How can I turn OFF spam filters

[str8chat]

I use email clients on my main work PC and also on my laptop. I have client side filters set up to direct different types of email into a number of different folders based on the sender and key words in the subject. The rules for these folders are different for the two PCs, which precludes using server side filters and IMAP. I use POP3, which I have used for 20 years. Using POP3 also allows me to delete emails from one computer without them being deleted from the server or the other computer. The email clients selectively manage the deletion of emails from the server at the appropriate times.

In simple terms, on my laptop, which is used for social communication, work related emails get dropped into a single folder so I can perform a quick scan of the subjects before deleting them from that computer. Similar filters do the opposite sort of filtering on my work PC.

Over the last few weeks a number of emails have ended up in the server SPAM folder. For many years I have had two complementary rules set up in the server:

• If the subject contains 'rhubarb' put the email in the Inbox.
• If the subject does not contain 'rhubarb' put the email in the Inbox.

and this has worked perfectly until recently.

However, now random emails, and even emails from the same sender with similar content are being intercepted as SPAM on the server, and the server side rules above no longer work. Important emails including hospital appointments and warning messages from my bank are going astray.

It is a real bind having to log on to the server every few days to check the SPAM folder and mark all the emails as being from safe senders. I am not even convinced that this actually works as some emails still end up in SPAM that I believe have already been marked as from safe senders.

There also seem to be cases where emails simply do not arrive. This also applies to emails I have sent to other BT email users. There is no warning given either to the sender or the recipient that BT has thrown the email away.

I contacted the 'no-help' chat service who advised that there was no way to disable the SPAM filter, AND that certain emails were blocked BEFORE they reach the account, which would explain why some emails simply disappear. The chat agent suggested setting up a rule to put all emails in the Inbox, which I have used successfully for years, but no longer works. However, if an email is not reaching the account such rules are pointless and the suggestion from a badly trained agent was a complete waste of time.

There also seems to be no easy way of accessing the 'safe sender' list to see which addresses or domains are being blocked or for me to add all my contacts to the list. I have to wait for an email to go to SPAM before I can mark it as from a safe sender.

BT SHOULD NOT BE UNILATERALLY FILTERING OR BLOCKING EMAILS. I have no objection to there being tools to help users manage their emails, but ultimately unless and email contains genuine illegal content, the user should have the right of having that email delivered to their Inbox or other chosen folder.

Maybe I should go back to paper and using Royal Mail. So far, although occasional letters may be delayed, I have no evidence that the postal service simply dump letters in the bin BT email seem to be doing.

[rbz5416]

The thread that you posted in previously repeatedly stated that the spam filters can't be turned off. So I'm baffled why you've created a new thread to ask the same question?

[str8chat]

I posted a new thread because it should not be up to BT to decide what is spam and what is not. They may offer a recommended level of protection as they apparently do now, but they should allow individual users the option of choosing if email is spam, which is either silently discarded completely as appears to happen with some emails, or the ability to start with no filters and let the user decide what should be treated as spam in future.

BT are not gods. Users pay for a service and should be able to choose all the options that apply to the service. Unilaterally filtering emails, except for genuine illegal content should never occur.

Finally, I don't find it easy to identify specific relevant threads when there are so many similar threads all saying the same thing, including such things as spam filters cannot be disabled. This might be appropriate in countries like Russia, but as far as I know we are still supposed to have free speech in the UK.

[rbz5416]

You've missed the point.

You've already read & posted on a thread that comprehensively says that the spam filter cannot be turned off. No matter how much you may disagree with that, starting a new thread asking how you can do something that simply isn't possible, & that you've already been told isn't possible, is futile.

So while there is apparently an issue with how the filter is currently behaving, turning it off completely is never going to be an option.

[licquorice]

Exactly so. The problem is BT's poor implementation of spam filtering, not the inability for the customer to disable spam filtering completely.

ALL mail service suppliers block spam at source and don't provide the ability to turn off the functionality. If they didn't, you would receive thousands of spam emails daily.

[gg30340]

A couple of things:-  Unless you have a paid for BTMail Premium email account, BTMail is a free add on service as part of your BT Broadband service. It cost you nothing and is not a billed for item and should you decide not to use it you will not receive a discount or a cheaper package because of that.

New BT Broadband customers do not get a BTMail email service add on and they do not get a discount on their broadband package cost. It costs the same as customers who already have BTMail.

The BTMail service is the property of BT and you are under no obligation to use it but by doing so you have agreed to their Terms and Conditions. In simplistic terms, it is BT's service and they can do what they want with it and that includes filtering out what they believe to be spam or malicious email and contents as well as email that is prohibited by law.

I doubt that your god has an email service so I doubt that BT or the other email services are trying to "play god" by blocking spam emails addressed to you. They are trying to be a good email service and block the hundreds if not thousand of emails that would end up in your email inbox daily if they allowed un filtered email through to you.

Spam is not free speech, it is junk and accounts for about 50% of email traffic world wide and if the service providers did not filter it out the email services would be unusable. You just need to see how people on this forum complain if they receive a handful of spam emails per day let along the number they would receive with an un filtered service.

If you are not happy with the Terms and Conditions and or the BT spam filters you can always close your BT email account and move to an email service that allows you to receive every piece of email addressed to you, including spam email. 

