I Need a Good Email Interceptor

[easysurfer]

Here's my situation. I don't like using web based email as that seems so clunky as compared to something like Outlook Express that gets all the email from a POP3 server.

The problem is for about the last 3 days, my Chrome browser is messed up (I much prefer Chrome over IE) as I using Outlook Express, my email got hit with a FedEx email scam. The email, pretend that a tracked order didn't go through but is actually a virus. The email also messing up Chrome and makes that unusable.

My spam filter is unsure if the email is spam or not. If I click on the email to delete in Outlook Express (even with pane viewing off), the email does it's dirty deed to mess up my system.

I know there are several possible workarounds (avoid Chrome, maybe a different email program), but what I think I need is an email interceptor that lets me check the email on the server side before even letting that to to my computer.

Any recommendations? thx.

 

[homestead]

a unix text based mail program would probably be immune to the virus, then
forward from there.

 

[MichaelB]

I use Eudora with gmail and it does a very good job of filtering. Can't compare with outlook because I never used it or any MS mail product.

 

[cantlogin]

I've been using Firefox with Thunderbird.
I've received several of those FedEx spoofs that include a link for "delivery".
Fortunately I've been awake enough to recognize that they were bogus because I wasn't anticipating anything to be shipped to me so I never clicked the links.
I've been able to delete the messages without any effect.

 

[ratto]

a unix text based mail program would probably be immune to the virus, then forward from there.

PINE came into mind. It's a great email and newsgroup client by University of Washington. I have used it extensively while at school and it's so compact and efficient.

One thing I don't quite like Chrome is that it sends usage stats to Google if that feature is not disabled. It sends a lot of outbound traffic to Google servers in a short of amount of time. This could be regarded as attacks by some network devices, which will temporarily disable outbound network traffic from the client computer where Chrome is running.

Have you given consideration to non-Windows OS, like Linux? For a lot of our daily computer activities such as web surfing, email, word processing, spreadsheet, youtube, etc, IMO it's sufficient enough or even better. Your computer won't need virus db update everyday anymore.

 

[ERD50]

...

Have you given consideration to non-Windows OS, like Linux? For a lot of our daily computer activities such as web surfing, email, word processing, spreadsheet, youtube, etc, IMO it's sufficient enough or even better. Your computer won't need virus db update everyday anymore.

+1

In the mean time, I'll also second the suggestions to switch to Thunderbird as a mail reader. T-Bird is cross-platform, so if you switch to Linux later, you will already be familiar with it.

-ERD50

 

[sengsational]

Here's my situation. I don't like using web based email as that seems so clunky as compared to something like Outlook Express that gets all the email from a POP3 server.

I also like having my email archive stored locally, not in the cloud. But I'd back-up even further to correct the problem than a spam filter.

The root cause is that your "good" email address is in the hands of spammers. Yes, it's a hassle, but you need another email address, and then you need to protect it better.

There is no perfect way to protect an email address, but what I do to keep an email address "clean" for longer is to do utilize spamgourmet.com (free). You make up an email address like "joe345@spamgourmet.com" (you pick from a whole bunch of different domains, they all work the same). All emails sent there will be forwarded to your "real" email address, but only for a limited amount of emails (10 is the default). Then, when you need to do an "email loop" on to get access to a web site, you put in "xyz.joe345@recursor.net", where xyz is anything you want it to be.

One may argue that the bigger problem than email loops is friends typing your real email address into various web sites so you get a "card" or some joke or something. When I change over to a new email address, I do ask that they never do that with my email address. I also ask them to not include me on "forwards", "chain letters" and that stuff. My request is something like "please use this email address for one-on-one correspondence only..." That request, sadly, is usually ignored, and I start getting spam again. But with the default spam filter, it's livable; I almost never see the Fed-Ex scams and only rarely need to venture into the spam folder.

--Dale--

PS: If you use gmail along with a local email client like Thunderbird, it does NOT download things it thinks are spam.

 

[grasshopper]

I have used Postini for a bunch of years, it seems intuitive and after all these years it knows whom to block. Whoops I see they are now owned by Google.

 

[rbmrtn]

My spam filter is unsure if the email is spam or not. If I click on the email to delete in Outlook Express (even with pane viewing off), the email does it's dirty deed to mess up my system.

I would vote for linux as well, but

Mailwasher is handy email previewer, you can delete, setup spam filters, report spam and bounce the email ( bouncing sometimes helps as it says you have dead address). Mailwasher Free Spam Filter Software: The Reliable Free Spam Blocker | MailWasher - Mailwasher Free

Also check the outlook express settings. Two check boxes to disable the preview pane ( preview is dangerous ). Then you should have to double click to open an email.

Uncheck “Show preview pane header” and “Show preview pane” then click Apply and OK.

http://www.myaccount.charter.com/customers/support.aspx?supportarticleid=1241You will now have to double-click on the email to view it. This should help reduce the risk of getting a virus.​

 

[easysurfer]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've been fiddling around with some email interceptors but can't get any to work right.

I might just resort the going with the web email in the meantime.

 

[gerrym51]

can't you delete using IE first

 

[easysurfer]

Silly me, but I actually used some common sense to get past the problem.

