The amount of spam from Outlook.com is unreal

Berryracer

Platinum Member
Oct 4, 2006
2,779
1
81
How does this happen that you just open a new account and you start receiving 5 spam emails everyday and everytime you opt out by clicking on the link at the bottom of the email, it asks me to enter my email again to confirm on their website, then I hit submit bu t they keep on sending spam

I dont want to have to clean my junk mail folder all the time I don't share my email on shady websites or anything like that.

The reason I use Outlook (ie. hotmail) is because it is able to synchorinize my contacts easily with my BlackBerry phone, like if I edit a contact on my phone, it is immediately also edited on my online contacts with Outlook.com, and vice versa :(

shall I just switch to another provider or what?

every gmail account I can think of is taken so gmail is not an option unless I want an email like myname273861928372613@gmail.com
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,559
248
106
Did you ever have Hotmail? It was just as bad, if not worse. If anything, I guess we can see how secure our information with Microsoft is, not, lol.
 

taq8ojh

Golden Member
Mar 2, 2013
1,296
1
81
I always thought there was shit TON of free email providers. Just choose one. Big brother Google is not the only thing around you know :p
 

motsm

Golden Member
Jan 20, 2010
1,822
2
76
I've had the same Hotmail address (now converted to Outlook of course) as my primary email for what has to be over 10 years, and only get a few spam emails a week. I have a Gmail account as well now, but haven't noticed any difference in Spam.
 

smakme7757

Golden Member
Nov 20, 2010
1,487
1
81
I got some strange arabic facebook spam for a while, but it seems to have been taken care off.

I don't think Outlook.com is any worse than other major email providers. It's definitely better than Gmail that actually spits SPAM into your mailbox directly based on the contents of your email.
 

WilliamM2

Platinum Member
Jun 14, 2012
2,850
808
136
I don't get any spam in mine, or my wife's outlook.com accounts. But I haven't been handing that address out to just anyone either.
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,559
248
106
My method has worked pretty well for a few years now. I created a hotmail email that I almost never use. I have a gmail account that I always use. Any time I want to put my email somewhere I am not too sure of, it gets my hotmail address (although this doesn't happen too often anymore). Everybody else has my gmail address. I get no spam in the gmail account.
 

smakme7757

Golden Member
Nov 20, 2010
1,487
1
81
I don't get any spam in mine, or my wife's outlook.com accounts. But I haven't been handing that address out to just anyone either.

My method has worked pretty well for a few years now. I created a hotmail email that I almost never use. I have a gmail account that I always use. Any time I want to put my email somewhere I am not too sure of, it gets my hotmail address (although this doesn't happen too often anymore). Everybody else has my gmail address. I get no spam in the gmail account.

The only reason i have an outlook.com account is for a Microsoft account for my Windows Phone and Skype. I don't use it for anything -at all. So i'm perplexed as to why i ended up with a month or so of SPAM with it completely stopping up one day.

My only theory is that people are harvesting Email addresses from Skype as that's the only place they could have got mine.
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,559
248
106
My only theory is that people are harvesting Email addresses from Skype as that's the only place they could have got mine.

I am pretty sure that is what happened to hotmail, so I have no doubt the same would happen with Skype.

The problem I see it even back when I did care about my Hotmail account, I got plenty of junk. So to me, it's obvious Microsoft is doing something "wrong" (I'm sure they wouldn't call it that) to make this issue keep occurring in their products.

Heck, the only junk I get on my AOL email account is from them!
 

Dahak

Diamond Member
Mar 2, 2000
3,752
25
91
I have been using the same ms account that i have had for years (hotmail,live,outlook.com whatever you want to call it) and it seems to ebb and flow, it will say one month get like a few hundred spam, next month it will get less that 100.

