increase in spam and what to do about it

Has anyone else noticed a large increase in spam in the last few weeks?
In particular, I'm getting a large number of messages with [SPAM] in the
subject line, which is NOT being provided by any filtering under my
control.

I'm using some of the anti-spam features of TCPIP 5.4, but not the RBL
stuff. Does it work OK? Does the configuration need to be updated
often? What is the chance of getting legitimate (i.e. non-spam) email
from a machine on a RBL list? Are the entries on the list only those
who have sent spam, or do they include for example ranges of volatile IP
addresses?

I think a lot of spam today comes from virus-infected PCs. Presumably,
someone could send a legitimate email from such a PC as well.

In the past, most email addresses used as spam recipients were harvested
from usenet and the web. These days, I think they are gleaned by
viruses from PCs or found through dictionary attacks. In both cases,
spam-blocking one's email address doesn't provide the protection it once
did.

Is there some place one can send spam and hope that charges will be
filed against the spammer? Sounds too good to be true, but I have heard
of such things. (Easier would be just to set up an email account,
collect the spam and press charges, rather than rely on people sending
in their spam.)

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: TCPIP SMTP: suggestion
    ... I am still getting too much spam) and b) if I ... so blocking them will block much spam. ... in some sense that is bowing down to the spammers and letting ... legitimate email directly from a dynamic IP address. ...
    (comp.os.vms)
  • Re: TESCO BLOCKING OTHER ISPS
    ... Most spam can be detected while still allowing legitimate email pass. ... Furthermore it places no onus on the source ISP to clean up their act ... all we're doing is building the levees higher. ...
    (uk.telecom.broadband)
  • Re: I Have a Question
    ... >> Don't tell me there are perfect spam filters; ... it was flagging a lot of legitimate email, but it sends me a daily summary ... I still get the daily spam email summary but now it is rare to find ...
    (rec.music.classical.recordings)
  • Re: Spam
    ... > real), so it essentially classifies everything as spam, which I then ... I'd rather give up physical mail, ... annoyingly-full of spam as my physical mailbox gets by UCPC. ...
    (comp.lang.lisp)
  • Re: How to colour emails from any know contact? (Without running out of rules)
    ... >legitimate email from senders we didn't explicitly put in our "approved ... Qurb blocks 100% of spam. ... If you were to send me a perfectly legitimate email, ...
    (microsoft.public.outlook.general)