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macrem

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 11, 2008
1,438
102
I updated to beta 4 (GM Candidate) & confirmed Yosemite still does not filter spam (aka junk mail) as well as Mavericks...

Whenever spam makes its way past server side filtering (if any), then right-clicking spam in Yosemite Mail (to 'mark as junk') loads the entire message including images from the spammer, which is really bad & I believe unlike previous versions of Mail. Here are more details:

  • recently (before the Yosemite public beta program started), I started getting more and more unfiltered spam in my iCloud inbox
  • I first started noticing on iOS which does not appear to do any client-side spam filtering, but then at least my workaround is to load mail via Mavericks Mail. Mavericks' client side junk mail filtering cleans up the mess in my inbox reasonably well, from which the iOS devices benefit. Not as good as decent server-side spam filtering but at least it does the job albeit in a non-"premium experience" way
  • not only does Yosemite (confirmed now in the GMC too) not clean the spam Mavericks took care of, when right clicking (a discrete method on Mavericks), with Yosemite Mail immediately the entire spam message is loaded including images, which is how spammers discover they have a confirmed target
I also started forwarding spam to spam@apple.com since around the beginning of the Yosemite beta program and reported the issue to Apple via the support website and the Feedback Assistant in Yosemite since Beta 1.

It is annoying to the point that I have been considering announcing to all my legit contacts that I'm switching back to an older Gmail account (which Android friends would get a good laugh from), which I pretty much had stopped using since iCloud started. Gmail handles spam very well on the server side, at least I have never had this issue on a much older & historically much more used mail account, but then the concern is what's Google doing with my data...

As it stands, if I were to update all OS X machines to Yosemite (my sig only lists latest gen devices I own), I'd have to either ditch iCloud mail or manage a lot of spam per day manually. I have reported this issue to Apple since beta 1 and have been forwarding 100s of samples to spam@apple.com for months but still not a word back from Apple.

Has anyone else been greatly annoyed by this &/or found solutions/workarounds?
 
Last edited:

macrem

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 11, 2008
1,438
102
Btw I also can't figure out a way to empty the Junk Mail folder in Yosemite Mail, which I reported since Beta 1 and can't find a solution in Beta 4.
 

Sonmi451

Suspended
Aug 28, 2014
792
385
Tesla
I'm having similar issues. I tried making the rule if you aren't in my contacts or previous recipients it will be marked as spam, but these emails keep showing up in my inbox no matter what I do.

Frustrating, and I'm thinking about changing email addresses. Some of the spam has my full name so they got my info somehow, but some of it goes to my iCloud.com address which i've never used ever. I've been forwarding it all to spam@icloud.com. Sometimes I can go a week without getting anything, and sometimes I'll get bombarded with 10 in a day or so.
 

nbnbxdnb

macrumors 6502
Sep 1, 2010
258
22
Same issue here. I don't know what they did to change. Mail suddenly stopped filtering junk mails in Yosemite beta. It used to mark out junk mails then sent them to junk mail folder automatically. Since then I tried to bring it back by resetting junk mail filter, adding rules and deleting all the user data and settings. But none of them worked. All the junk mails I have marked many times before still infiltrated into my inbox while junk filter standing by did nothing. Now I'm thinking setting up an auto forwarding to gmail account and have google server become the filter. Otherwise, buying a spam sieve is an option for long term solution. But I hope this problem will not persist after final release.
 

Abba1

macrumors regular
Aug 6, 2014
117
0
This is an old problem

This is not a new problem. Spam and Junk Mail have been problematic for some time. I don't remember if it was a problem in .Mac, but I started having problems in MobileMe. Ultimately I purchased an anti-spam app that is teachable and works well (there are some good ones out there). The one I have now keeps updating for people who are on Yosemite Beta, and to me that is impressive as well as good business. Additionally, I send a spam report to Apple whenever my anti-spam catches (or occasionally misses) something I consider dangerous.
 

nbnbxdnb

macrumors 6502
Sep 1, 2010
258
22
This is not a new problem. Spam and Junk Mail have been problematic for some time. I don't remember if it was a problem in .Mac, but I started having problems in MobileMe. Ultimately I purchased an anti-spam app that is teachable and works well (there are some good ones out there). The one I have now keeps updating for people who are on Yosemite Beta, and to me that is impressive as well as good business. Additionally, I send a spam report to Apple whenever my anti-spam catches (or occasionally misses) something I consider dangerous.

Glad, I am not all alone feeling that mail is not so good at handling junks. What pisses me off is that, the mechanism sometimes just breaks, stops filtering anything at all, while I never change any setting to cause the problem.
 

lestere

macrumors member
Jul 26, 2014
49
17
Central Florida
Spam in Yosemite Mail

Do yourself a favor... If controlling spam is important to you (and it is for most of us), get a third party spam filter, specifically, SpamSeive... you won't be disappointed. You have to pay for it, but it is absolutely worth it. It works with all popular email apps. I have used it for years and I can tell you that it is a superior app. You shouldn't have to change your email address to prevent spam... that is an exercise in futility!
 

Abba1

macrumors regular
Aug 6, 2014
117
0
Do yourself a favor... If controlling spam is important to you (and it is for most of us), get a third party spam filter, specifically, SpamSeive... you won't be disappointed. You have to pay for it, but it is absolutely worth it. It works with all popular email apps. I have used it for years and I can tell you that it is a superior app. You shouldn't have to change your email address to prevent spam... that is an exercise in futility!

Agreed! SpamSieve really works. And, it's worth the cost.
 

macrem

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 11, 2008
1,438
102
Now I'm forwarding all iCloud mail to gmail and turned off receiving iCloud mail directly on all my devices. In a few cases I had to train gmail once by manually marking mails as junk and then never see them again in my inbox. Pity Apple has not yet taken this issue seriously.
 

Zxxv

macrumors 68040
Nov 13, 2011
3,558
1,104
UK
I set up a rule to put them in the bin. Any new ones that I don't like I just add them to the rule. If from this sender/if contains these word's/ put in bin. Seems to work fine. Not quite the same but it works. Then if you like you can look in the bin and mark them as spam but really theres no need.
 

dianeoforegon

macrumors 6502a
Apr 26, 2011
907
137
Oregon
Junk filter running even if disabled

I have the opposite problem.

Since updating to beta 3, Mail is marking messages as junk and I have it turned off. I use Spam Sieve.
 
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