Outlook filter rules sending all e-mails to junk folder

Question

A few weeks ago I started receiving a dozen or so spam e-mails per day that were not being directed to the Junk Folder. They all come from different domain names and are selling different scams. However, they all have one thing in common - the subject line and/or the sender address contained either tildes ~ or underscores _. Despite me marking literally hundreds of these e-mails as spam and fishing schemes, day after day for months, Outlook seemed completely unable to understand these were spam (while also sending very legitimate e-mail from well known companies to my junk folder).

Here is an example:

~_P e n d i n g P a c k a g e (1)_~ <******@wnsvvgfka.conceptset.com>

After months of this, I decided to try adding some filtering rules. I added the following two rules:

If the sender's address contains these words: '~' or '_', move the message to the 'Junk Email".

If the message includes specific words in the subject '~' or '_', move the message to the 'Junk Email".

However, now what is happening is every single e-mail I receive is going to the junk mail folder. This includes spam emails, but also legit e-mails there were not redirected before.

I have three questions:

1. Why can't Outlook understand these spam/phishing e-mails for what they are, despite me reporting hundreds of them? It seems beyond ridiculous. All of the e-mails I report have similar patterns.
2. Why are my filters now directing all e-mails to junk, not just spam?
3. If my filter settings are incorrect, what changes do I need to make?

I would appreciate any help. This has been VERY frustrating.

Thank you for your time.

Answer 1

Hi, I'm Diane and I'm happy to help you today.

1. The outlook.com filters are not the greatest. They seem to be down a lot. Also, if the spammer has the message configured correctly, they could be notified that you reported it as spam. That confirms your address is active and it's worth more on the resale market.
2. Best guess: either ~ or _ is seen as a wild card, but my testing so far does not indicate that, but it is still running. I'm adding categories they don't move but I can see if they were touched by the rule. Try that with your rule - also, split it into two rules- one for ~ and one for _, each with a different category.
3. The sender address rule probably won't work - it looks at the address, not display name. Only addresses with underscores in them would be moved.

Change it to words in the header and try with ~ only. There are likely to be lots of legitimate underscores in the header.

Let me know how it goes, I'm here to help you further if needed.

-- Diane

Answer 2

Hi Diane,

Thanks for responding so quickly. I will try the adjustments you suggested. The filters I have used don't seem to be working for the spam so I'll try your idea.

I am shocked to hear the sender can detect if I have sent to spam! This is so discouraging - is there even any point in reporting spam since Microsoft doesn't seem to do anything with the information?

Answer 3

I am shocked to hear the sender can detect if I have sent to spam! This is so discouraging - is there even any point in reporting spam since Microsoft doesn't seem to do anything with the information?

This is only if the message header is properly configured to receive reports and you report it as junk.

Just adding the address to blocked list shouldn't report it but spammers usually only use an address or domain once then move on to a new one, leaving the blocked list full of useless addresses.

I send a newsletter and am notified who reported the message as junk email so they can be unsubscribed. As a legit sender, I would prefer they just unsubscribe because too many marked as junk can cause all mail to their domain to bounce. But I'm not going do anything more than delete their address from my list.