam. Also, Gmail doesn't bludgeon you with ads and those ads you do get, are unobtrusive.

I'm sure there'll be other knowledgeable people offering their suggestions. Then, you'll be able to make an informed decision.

[ramoki]

Hi Adama,

Thanks for your suggestions. I have other web email accounts and one with my ISP. I access the web emails from several different computers, so using OE won't solve the problem on the other computers. I want to keep the Yahoo account because I've had it so long, and I use it frequently. I can't filter them in options because some Yahoo addresses are legimate.

My complaint with Yahoo is that they seem unable to check incoming Yahoo email against their database of registered Yahoo users, and deleting any that aren't registered to their own email service. How hard could it be for them to check Yahoo mail against their own list of users? If I get a bogus Yahoo email that is the same as my own Yahoo email except for the last letter, why can't Yahoo catch it?

I know I'm repeating myself here, but why can't Yahoo recognize spoofed Yahoo addresses?!