This is an auto-generated response designed to let you know that our system received
your support inquiry and a Support Representative will review your question and
respond to you soon. Please note that you will not receive a reply if you respond
directly to this message.
IF YOU ARE NOT A HOTMAIL CUSTOMER AND ARE REPORTING ABUSE OR SPAM FROM HOTMAIL:
Please note that we will need to see full message headers when you forward the
offending mail to Hotmail. Full message headers are required for us to take any
necessary action on the reported account. If you need help on how to view complete
header information, please consult the Help associated with your e-mail program.
IF YOU ARE A HOTMAIL CUSTOMER:
While you are awaiting response from a Support Representative, here is some additional
information about how you can help protect your account. We realize that this e-mail
message is lengthy, but please read the entire message below because the answer to
your question may be included.
Within this message is information on:
I. Limiting Junk E-mail ("spam")
II. Turning on the Junk Mail Filter
III. Reporting Abusive or Unwanted E-mail
We strictly enforce the MSN Website Terms of Use and Notices(TOU), which forbids
e-mail abuse. We ask for your support to help Hotmail prevent unwanted, abusive, or
fraudulent e-mail.
*************************
I. Limiting Junk E-mail ("spam")
Hotmail employs the following methods to help protect you against spam:
- We limit the number of individual recipients for each e-mail message.
- We don't allow numeric characters at the beginning of an e-mail address. Any
Hotmail sign-in name beginning with a numeric character is a forgery.
- We include "X-[Originating-IP]: [xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx]" in the header of each e-mail
message that Hotmail delivers. Any e-mail message without this entry in its full
header didn't come from Hotmail.
- We use industry standard security technologies to help block our relay hosts from
those who send spam.
- We take legal action against senders of unsolicited bulk e-mail who forge Hotmail
addresses.
List brokers and individuals who send spam use many tools and techniques to gather
e-mail addresses wherever they appear online. Here are some suggestions to help you
reduce the amount of spam that you receive.
Do:
- Remove yourself from any unprotected member directory.
- Open another e-mail account that you can use as an address for newsgroup and
listserve publications or for posting on bulletin boards.
- Use the "Block Sender" option in Hotmail to block the delivery of e-mail from a
specific sender.
- Use the Junk Mail Filter feature of Hotmail to filter spam into your Junk Mail
folder.
Don't:
- Use your primary account to post to an online service or any Internet bulletin
board.
- Use your primary account to post in a Usenet newsgroup or mailing list.
- Spend time in chat rooms or an online service that displays your address of your
primary account.
- Include yourself in an unprotected member directory of an online service (the
Hotmail Member Directory helps protect you from spam because we do not display member
addresses).
- Reply to unsolicited e-mail messages with a "remove" request because this only
validates to the sender that your address is current.
*************************
II. Turning on the Junk Mail Filter
The Junk Mail filter protects you from unsolicited e-mail messages (also known as
spam). Hotmail examines all incoming mail that you have not blocked or filtered. If it
determines that the message is junk mail, Hotmail directs the message to the Junk Mail
folder.
>>> To set the Junk Mail Filter
1. Click the "Options" link on the upper-right side of the page.
2. On the left side of the page, click "Mail" and then click the "Junk E-mail
Protection" link.
3. Click the "Junk E-Mail Filter" link.
4. Select "Default," "Enhanced," or "Exclusive" to enable the filter. See below for a
description of what each level of filter does.
4. Click "OK" to save your settings or "Cancel" to return to the "Junk E-Mail
Protection" page.
What is filtered at each level setting:
- Default vs. Enhanced. The Junk Mail Filter looks at a number of different clues in
e-mail and tries to determine whether the message you received is junk mail. Setting
the filter to "Enhanced" results in a stricter interpretation of what mail is valid
than setting it to "Default." An "Enhanced" filter can result in more valid mail being
filtered to the Junk E-Mail folder than you want, and you may need to check the folder
from time to time to ensure that nothing you want has been defined as "junk." If you
find valid mail in your Junk Mail folder, select the message and click the "Not Junk"
button.
