Word Block lists do not seem to be working

Created by Daniel Calkin, Modified on Fri, 31 Jan at 9:07 PM by Daniel Calkin

Problem

SpamSentinel is configured to block messages containing certain words but messages with those words are still received by users.

Background Information

SpamSentinel's Word Blocking functionality is a little complex and separate options are implemented for handling messages with different text types in MIME. Other factors such as White List features will also over-ride a Word Block configuration.

Solution

1. Check the SpamSentinel White List configurations to see if any of those features in use would cause the message to be allowed through.

2. If the message was evaluated to be Spam Category B then word blocks will not be applied to the message.

3. The word block configured and message type may be incompatible.

Determine which word block types pertain to the message which needs to be blocked and add the key word to the proper list. Refer to the following table which describes in detail how Word Block lists are applied.

Word Blocking Options	Applies to Messages
Inbound Word Lists Outbound Word Lists	MIME messages using plain text body types: example 1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; example 2 Content-type: multipart/mixed; Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Inbound Text Only Body Scan Outbound Text Only Body Scan	MIME messages using HTML body type: example Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Content-type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
N/A	Non-MIME SMTP messages Read more below

4. The message is a basic text message sent without using MIME.

These messages can only be blocked using word lists implemented with the SpamSentinel Formula configuration options. Here's one example that can be used in the Formula Before Processing and will over-ride White Lists. Please contact technical support if you need help trying to block messages this way.

Block_Words := "nonesense" : "swearword" : "racialslur";
BodyText := @IF(!@IsAvailable(MIME_Version); @AbstractSimple("Body"); "");
FIELD SpamS_ForcedResult := @IF(@Contains(BodyText; Block_Words ); "C"; @Unavailable);
Select @all