WHITE LIST ONLY
The third type of spam filter is the White List Only method.  Typically, this method blocks ALL incoming e-mail unless the sender is in your address book, or white list.  In some cases, sending an e-mail will add that recipient to the white list, just like adding the address to your address book. This type of anti-spam filtering is the most aggressive and will block e-mail from new potential clients. 

If someone sends you an e-mail for the first time, and you have not added them to your white list, the e-mail gets blocked temporarily.  Your e-mail server will then automatically send them a reply letting them know that you are not receiving e-mail from their e-mail address.  The automatic reply will invite them to fill out a short form requesting to be added to your white list.  Once they complete the form the temporarily blocked e-mail is then delivered to you.  If you add them to your white list, that sender will not get blocked in the future.

The problem with this method is that many senders may not bother to take the time to fill out the form.  If they simply ignore the request, you will never see their e-mail. 

Recently, Source of Title sent out more than 5,000 e-mails to the companies listed in the directory to have them update and verify the accuracy of their contact information.  Several hundred were blocked by this method of spam filtering.  Obviously, Source of Title is not able to take the time to fill out the forms for all of them.  Those that do not get the e-mail run the risk of being deleted from the directory if their contact information does not get updated.  However, this signifies a much larger problem.  If the e-mail from Source of Title is not getting to these business owners, how many potential clients are they missing as well?

The White List Only method of spam filtering places the burden on the sender to control the recipients’ spam problem.  Many busy professionals do not have the time to do this and they may just move on the competition.

TAKING ACTION ON SUSPECTED SPAM

Once an e-mail is flagged as spam, there are several actions that can be taken that determine whether or not the recipient ever receives the e-mail.  E-mail can be tagged with *SPAM* in the subject line, re-directed to a “junk” mail folder, re-directed to an approval account, temporarily blocked while the sender is sent a confirmation e-mail, or it can be permanently deleted.  Depending on the anti-spam filter provided by your ISP or  e-mail administrator, one or more of these options may be available to you.

TAGGING SPAM
The most innocuous action is tagging the e-mail with *SPAM* in the subject line.  Suspected spam is identified as such by adding a tag to the subject line and then the e-mail is delivered to the recipient.  The recipient can then look through the suspected spam and delete the obvious junk e-mail and the rest can be properly handled.

This is the best method to ensure that you are not missing any important e-mails.  However, with the amount of spam that gets delivered, it can still take a significant amount of time to sort through.