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I'm getting spam (thanks to NameCheap not properly cloaking my email address), and I'd like to bounce the emails back to the spammers so they think my account doesn't exist. They're not forged From lines, they're web developers who are spamming me looking for work.
I'm an advanced Linux user with my own mail server. Is there some way I can take their message file and tell postfix to bounce it back saying "user does not exist"? Or even if there's some script I can run on Linux or my Mac that doesn't require postfix, that's fine too. Sadly, Mac Mail removed the bounce feature, and apparently you can't even script it anymore in AppleScript like you used to be able to do.
Thanks.
EDIT: Just to be clear, I am specifically looking into how to bounce an email. I don't need any tips on setting up anti-spam, as I already have SpamAssassin, Amavis, and greylistd set up. These services do nothing against real people sending unsolicited email.
ffxsam
Posted 2015-09-01T16:12:01.553
Reputation: 143
A quick look reveals a few things to try: http://www.techrepublic.com/article/build-your-skills-block-spam-at-the-server-with-these-postfix-techniques/ - it doesn't "bounce" them back because bouncing it back would confirm an email server is at the IP as it's responded. Preventing the initial connection in the first place is where to begin...
– Kinnectus – 2015-09-01T16:16:34.540@BigChris I have a very robust anti-spam system in place. The email itself wasn't spammy enough to trigger SpamAssassin. I'm specifically looking to bounce the email so they take me off their list (hopefully). – ffxsam – 2015-09-01T16:21:20.103
What you want isn't always what the spammer wants... Blocking their attempts at the lowest level should help your cause. What kind of response would you be looking at returning - some sort of email response code, or an email with content? – Kinnectus – 2015-09-01T16:25:18.230
Frankly I don't care what the spammer wants. :) I'm looking to give the effect that they wrote an email address that doesn't exist. – ffxsam – 2015-09-01T16:33:01.897
Are the
Fromfield always the same? Or at least is it possible to create a pattern that would match them all? If not, is it possible to create pattern from any other header, or even the content? – nKn – 2015-09-01T19:33:30.707Nope, totally different sources. – ffxsam – 2015-09-01T19:34:20.183
I know several methods how to bounce incoming e-mails, however, there must be at least one common characteristic: any wording, source IP, source country (can be extracted from the client IP), any special header... nothing? – nKn – 2015-09-01T19:37:05.610
This is a bad idea. Most spam has forged headers so you're not bouncing the mail back to the spammer at all: you're bouncing it back to some innocent third party. – David Richerby – 2015-09-01T19:55:43.073
1@DavidRicherby the OP said the
Fromheader is not forged – nKn – 2015-09-01T19:57:28.020@bertieb I'm not sure what you're recommending. – ffxsam – 2015-09-01T23:23:40.207
That's a separate issue. Basically I registered a new domain and also added WhoisGuard, and NameCheap had a glitch where WG didn't enable and hide my email address. So a bunch of offshore web developers got it and are sending me emails soliciting their services. And hence this post... – ffxsam – 2015-09-01T23:31:09.560