The only thing I think most people find is that they can see how much spam they are getting because it is visible, where as if you compare it to a office environment 1 or 2 may get through in a month, but trust me, they still get hundreds of it but it mainly blocked by a spam filter/firewall setup

just for comparison, my outlook.com one has about 157 currently, and my gmail one, which i don't use as often has about 127.. so it does not really matter which you use, spam is part of the internet, like potholes on a road, as much as you don't want them, you get them
 
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Berryracer

Platinum Member
Oct 4, 2006
2,779
1
81
The only reason i have an outlook.com account is for a Microsoft account for my Windows Phone and Skype. I don't use it for anything -at all. So i'm perplexed as to why i ended up with a month or so of SPAM with it completely stopping up one day.

My only theory is that people are harvesting Email addresses from Skype as that's the only place they could have got mine.

if that was the only reason that you have a microsoft account then you don't necessarily have to have an email with them

you can simply go to www.passport.net and create an account there with your current email (not your outlook or hotmail) and then verify the email with the activation link they send you and TADA! you can sign in with your Yahoo or gmail or whatever you registered with into any Microsoft Live ID service
 

Berryracer

Platinum Member
Oct 4, 2006
2,779
1
81
I have been using the same ms account that i have had for years (hotmail,live,outlook.com whatever you want to call it) and it seems to ebb and flow, it will say one month get like a few hundred spam, next month it will get less that 100.

The only thing I think most people find is that they can see how much spam they are getting because it is visible, where as if you compare it to a office environment 1 or 2 may get through in a month, but trust me, they still get hundreds of it but it mainly blocked by a spam filter/firewall setup

just for comparison, my outlook.com one has about 157 currently, and my gmail one, which i don't use as often has about 127.. so it does not really matter which you use, spam is part of the internet, like potholes on a road, as much as you don't want them, you get them

I see, so there's no running away from it I guess heh?

might as well try to live with it :(
I usually use an @dispostable email when I register on dodgy sites basicaly put in any email you can think of and you can login to its inbox with no password and click on the activation links sent to you

Dispostable


This is the latest one, I guess my mistake was to click on the "Click here to unsubscribe link"

6592876NTRNLGIN@ExpertSing.com

33zdz6s.jpg
 
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smakme7757

Golden Member
Nov 20, 2010
1,487
1
81
if that was the only reason that you have a microsoft account then you don't necessarily have to have an email with them

you can simply go to www.passport.net and create an account there with your current email (not your outlook or hotmail) and then verify the email with the activation link they send you and TADA! you can sign in with your Yahoo or gmail or whatever you registered with into any Microsoft Live ID service
I see :).

It's not important though. Having an outlook.com account for use with Microsoft services doesn't bother me. It was just strange that i got SPAM without ever actively using the account.
 

Berryracer

Platinum Member
Oct 4, 2006
2,779
1
81
I see :).

It's not important though. Having an outlook.com account for use with Microsoft services doesn't bother me. It was just strange that i got SPAM without ever actively using the account.

well let me tell you this, I created my account XXXXX@msn.com and within like 1 hour I started getting spam without having had given it to anyone!
 

Berryracer

Platinum Member
Oct 4, 2006
2,779
1
81
I don't regret a single cent payed for my annual Sneakemail subscription.
I just read their intro, sounds interesting, but what happens after step 7....

what if you don't want any emails from them to be forwarded to you anymore, like what if you decide that they are junk, can u cancel that mail forwad for good so they get a bounced email back notification to tell them your email doesn't exist

Close Tutorial
tutorial_1.png
SomeCompany.com wants your email address... but you don't trust them with it.


tutorial_2.png
Log into sneakemail.com to create a new "Sneakemail address".


tutorial_3.png
Name your new Sneakemail address - "SomeCompany", for example.


tutorial_4.png
Enter the email address you are hiding - "my@address.com"


tutorial_5.png
A new Sneakemail address is generated, something like jfal52095@sneakemail.com,
give this to them instead.


tutorial_6.png
When mail is sent to <jfal52095@sneakemail.com>, we forward it to my@address.com. The from header will look something like this:
From: "SomeCompany" <5kr6s3gbc43t@sneakemail.com>


tutorial_7.png
If you reply, it will be delivered back through our servers and your email address will remain hidden.
 

PowerYoga

Diamond Member
Nov 6, 2001
4,603
0
0
you know those "unsubscribe" e-mail links are probably just there to forward your e-mail to more spammers?

