To setup a filter in Outlook Express follow the instructions below. This text was written using Outlook Express version 6 so if you are using Outlook Express 5 some of the windows or option buttons you see may or may not look different or will be placed in different spots on the various windows. This should not cause any problems with setting up the mail filter, but you may have to pay special attention to what you see in your version of Outlook Express and what we have listed here. Additionally, if you are using Outlook Express 4 (a version of Outlook Express we no longer assist with tech support-wise) your particular version may not even have the filtering setup available to utilize. If you wish to upgrade from Outlook Express 4 you can get the upgrade free from Microsoft at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com through Microsoft's popular Windows Update utility.

First, go into Outlook Express and look at some of the Spam you are getting. If any of it seems to be coming from a particular source make a note of the sender. Also, look and see if you seem to receive any emails with the same or similar subject line and make a note of that too. Basically, look through the Spam you have in your email box and try and determine if all of your Spam has something in common. If you cannot find anything similar, record from the first couple Spam messages the following information: senders name, email address (if you can find it), and the subject line of the email. 

Once you have a list of sender, email address, and subject, go to your "Tools" menu, then go to "Message Rules" then select "Mail". On the "New Mail Rule" window, under the first box select the first rule you want to use. If you want to block mail coming from a particular sender then click the checkbox labeled "Where the From line contains people". Now in the 3rd box you will notice something new comes up, labeled "Where the From line contains people" with the "contains people" underlined. Click on "contains people" and another box will pop up labeled "Select People". Now in the first box in that window type in an email address that you want to filter, then click Add. To add another From line just add it into the box and click add. When you are done adding From addresses, click on OK and you will come back to the Filter screen. Now in the second box, click on the action you would like Outlook Express to perform when it receives emails from the people you defined on the list. If you want it to simply delete the message, click on the "Delete it" checkbox. Once you are done in this window, click OK and that should setup the mail filter.

Please keep in mind that this is not a sure-fire way of permanently preventing spam from getting to you. This is also not something you simply setup once and forget about. You will find that even if you blocked the Spam you really wanted to block, you will probably get more from other sources so you will have to update your list on a regular basis.

One last method you have at your disposal in the quest to eliminate Spam would be to forward all the Spam you receive to our abuse@pon.net email which gets added to our server-side filtering setup. This email box is checked regularly, but please be aware that due to the volume of emails sent to that box your request will not be replied to individually by a technician.