Thank you for submitting your question to MSN Hotmail Support.
This is an auto-generated response designed to let you know that our system received your support inquiry and a Support Representative will be reviewing your question and responding to you soon. Please note that you will not receive a reply if you respond directly to this message.
While you are awaiting response from a Support Representative, here is some additional information about how to 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 Unsolicited Bulk E-mail ("spam") II. Turning on the Hotmail Inbox Protector III. Reporting Unwanted, Abusive, or Fraudulent E-Mail
We strictly enforce the MSN Hotmail Terms of Use and Notices (TOU), which forbid e-mail abuse. We ask for your support to help Hotmail prevent unwanted, abusive, or fraudulent e-mail.
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I. Limiting Unsolicited Bulk E-mail ("spam")
Hotmail employs the following methods to protect you from 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 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 specific senders or domains. - Use the Inbox Protector feature of Hotmail to filter spam into your Bulk Mail folder.
Don't: - Post to an online service or any Internet bulletin board. - Post in a Usenet newsgroup or mailing list. - Spend time in chat rooms or an online service that displays your address. - Include yourself in an unprotected member directory of an online service (the Hotmail Member Directory is protected 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. - Click a URL embedded in an unsolicited message because this may reveal your MSN Hotmail address to that Web site.
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II. Turning on the Hotmail Inbox Protector
To turn on Hotmail's Inbox Protector
The Bulk Mail folder protects you from unsolicited e-mail messages (also known as spam). The Hotmail Inbox Protector examines all incoming mail that you have not blocked or filtered. If the Inbox Protector determines that the message is bulk mail, it directs it to the Bulk Mail folder. You can specify how long messages remain in this folder before they are automatically deleted.
To set bulk mail filter options with Inbox Protector
1. Click the "Options" button on the horizontal navigation bar. The "Options" page appears. 2. Under "Mail Handling", click the "Inbox Protector" link. The "Inbox Protector" page appears. 3. Select the "Typical" or "Custom" check box to enable the protector. If you chose "Custom", select the check boxes as appropriate to direct incoming mail to your Inbox from the types of senders listed under "Custom". 4. Under Discard Folder, do one of the following: - Select the check box next to "Bulk Mail" to have Bulk Mail messages automatically deleted 14 days after receipt. - Select the check box next to "Trash Can" to have Bulk Mail messages automatically deleted several times a week. 5. Click "OK" to apply the filters. -or- Click "Cancel" to return to the "Options" page without saving the filters.
To change the status of a bulk mail message
If you receive a message in the Bulk Mail folder that you do not consider bulk mail, do one of the following: - In the Bulk Mail folder, select the check boxes next to the messages that you do not consider bulk mail, and click the "This is not Bulk Mail" button above the message list. The selected messages are moved to your Inbox, and messages from these senders are not sent to the Bulk Mail folder in the future. - In the Bulk Mail folder, click the check boxes next to messages and select a folder from the "Move to" drop-down list above the message list. This method moves the selected messages to that folder, but does not guarantee that messages from that sender are not sent to the Bulk Mail folder in the future. - In Inbox Protector, scroll down to the "Safe List" heading. Messages from an e-mail address (or domain) on your Safe List are always delivered to your Inbox, never to your Bulk Mail or Trash Can. Under the heading "Type a single address or domain" type an e-mail alias or domain from which you always want to receive e-mail, and then click the "Add" button.
Note: Messages from mailing lists and forwarded from another e-mail address are often sent to the Bulk Mail folder. To prevent this, create Hotmail filters to direct this mail to your Inbox.
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III. Reporting Unwanted, Abusive, or Fraudulent E-Mail
To forward mail with expanded headers if you're using Hotmail
1. Click "Options" on the horizontal navigation bar. 2. On the "Options" page under "Additional Options", click the "Preferences" link. Scroll down to "Message Headers" and select "Full". 3. Forward the resulting mail to: abuse@hotmail.com
To forward mail with expanded headers if you're using MSN Explorer
1. Open the message and then click "More" in the upper right hand corner. 2. Click "Message Source". The message will open in a new window with all the header information visible. 3. Copy all the text and paste it into a new message. Send this message to: abuse@hotmail.com
If you're not a Hotmail member, consult the Help associated with your e-mail program to determine how to view complete header information. Then forward the message to: abuse@hotmail.com
If the unsolicited junk e-mail or "spam" comes from a non-Hotmail account, you can send a complaint to the service provider that sent the mail.
In the expanded header, look at the last "Received:" notation to locate the sending service provider. It will look something like <insert service name>.com.
Forward only one of the offending pieces of e-mail to abuse at the service provider you have identified: abuse@<servicename>.com.
To log a complaint, add a polite message such as "Here's a copy of the spam I received."
To report abuse from a source other than e-mail, include the following information: - The media involved (such as chat, ICQ, or Usenet). - The Hotmail account involved. - The content of the offensive or unsolicited message. - Any user information that you have.
You can keep up to date with the fight against spam at: http://www.cauce.org
MSN Hotmail also has comprehensive online help available to you. For more information on Hotmail features, functions, and issues, click the "Help" button on the horizontal navigation bar.
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MSN Hotmail