Reader: AOL spam filtering

Reader Arrol Lofton has informed us of problems with AOL's "Advanced Spam Filtering" whereby legitimate emails will be forwarded to the "spam" folder. AOL's Mac OS X client does not provide a way to disable this feature. AOL has advised users to access their account via a Windows machine to disable this feature.

Lofton's e-mail to AOL:

"I am very concerned at why recently, in the last 2 weeks, my AOL service is now flagging legitimate emails as SPAM.  This is across all of my AOL login names.  I have not flagged any of these emails as being SPAM. Something has changed on your end and this is not a good thing.  I use the Mac OS X AOL client, version 10.3.



The only way that I found that these emails were being flagged as SPAM was when I used Internet Explorer to check my mail. I had sent test messages from my work account and they end up in the SPAM folder that I could see why logged in via the web. I then check all of my login names and found that I had emails from clients, ebay, and other places that I need to see that ended up in my SPAM folder.



Why is this happening when I never changed my 'limited' SPAM controls in the Mac OS X AOL client?



Why is the Mac OS X AOL client so limited with no access to see what is in this SPAM folder that you can see via the Web.  How can I change my legit emails from being flagged as SPAM?"

AOL's response:

"...I understand from your recent e-mail that you have question about some of your legitimate e-mail are automatically being forwarded to your Spam folder box.



Arrol, I apologize for the inconvenience that you have been experiencing. I appreciate your patience with this matter and I want to assure you I am here to help you in any way I can.



Some of your e-mail may be forwarded to your Spam folder box because of the new AOL's Advanced Filtering feature.



AOL's Advanced Spam Filtering will automatically move junk mail and unwanted mail into your Spam folder. This process is simple, automatic, and personalized to how you use mail. If filtering is on, Mail determined to be Spam by AOL's
advanced technology will be automatically delivered to your Spam folder.



The Advanced Spam Filtering is on by default and unfortunately at this time, there is no way to turn off the feature on AOL for Mac OS X. However, if you have friend who is using AOL 8.0 or AOL 9.0 on Windows, you can sign on as a Guest and disable the feature from there.



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You can also visit Keyword: SPAM FOLDER to access your Spam folder box inside the AOL software and click on the THIS IS NOT SPAM button for every legitimate e-mail you have found on this area.



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As an additional information, may I suggest that you add the addresses that you have found in your Spam folder to your Address Book.

by MacNN Staff