- Exclusive: An "Exclusive" filter means that messages reach your Inbox only if they
are from an address in your Contacts or safe list, service announcements from Hotmail,
or e-mail that you have consented to receive from MSN. This uses encryption to help
protect against junk mail. By setting your Junk Mail Filter to "Exclusive," you accept
only e-mail from your friends. This is e-mail equivalent of "don't talk to strangers."
Remember to check your Junk Mail folder at regular intervals to ensure that the filter
catches only the messages you want to delete. For example, mailing list mail and mail
forwarded from another e-mail address may be filtered to the Junk Mail folder. To
ensure that these e-mail messages go to your Inbox, create Hotmail filters or add the
sender's address to the Safe List.
>>> To add an address to your Safe List
1. Click the "Options" link on the upper-right side of the page.
2. On the left side of the page, click "Mail" and then click the "Junk E-mail
Protection" link.
3. Click the "Add Senders to Safe List" link.
4. In the box at the left of the page, type the address or domain you want added to
your Safe List.
5. Click the "Add >>" button to add the address or domain.
6. Click "OK" to save your settings or "Cancel" to return to the "Junk E-Mail
Protection" page.
>>> To add a sender to the Block Sender list
1. Click the "Options" link on the upper-right side of the page.
2. On the left side of the page, click "Mail" and then click the "Junk E-mail
Protection" link.
3. Click the "Block Specific Senders" link.
4. In the box at the left of the page, type the address or domain you want added to
your Block List.
5. Click the "Add >>" button to add the address or domain.
6. Click "OK" to save your settings or "Cancel" to return to the "Junk E-Mail
Protection" page.
Note: Hotmail offers two additional ways to block senders. While you are reading a
message, click the "Block" button in the toolbar. Or, while viewing the messages in
your inbox, select the check box next to unwanted messages and click the "Block"
button in the toolbar.
Hotmail also allows you to create Basic or Advanced custom filters. Basic custom
filters allow you to filter incoming e-mail by subject or e-mail address. Advanced
custom filters allow you to filter incoming e-mail by subject, e-mail address, sender
name and the "To" or "Cc" lines.
>>> To create a Basic custom filter
1. Click the "Options" link on the upper-right side of the page.
2. On the left side of the page, click "Mail" and then click the "Custom Filters"
link.
3. On the "Custom Filters" page, click "Create New" to access the "Create Basic
Filter" page.
4. Under "Step 1: Filter Criteria," select the filter criteria you want to apply to
incoming e-mail. You can filter incoming e-mail by subject or the sender's e-mail
address.
5. Under "Step 2: Folder," select a folder to which you want your messages delivered.
You can also choose to delete incoming messages.
6. Click "OK" to save your settings.
>>> To create an Advanced custom filter
1. Click the "Options" link on the upper-right side of the page.
2. On the left side of the page, click "Mail" and then click the "Custom Filters"
link.
3. On the "Custom Filters" page, click "Create New" to access the "Create Basic
Filter" page.
4. Click the "Advanced Filter" link above and to the right of the "Step 1: Filter
Criteria" heading.
5. Under "Step 1: Filter Criteria," select an option from the first drop-down list.
You can choose to filter incoming e-mail by subject, e-mail address, sender name and
the "To" or "Cc" lines.
6. From the second drop-down list, choose either "Contains," "Does Not Contain,"
"Contains Word," "Starts With," "Ends With," or "Equals."
- "Contains" searches for a specified word, partial word, or phrase (for example,
the filter "Fred" finds all instances of "Fred," "Frederick," "Freddie," and so on).
- "Does Not Contain" is the opposite of "Contains" (for example, the filter "Fred"
finds all instances of anything other than "Fred" such as "Scarlett," "Rhett," and so
on).