Instead of trying to do too much, all I really needed to do was in Outlook Express select the setting to delete file from server after deleted in Express. When that happened, the email with the Spam/virus gets removed from the server. I also got some rollback type software so I then went back and retrieved emails since the date of the virus. Tada, the bad email is off the server and didn't get picked up this time around.

Now I'm back in business (oh..I mean, retirement )

 

[easysurfer]

I spoke too soon. Got rid of the virus email. But still Chrome is messed up.

 

[gerrym51]

I spoke too soon. Got rid of the virus email. But still Chrome is messed up.

click on chromme settings-might be able to fix

 

[rbmrtn]

Instead of trying to do too much, all I really needed to do was in Outlook Express select the setting to delete file from server after deleted in Express. When that happened, the email with the Spam/virus gets removed from the server. I also got some rollback type software so I then went back and retrieved emails since the date of the virus. Tada, the bad email is off the server and didn't get picked up this time around.

OK, I'm confused, that doesn't sound like what you originally were asking about. But yes, to delete an email before outlook sees it, login into your servers web interface and delete it there.

If chrome is still "messed up" and the virus actually ran on your PC you may still be infected. You need scan for virus ( malwarebytes ), or use system restore to roll back your PC to before the virus ran.

 

[easysurfer]

The first thing I did when I noticed the virus was run malwarebytes but that came up negative. I will next rollback to before the virus hit (like a week or so earlier). Then try again as the email is gone from the server.

If that doesn't work, it's reinstall chrome time as I fussed around with trying to fix it long enough as sometimes reinstalling is faster.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[easysurfer]

I gave up as reinstalling Chrome didn't work.

Now using IE.

 

[rbmrtn]

What exactly is happening with "chrome didn't work" ?

 

[M Paquette]

I gave up as reinstalling Chrome didn't work.

Now using IE.

You may have something hiding in the browser data stored on your computer. Web browsers will load local CSS stylesheets, which can be used to "customize" the appearance of any or all web sites. This is commonly used to redirect the user, inject ads from a less than scrupulous service, or the classic "LOL! U haz popup pr0n!"

DIfferent browsers may use different locations for this stuff. For Chrome, try:

%appdata%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\someprofile.default\chrome

The command:

run %appdata%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\someprofile.default\chrome

should get you a file viewer for that directory.

 

[easysurfer]

There's A New Email Sheriff In Town

Just an update to my situation.

My system on my computer was limping along, hanging up, crashing and the problem with MS Outlook Express encountering spam email that in turn disabled Chrome.

Well, since then, the big change..I moved to a computer that's about 5 years newer than the last one and ended up getting a different email program instead of Outlook Express and yes, Chrome too.

That's a good part of what I've been doing over the past week. The migration and tweaking. Finally, the switch is done (at least until XP goes away..as my newer PC is on XP Pro)

BTW..the email program I'm using is called Spylheed (odd name, but meets my needs, with built-in message rules and spam filter) in case you are curious.

Sylpheed - lightweight and user-friendly e-mail client

 

[rbmrtn]

BTW..the email program I'm using is called Spylheed (odd name, but meets my needs, with built-in message rules and spam filter) in case you are curious.

Sylpheed - lightweight and user-friendly e-mail client

Interesting you found that. I haven't thought about sylpheed in years. I used it many years ago ( late 90's ) on linux. It was a japanese open source project. I don't think they had a windows version back then.

 

[easysurfer]

Interesting you found that. I haven't thought about sylpheed in years. I used it many years ago ( late 90's ) on linux. It was a japanese open source project. I don't think they had a windows version back then.

There definitely is a japanese version. So far, I like it. I tested other email programs but either they didn't do enough or were difficult to set up or did too much. Hopefull, this will work for me. The main thing, hopefull it doesn't clobber Chrome like Outlook Express did to me.

 

[pb4uski]

That's interesting. I use Outlook Express and Chrome and have not had any problems. But on Windows 7.

 

[easysurfer]

That's interesting. I use Outlook Express and Chrome and have not had any problems. But on Windows 7.

For me, it seems that some virus emails (like the FedEx Scam) when retrieved by Outlook Express causes problems with Chrome for me (I am still on XP). When I migrated to a newer PC recently, when I installed Chrome, then tried Outlook Express, even on the newer PC, Chrome got jazzed up again. I got rid of the FedEX Scam email from the server, but perhaps another virus email from the server got retrieved.

But when I used the Sylpheed email, things are cooking just fine . I was looking closer at Sylpheed. It seems to treat even html as text initially, and provides an option through a button to view as html. I guess as one measure of safety in against those viruses which activate upon preview.

 

[rbmrtn]

Nothing wrong with XP, actually one M$ better attempts at an OS. opening emails in HTML is part of the problem, virus exploits the HTML to do its thing. Using text preview is a way around it. I've gotten to where I never even use email clients anymore, I just use the web based interface for my email service. makes it available where ever your at, don't have worry about backing up, just download a copy of anything important. It opens as plain text and then you can view the email as HTML if needed. They also have very good builtin antivirus that gets rid of most stuff before it gets to your inbox.