Given that companies such as gmail block 100 million spam emails daily I doubt that you will find one that will allow that but if you do please post back and let us know about it.

[str8chat]

Thank you to everyone who replied, and apologies or starting a new thread.

I now understand that a large quantity of spam email never reaches my account. However, some emails do reach the account, and a secondary level of filtering takes effect at this stage diverting those emails into the spam older rather than the Inbox. It seems ludicrous that this second level of filtering has been changed.

I have had this second level of spam occasionally for many years, and it used to be possible to set up a couple of complementary rules that ensured that no emails ended up in the spam folder, even if there was a preceding filter that stopped some messages reaching my account.

I have tried an experiment with another BT mail user where I sent the same email from an Outlook.com webmail account, and one of us received the email but the other one didn't.

What appears to be missing is any message back to the sender that says why an email has not got through. I get such messages when I email a bad address or the target mail box is full. May be there are such messages, but they are treated as spam and simply disappear.

[gg30340 · Accepted solution]

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@str8chat wrote:

Thank you to everyone who replied, and apologies or starting a new thread.

I now understand that a large quantity of spam email never reaches my account. However, some emails do reach the account, and a secondary level of filtering takes effect at this stage diverting those emails into the spam older rather than the Inbox. It seems ludicrous that this second level of filtering has been changed.

I have had this second level of spam occasionally for many years, and it used to be possible to set up a couple of complementary rules that ensured that no emails ended up in the spam folder, even if there was a preceding filter that stopped some messages reaching my account.

I have tried an experiment with another BT mail user where I sent the same email from an Outlook.com webmail account, and one of us received the email but the other one didn't.

and What appears to be missing is any message back to the sender that says why an email has not got through. I get such messages when I email a bad address or the target mail box is full. May be there are such messages, but they are treated as spam and simply disappear.

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The emails that end up in your spam folder are ones that the spam filter according to its algorithm, can not categorically establish that they are spam so they are placed into the spam folder for you to decide. The filters are of course by nature of the fact they placed the email in the spam folder not 100% accurate so some genuine emails can end up there.

It would not be practicable to send a message back to the sender of a message that the filters have deemed as spam that the email has not gone through.

That would require the sender of all spam emails to be informed. 

This would generate hundreds of millions of messages back to the spammers and end up clogging the email system even more than the spammers initial emails do.   

When you send a suspected email from a BTMail address, the system can on occasions send this message if it meets the parameters to trigger the message. The parameters are not public knowledge for obvious reasons.  

"Sorry your email could not be delivered due to content policy reasons. Please check your message content for URLs, content and subject matter that could be construed as Malware, Spam or Phishing before retrying. (6-1-1-1) ID "

If a genuine email ends up in your spam box you should mark it as "Not Spam and add to Safe Sender" by using the drop down box in the menu bar above the list of emails when using webmail.

If you are not receiving emails from a specific known email address you can add it to your safe senders list which may help. 

Log onto your BTMail account using a browser, not an email client/app, and then click on your username at the right hand side. Select "Settings" then go to the left hand side and select "Mail". Scroll down and click on "Safe Senders" and add the email address and or its domain to the list. Click on "Save". 

[str8chat]

@gg30340Thanks, that is most useful. I did not know that there was a way of setting up safe senders except by doing it from an email that was in a spam folder.

Your explanation of how the filter blocks genuine spam completely and directs emails it is not sure about to my spam folder explains the symptoms I am getting. There are still some emails that are genuine but are completely blocked. It is very frustrating trying to pass some emails when there are no clues as to exactly why the "complete block" filter has triggered.

When I used the chat support service they did not explain why some emails disappeared completely and others went to the spam folder. Thanks to your explanation I now understand it much better.

Do you know if PDF file attachments or encrypted or zipped files attached to a simple basic email with just the destination address, a subject line and the attachment get completely blocked as spam?

Thanks again for your help.

[gg30340]

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@str8chat wrote:

Do you know if PDF file attachments or encrypted or zipped files attached to a simple basic email with just the destination address, a subject line and the attachment get completely blocked as spam?

Thanks again for your help.

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I have no knowledge how the actual BT Spam filters work.

As you may expect that will be a closely guarded secret so as to prevent spammers from easily circumventing them.

Preventing spam is a moving target in as much as there is a constant battle with the spammers and in most instances email service providers are playing catch up as the spammers always seem to find away around the filters. 

PDF attachments or encrypted or zipped files could cause a block if they appear suspicious. Unfortunately I have no idea how to define suspicious other than don't name them anything that could be construed as spam. 

I  have sent and received emails with them without problem so I can only assume that it is not a universal problem if they are being blocked. What I would do is keep your subject line brief with nothing that could be construed as spam or possible spam. 

It can also be a problem if you use a VPN as this can use IP addresses that may be black listed. If you do use a VPN when sending email try turning it off to see if that allows the email to get through. 

You also have to keep in mind that there is, unless you are sending and receiving within the same email service,  a sending email service and a receiving email service both of which will have their own email filters for an email to pass through and these filters are probably using a different criteria/algorithm to weed out spam.

If it was an easy task to eradicate spam it would have been done long ago.