SPAM Information

A significant amount of messages addressed to Western e-mail addresses is now spam. ITS filters out 75% of incoming mail as 'known spam'. An additional 3% of incoming mail is 'suspect spam'. Western's main tool for filter spam is our SpamTrap service.

Please Note: We are in the process of a staged migration which will result in all users having moved to the SpamTrap model.

SpamTrap

ITS has implemented a new method of managing your spam. All new e-mail addresses have their spam ‘trapped' in a central repository rather than clogging your Inbox and using e-mail resources. A single notice is sent each day so that a user may see the messages that are trapped. This summary notice allows for 3 easy choices - delete all, deliver selected messages and delete the rest, or log into and manage your SpamTrap.

We recommend taking a few minutes to scan the notification message to ensure that the trap has not caught legitimate email. If you agree with what we have trapped then select the button ‘reject all as spam’. You need to be sure - once this action is taken the message(s) cannot be retrieved. If we have trapped something that you would like to receive then mark it as accept and the other messages as reject then select the button ‘submit’.

By taking specific action on the notification message you are actively contributing to the efficiency of your personal stream. It also makes it easier to scan the trap contents. If no action is taken you will continue to receive daily reminders of any new or outstanding content in your trap until after 30 days it is automatically cleared.