Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Here are answers to some common questions about PeoplePC spam Controls and spaminator.

When my incoming email is being screened, will strangers be reading my messages?

No. Spaminator uses software that evaluates email electronically to determine whether or not it's spam. Nobody but you will ever read your email.

Is there a chance that messages I want to receive will be intercepted?

That depends on the level of spam protection you choose. With Known spam Blocking, the default level, it's very rare for valid email messages to be intercepted. However, if you upgrade to spaminator, spaminator will redirect a valid message to your Suspect Email folder unless you have added the sender's email address or the sender's Company (Domain) to your Web Mail Address Book.

Will spam Controls or spaminator intercept any important messages from PeoplePC?

No. Certain email messages will always appear in your Inbox, regardless of your spam protection settings. These include Allowed Sender Requests sent by spaminator; email summaries sent by spam Controls or spaminator, if you've chosen to receive summaries; most "bounced" email notices generated when you send messages to invalid email addresses; and messages from PeoplePC regarding your account, Customer Support, and PeoplePC products and services (you can stop receiving messages about products and services by following the unsubscribe instructions in those emails).

I'm going to be away from home and plan to activate email forwarding or vacation messaging for my email address. Will spam Controls or spaminator interfere with those features?

If you activate email forwarding, all messages sent to your email address will bypass spam Controls or spaminator (and your Blocked Sender List) completely. In other words, all incoming messages, including spam, will be sent to your forward address. However, if you select the option to leave copies of forwarded messages on the mail server, your spam settings will apply to those copies. If you're forwarding your email to another PeoplePC email address, you can use spam Controls or spaminator on that email address to filter out spam.

If you activate vacation messaging, the only people who will receive your automatic vacation reply will be those whom you normally allow to send you email. People on your Blocked Sender List (and, if you've upgraded to spaminator, anyone who is not in your Web Mail Address Book) will not receive your vacation reply.

Does the email stored in my Known spam and Suspect Email folders count toward my 100MB email storage limit?

Only messages in your Suspect Email folder count toward your 100MB limit. Messages in your Known spam folder do not count toward your limit.

How can I import all my contacts into my Web Mail Address Book after I've upgraded to spaminator? I don't want to re-type them all manually.

Use Web Mail's Import Address Book feature to import a list of contacts.

Why is spaminator still intercepting messages from a contact in my address book?

You must add the person's email address (or the Company (Domain)) to your Web Mail Address Book. Spaminator does not recognize entries in address books from other email programs or services.

Also, make sure the sender is not on your Blocked Sender List.

I upgraded to spaminator, but I'm receiving email from a person (or company) who is not in my Address Book. How do I keep these messages out of my Inbox?

First, make sure Suspect Email Blocking is activated in Settings. Spaminator will not use your Address Book to determine who can send you mail unless Suspect Email Blocking is enabled. If you're not sure how Suspect Email Blocking works, read more about the different levels of spam protection.

If you deleted the sender's email address from your Address Book, make sure you deleted it from your Web Mail Address Book. Spaminator does not recognize changes you make to address books from other email programs or services.

Finally, check the email address in the message's From field. The spammer may have forged it and placed your email address there. If you're own address is in your Address Book, spaminator will allow such messages to reach your Inbox. You can prevent this by removing your email address from your Address Book.

I removed a sender from my Blocked Sender List. Why are messages from that sender still not showing up in my Inbox?

Removing a sender from the Blocked Sender List does not necessarily mean you will begin receiving email from that person in your Inbox. Specifically, if you have upgraded to spaminator , spaminator will redirect messages from that sender to your Suspect Email folder until you add the sender's email address to your Web Mail Address Book.

I turned spam protection off completely, but email from some people still isn't reaching my Inbox. What am I doing wrong?

The senders' email addresses are probably on your Blocked Sender List. Even if you turn off spam protection, your Blocked Sender List remains active as long as it contains email addresses. If you want to receive email from those senders, remove their addresses from the Blocked Sender List.

I have upgraded to spaminator and I am receiving Allowed Sender Requests from a person I don't want to receive email from. How can I stop these requests?

The next time you receive an Allowed Sender Request from that person, click the appropriate button or link in that request to block email from that sender. This will add the person's email address to your Blocked Sender List. Any future email from that sender will be deleted before it reaches any of your email folders, and spaminator will not send any automatic replies. Learn more about accepting Allowed Sender Requests.

I forwarded a message from my Known spam (or Suspect Email) folder to my Inbox. Why doesn't it show up when I open my email program?

When you forward a message from a spam folder, the message remains on our server until you check for new email using your email program.

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