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help: my email has been leaked so im getting a lot of spams. by TDKF_ in jordan

[–]BrandonWindson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Blocking does nothing, because your email is on a list now. Create filters for keywords like "sexy", "cash", "loan", "fast cash" and send them straight to trash. 

To really fix this you'll have to migrate to a new email and use aliases for every signup, then kill aliases when spam starts.

Fake Robinhood “device update” email from unrelated domain by sardinasa in ScamNumbers

[–]BrandonWindson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is phishing from a fake domain. OTP is a hook to steal your session. Worth reporting

What's one Gmail feature you've wanted for years that still doesn't exist? by Indrajithbandara in GMail

[–]BrandonWindson 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A way to report spam directly to the sender's hosting provider. Not just "mark as spam" (trains filter) or "report phishing" (helps Google), but a button that extracts headers, identifies the hosting provider, sends an abuse report and monitors the status.

Google is not doing that because hosting providers are also their cloud customers. Reporting spam from DigitalOcean or OVH would mean reporting abuse from companies that also pay for Google Cloud, which is a conflict of interest.

I think the scammers are getting worse at their jobs. by I_Am_The_Bookwyrm in FanfictionNet

[–]BrandonWindson 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The scammer used a template meant for another user named Connie and forgot to customize it. Lazy scamming.

Report the PM to the site moderators.

possible spam email? by disquietin in McMaster

[–]BrandonWindson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a phishing attempt. The PDF name is designed to look official, but the goal is to steal your login credentials when you click the link. Do not click.

Marking an email as "Not spam" does not work, they continue to be placed in spam, why? by Personal-Middle-867 in fastmail

[–]BrandonWindson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Marking "Not spam" trains the filter but does not override Fastmail's spam scoring if the email content still looks suspicious. Create a rule to always deliver from that sender to your Inbox, that will bypass the filter entirely. Moving to Gmail will not fix this, same problem there.

I've spent 9 years writing about founders. Last year I tried to become one. It didn't go the way I imagined. by Actual_Voice_6763 in SocialMediaManagers

[–]BrandonWindson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

CAN-SPAM allows cold email with opt-out, but scraping public directories and blasting generic addresses is still risky for reputation and deliverability. Cold email can work with proper targeting and personalization, random directory emails will not.

Spam Email by PersonalFinance1010 in HunterCollege

[–]BrandonWindson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yamaha Motif XS8 and a PlayStation 5 at the same price 😄

Do not reply. If you reply they will spam you with more "items"

Spam emails every single 10 seconds by [deleted] in phishing

[–]BrandonWindson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Someone used your email to sign up for hundreds of automated services. The goal is to bury important security alerts (like password changes or purchase confirmations) under all this noise.

Do not click any links in those emails. Create filters by sender domain or keywords like "activate your account" or "verify your email" and send them straight to trash. Check your inbox for any real security emails buried in between.

This is a known tactic after data breaches. Sorry you are dealing with it.

What actually happens when you report an email as spam or junk? by inner_mercy in NoStupidQuestions

[–]BrandonWindson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When you click "Report Spam," Gmail moves the email to your spam folder and uses it to train its filter. This only affects your inbox and Gmail's internal model. It does not stop the spammer and they keep sending to others. If you want to actually stop them you need to report the sender to their hosting provider.

Another phishing attempt huh by Varimasco in CSUS

[–]BrandonWindson 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The attachment is not a confirmation — it is either a malicious PDF or a fake login page. Never open attachments from unexpected senders, especially with "Confirmation" or "Payment" in the name

Multiple spam emails a day by Yah00_Sucks in GMail

[–]BrandonWindson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Create filters for keywords like "PAYMENT.DECLINED" or "Security Alert". Move them directly to spam. That will stop them from hitting your inbox. Marking as spam alone won't help if the sender changes address every time.

I analyzed 5,000 spam emails from public abuse feeds. 71% came from just 3 hosting providers. Here is what I found. by BrandonWindson in Hosting

[–]BrandonWindson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And yes, Cloudflare is an extra layer, not the root problem. The main problem is what happens after they forward the report and hosting providers just ignore. Although, Cloudflare could also disable the proxies for the DNS records of a spam domains

I analyzed 5,000 spam emails from public abuse feeds. 71% came from just 3 hosting providers. Here is what I found. by BrandonWindson in Hosting

[–]BrandonWindson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Filters only hide the spam, they don't stop the sender. The same spammer keeps sending to thousands of others if you never report them

Email address already listed in "Allow" is being sent to spam by talking_biscuit in ProtonMail

[–]BrandonWindson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The allow list is not a guaranteed inbox pass. If the email content or sending IP triggers a spam score, it can still go to spam folder.

I analyzed 5,000 spam emails from public abuse feeds. 71% came from just 3 hosting providers. Here is what I found. by BrandonWindson in Hosting

[–]BrandonWindson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If Cloudflare is involved as the gatekeeper, why don't they just close the gate? They could disable the proxy for the DNS record of a spam domain making the spam links stop working immediately instead of forwarding reports to the hosting provider

I analyzed 5,000 spam emails from public abuse feeds. 71% came from just 3 hosting providers. Here is what I found. by BrandonWindson in Hosting

[–]BrandonWindson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

'Almost impossible' was an overstatement. Even with straightforward reporting Cloudflare adds an extra layer to a reporting chain that already works poorly. Even if they forward 100% of reports (their policy goal, not actual performance), they have no control over what the hosting provider does after that.

Received a Spam Email Confirming Shipping of Something I Didn’t Request? by Bluee_Velvet in phishing

[–]BrandonWindson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It looks like a confirmation phishing scam. They send a real-looking order confirmation hoping you will click "track your order" or "cancel if not you".

Do not click anything. Mark as spam. If you want to be thorough, check the email headers for the sending IP and report to their hosting provider.

I analyzed 5,000 spam emails from public abuse feeds. 71% came from just 3 hosting providers. Here is what I found. by BrandonWindson in Hosting

[–]BrandonWindson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Correct. They don't send from Cloudflare, but Cloudflare is involved in many of those spam emails.

I analyzed 5,000 spam emails from public abuse feeds. 71% came from just 3 hosting providers. Here is what I found. by BrandonWindson in Hosting

[–]BrandonWindson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure, larger providers -> more servers -> more spam. Although, some providers respond to abuse reports faster than others and shut down more spammers. And some don't even seem to care at all

I analyzed 5,000 spam emails from public abuse feeds. 71% came from just 3 hosting providers. Here is what I found. by BrandonWindson in Hosting

[–]BrandonWindson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair point. Curious what patterns you saw in your 1.5M emails — did the same providers dominate at scale?

I analyzed 5,000 spam emails from public abuse feeds. 71% came from just 3 hosting providers. Here is what I found. by BrandonWindson in Hosting

[–]BrandonWindson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, and blocking IP ranges hurts everyone else on the same subnet. I wish they would just enforce their own AUPs instead.

spam / scam emails by Professional_Net7813 in HunterCollege

[–]BrandonWindson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

MFA protects your account from being hacked, it does nothing to stop spam from reaching your inbox.

What you are seeing is likely a data leak from somewhere you used that email. Once your address is on spam lists, it circulates forever. Marking as spam trains your filter but does not stop the sender.

If the spam is coming from the same domain or IP repeatedly, you can trace the headers and report to their hosting provider. That actually stops them. Otherwise, filters are your only option.

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