- "Contains Word" searches for the exact word, not a partial word (for example,
the filter "Fred" finds all instances of "Fred" not including "Frederick," "Freddie,"
and so on).
- "Starts With" searches for a sentence or word that begins with the specified
word or partial word (for example, the filter "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" finds all messages
that contain "[EMAIL PROTECTED]," such as, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]," "[EMAIL PROTECTED],"
and so on).
- "Ends With" searches for a sentence or word that ends with the specified word or
partial word (for example, the filter "@aol.com" finds all messages that contain
"@aol.com," such as "[EMAIL PROTECTED]," "[EMAIL PROTECTED]," and so on).
- "Equals" searches for the exact phrase (for example, the filter "Fred Smith"
finds all instances of Fred Smith, but not "Smith, Fred," "Fred S. Smith," and so on).
7. In the third text box, type the string for which you want to search.
8. Under "Step 2: Folder," select a folder to which you want your messages delivered.
You can also choose to delete incoming messages.
9. Click "OK" to save your settings.
To apply newly created filters to e-mail currently in your "Inbox," on the "Custom
Filters" page, click "Apply Filter(s) Now."
*************************
III. Reporting Abusive or Unwanted E-mail
>>> Report e-mail abuse to MSN Hotmail
If you have received abusive, harassing, or threatening e-mail messages from an MSN
Hotmail account, follow the steps below to report it. To report junk e-mail, please
see the "Report junk e-mail to MSN Hotmail" section below.
1. Turn on full message headers. MSN Hotmail will need this information to identify
the true origin of the abusive message you received:
If you have an MSN Hotmail account. Click "Options" in the upper-right corner of any
page. Click "Mail" on the left side, and then click "Mail display settings." Next to
"Message headers," click "Full," and then click "OK."
If you do not have an MSN Hotmail account, consult your e-mail program's online Help
to determine how to view full message header information.
2. Forward a copy of the abusive message to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> Report junk e-mail to MSN Hotmail
If you have an MSN Hotmail account, follow the steps below to report junk e-mail:
1. Select the message in your Inbox you want to report as junk e-mail.
2. Click the "Junk" button, located on the toolbar of your Inbox.
3. Choose either to report the selected message, or to report the message and block
future messages from its sender.
If you do not have an MSN Hotmail account, follow the steps below to report junk
e-mail coming from an MSN Hotmail account:
1. Consult your e-mail program's online Help to determine how to view full message
header information. MSN Hotmail will need this information to identify the true origin
of the junk e-mail message you received.
2. If the message header contains an "X-Originating-IP" line, forward a complete copy
of the message (including the full message header) to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
If there is no "X-Originating_IP" line, then the message header has been forged and is
not from an MSN Hotmail account. Unfortunately, we are unable to take any action.
Viewing Full Message Headers in MSN Explorer:
1. From your Inbox, click the check box next to the message you want to view the full
header information for. Do NOT open the message.
2. From the "View" menu, select Message Headers.
3. Click the "Details" tab and highlight and copy all the text in the "Internet
Headers for this Message" window.
4. Open the e-mail in question and forward a complete copy of the message, including
the full message header you copied at the beginning of your message, to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Viewing Full Message Headers in Outlook Express or Outlook:
1. On the unopened mail, place your cursor over the mail, right-click, and click
"Options."
2. Under "Internet headers," copy the contents of the full header.
3. If you are reporting abuse (abusive, harassing or threatening e-mail you have
received), open the e-mail in question and forward a complete copy of the message,
including the full message header you copied at the beginning of your message, to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
4. If you are reporting junk e-mail, open the e-mail in question and forward a
complete copy of the message, including the full message header you copied at the
beginning of your message, to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
You can keep up to date with the fight against spam at:
http://www.cauce.org/
Remember that MSN Hotmail also has comprehensive online help available--just click
"Help" in the upper right corner.
--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
