Can I Stop spam from "Phoning Home"?

[Wayne]

Is there a way to block spammers from "phoning home" once
a message has been received (and previewed) in Outlook
2002?

I have created a very lengthy Junk Senders list in
Outlook, and most of the time spam gets automatically
diverted to my Deleted Items folder. However, I usually
check the Deleted Items folder to ensure that no
legitimate messages are moved there. Sometimes when I
check the Deleted Items folder however, spam messages are
what are displayed, and with a live internet connection,
they send their message back that I've now read the email
and my address is valid -- opening up the door for more
spam. Usually, these messages contain small gif images
associated with web addresses that receive the information
once the spam message is previewed.

I have searched everywhere for settings that allow me to
either disable the ability to preview messages -only from
the Deleted Items folder-, or to prohibit Outlook from
retrieving the gif image in the first place, and "phoning
home" once it does so.

Is there a way to do either of these? I am sure that
there is, but I can't find it.

 

[Mary]

You don't say what version of Outlook you are using. In Outlook 2000, you
can turn the Preview Pane on or off by selecting View/Previw Pane (ALT+V,N).
The Delete Folder or Junk Mail Folder, etc. can be set independently of
other folders. I don't think the preview pane was available in Outlook 97 so
I presume you're using Outlook 2000 or later.

Also check View/Current View -- I'm not sure how this works in combination
with View/Preview Pane. I think if all folders are set up the same way to
begin with the View /Current View/Messages with AutoPreview will turn
AutoPreview on and off globally. You should probably be able to turn preview
off on Deleted Items by fiddling with these two options.

 

[Vanguard]

Is there a way to block spammers from "phoning home" once
a message has been received (and previewed) in Outlook
2002?

I have created a very lengthy Junk Senders list in
Outlook, and most of the time spam gets automatically
diverted to my Deleted Items folder. However, I usually
check the Deleted Items folder to ensure that no
legitimate messages are moved there. Sometimes when I
check the Deleted Items folder however, spam messages are
what are displayed, and with a live internet connection,
they send their message back that I've now read the email
and my address is valid -- opening up the door for more
spam. Usually, these messages contain small gif images
associated with web addresses that receive the information
once the spam message is previewed.

I have searched everywhere for settings that allow me to
either disable the ability to preview messages -only from
the Deleted Items folder-, or to prohibit Outlook from
retrieving the gif image in the first place, and "phoning
home" once it does so.

Is there a way to do either of these? I am sure that
there is, but I can't find it.

You might be interested in seeing the discussion over in
and the replies
to it.