Only trust "unsubscribe" links from legit advertisers. If a shady company is spamming you it's unlikely that unsubscribe link will do anything for you other than generate more spam.
 

Berryracer

Platinum Member
Oct 4, 2006
2,779
1
81
you know those "unsubscribe" e-mail links are probably just there to forward your e-mail to more spammers?

Only trust "unsubscribe" links from legit advertisers. If a shady company is spamming you it's unlikely that unsubscribe link will do anything for you other than generate more spam.

yeah unfortunately I just learned this from this thread. I think my email is FUBAR now
 

taq8ojh

Golden Member
Mar 2, 2013
1,296
1
81
I just read their intro, sounds interesting, but what happens after step 7....

what if you don't want any emails from them to be forwarded to you anymore, like what if you decide that they are junk, can u cancel that mail forwad for good so they get a bounced email back notification to tell them your email doesn't exist
I never thought too hard about how it works, but I can tell you what I do.
I have several aliases for various general purposes, for example IT-related forums, gaming sites, etc. If I suddenly get a spam, I check which alias it came "from", and then briefly go through all the sites I registered at with it to see which one could be compromised or something.
If I somehow start to get lots of spam through an alias, I just delete it, and that's it. It works exactly the same as if it was real address. If it doesn't exist, nothing can be delivered.
 

Mushkins

Golden Member
Feb 11, 2013
1,631
0
0
If you're getting that level of spam from a brand new account, odds are someone else had that email address (whatever@hotmail/outlook.com) and eventually closed their account. After X amount of time of an account being closed or inactive, most services nuke the account and make the address available to new signups again. Unfortunately spammers don't take email addresses *off* their lists, so you could be getting someone elses dick pill adverts :)

Such is the life of free email services. You could always pay a couple bucks a year for a unique domain name. Pretty much all domain registrars include a few email addresses with the registration, and you can mostly guarantee you're not gonna get someone elses spam or people blanket spamming common free webmail addresses.

Depends on how much you really care about spam I guess.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
136
How does this happen that you just open a new account and you start receiving 5 spam emails everyday and everytime you opt out by clicking on the link at the bottom of the email, it asks me to enter my email again to confirm on their website, then I hit submit bu t they keep on sending spam
Do you have any examples of the spam you received? I remember signing up for Hotmail a long time ago and they try to subscribe you to all kinds of newsletters at the same time.

The reason I use Outlook (ie. hotmail) is because it is able to synchorinize my contacts easily with my BlackBerry phone, like if I edit a contact on my phone, it is immediately also edited on my online contacts with Outlook.com, and vice versa :(
Gmail worked the same way (Exchange ActiveSync protocol), but they stopped doing it because they didn't like paying per-client licenses to Microsoft. My iPhone can still sync contacts and calendar events with Gmail using CardDAV and CalDAV protocols.

every gmail account I can think of is taken so gmail is not an option unless I want an email like myname273861928372613@gmail.com
I got first initial, second initial, lastname, 2-digit birth year for my mother recently...and the last name is very common.
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
27,370
239
106
And that is why I use MailWasher Pro by Firetrust. It manages all three of my email providers - lets me see all mail in the POP3 boxes before any downloading. It will delete any or all on command - spam never reaches me.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
136
And that is why I use MailWasher Pro by Firetrust. It manages all three of my email providers - lets me see all mail in the POP3 boxes before any downloading. It will delete any or all on command - spam never reaches me.

Sounds like you still have to process it, though.

I find that Google's spam filtering is usually very good. I rarely find a legitimate message marked as "spam."
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
27,370
239
106
Process? No, I simply stay in command of my email. I can set up most of it automatic, even to include bouncing back to sender. But, it's always my decision - not some piece of software. Automatic is an option, but I am a control freak! :)
 

zokudu

Diamond Member
Nov 11, 2009
4,364
1
81
I dont want to have to clean my junk mail folder all the time I don't share my email on shady websites or anything like that.

So it's landing in the Junk Mail folder that then deletes it after 10 days? What's the problem exactly? Thats how it's supposed to work.