Carnegie Mellon University
Office of the CIO  ›  Computing Services  ›  Services  ›  Communication and Collaboration  ›  Email and Calendaring  ›  How to Use Email and Calendaring  ›  Manage Spam

Manage Spam

The campus email system automatically identifies some spam messages by its content or header information (e.g., the text in the "Subject" and "From" lines of the message). It also gives you options for handling spam email. Follow the steps below to determine how spam is filtered at the server-level.

  1. Visit emailtools.cmu.edu/.
  2. Select Spam Settings.
  3. Follow the on-screen steps.

Below are other tips for filtering unwanted mail from your inbox.

Block a Sender

If you want to stop receiving messages from a specific email address, you can block the address. Messages from a blocked address will go to your Junk or Spam folder.

  1. Select the message.
  2. Click on the sender’s name in the message header.
  3. Select Block Contact from the drop-down list.
  1. Open the message.
  2. Click More (top right).
  3. Click Block [Sender Name].
  1. Right-click the message.
  2. Select Junk > Block Sender.

Remove Yourself from a Mailing List

If you no longer want to receive messages from a mass email list, you can remove yourself from the list by unsubscribing. 

  1. Open the message you want to unsubscribe from.
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the message and click Unsubscribe.

Note: If you continue to receive messages after unsubscribing, or if the message does not contain an Unsubscribe option, block the sender following the previous steps.

Report Spam

If you are receiving spam email and your filter options are configured, follow the appropriate steps below to report a message and provide us with the relevant information. We will contact you only if we need additional details.

  1. Right-click the spam message and then select Forward as Attachment.
  2. Send to report-spam@andrew.cmu.edu with the subject Spam Report.
  1. Create a new message.
  2. Drag and drop the spam sample into the body of the message.
  3. Send to report-spam@andrew.cmu.edu with the subject Spam Report.
  1. Open the spam message.
  2. Click the arrow next to Reply, at the top of the message pane.
  3. Select Show Original.
  4. Copy and paste the message source into the new email message.
  5. Send to report-spam@andrew.cmu.edu with the subject Spam Report.

Use the Forward as Attachment option. If this is not available, follow the steps below.

  1. Open the spam message and view the source.
  2. Copy and paste the message source into the new email message.
  3. Send to report-spam@andrew.cmu.edu with the subject Spam Report.
  1. From the main menu, type S for Setup and then C for Config.
  2. Find Advanced Command Preferences, and check enable-full-header-cmd.
  3. Type E to exit and Y to save your changes.
  4. Open the reported message.
  5. Type H to display full headers
  6. Type F to forward the message to report-spam@andrew.cmu.edu.