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The Internet Account Options site enables you manage your e-mail account. On the Internet Account Options site you can:
This page provides three options for servers you will accept mail from:
The first option (well-behaved servers) is the default for all University accounts. You can select another option if you wish.
Blocking spam involves rejecting e-mail messages originating from "poorly-behaved" servers. There are several categories of poorly-behaved servers. To see a description of what defines a poorly-behaved server, go to www.umn.edu/myaccount, select "Incoming E-mail Controls", and click the "list" link.
One category of poorly-behaved servers are called Open Relays. A mail system is an open relay when it allows remote sites to send e-mail through them to a third party. Many junk mailers use this in order to hide their identity and thwart efforts to block unwanted e-mail. We will be using Open Relay lists from various sources to identify systems that fit this classification.
On the Incoming E-mail Controls page, you also have an option to filter incoming mail through a program called SpamAssassin. The default value for this option is "no e-mail scanning". We recommend that most people use this option.
Blocking mail from Open Relays runs a higher risk of blocking mail people may want to receive. To make sure people are not hindered from receiving e-mail they want to get, we have implemented a procedure to release blocked messages.
The Show Blocked Incoming Mail page displays the originator information for all mail rejected on your behalf during the previous seven days. If someone you wish to communicate with is on this list, you will be able to add them to your personal exceptions list. The sender will also have a method to have us notify you that they have had e-mail rejected. You need not worry that someone you need to communicate with will be unreachable!
E-mail sent to you in the last two weeks that have been blocked. To see a list of e-mail messages to you that have been blocked in the last two weeks, go to www.umn.edu/myaccount and select "Show Blocked Incoming Mail". If this list is still empty, that simply means that you haven't been sent mail from blocked servers. If there is blocked mail listed, the addresses in the block list will become links. Click the link to un-block future mail coming from that server to your e-mail address.
Please note: Clicking the link will not enable you to see the message. Instead, it will unblock all further messages with that return address for the next six months. So, if you don't recognize the address, don't click on it.
Spammers hide their identities, so don't be fooled!. They are clever and frequently hide their identities behind something that looks legitimate. For example, mail coming from "AT&T_Consumer_Services@bcl.customer-contact.net" has nothing to do with AT&T; it comes from a known and notorious spammer. How about "electricity.board@state.mn.us"? It looks, on the surface, like something you might want to read, but actually it came from a spammer in Singapore.
So, how can you tell the difference? If you don't know exactly who the sender is, if you have never received e-mail from this source before, if you didn't request this communication, then don't unblock it.
If you have any questions, contact Technology Help staff.
