Personal Spam Filter

Generally, all e-mails at the University of Mannheim are being checked for viruses. However, from time to time spam e-mails are disguised in such a way that it is not recognized by our filters. Therefore, the information security team recommends setting up a personal spam filter. We use the example of the “Höhle der Löwen” spam to show you how you can set up a personal filter.

A detailled description how to set up a personal spam filter can be found here.

Tips on defining key words

We use the example of the “Dragons Den” or “Shark Tank” spam to show you how you can set up a personal filter.

Define your keywords

Define your keywords by searching for specific text blocks. If you receive e-mails with the following subject line:

?Shark Tank? system will make citiziens rich!
?Dragons Den? system will make citiziens rich!

=> Then use the keywords “will make citiziens rich” for your filter, since both subject lines contain these keywords.

Avoid searching for single words

If you use keywords like “Hello”, the spam filter searches all e-mails for “Hello”. Always use a text pattern such as for example:

Hello, you have won

=> Better filter for “You have won”