FirstAlert! is a database of spam messages that can be used by individuals to eliminate future circulation.
FirstAlert! makes use of the very large community of MailWasher Pro users to easily and actively report spam messages to a central database, so that once a particular spam email is reported and verified as spam, no other MailWasher Pro FirstAlert! subscriber receives that particular message.
MailWasher Pro users report spam messages to FirstAlert! administrators, who verify that messages are spam and add them to the database. Spam messages are then transformed into a unique digital fingerprint. Users who interact with the database, do so in real time, so any messages that identically correspond to fingerprints in the database, are marked as known spam and immediately eliminated.
FirstAlert! works with any account in MailWasher Pro. Any POP3, IMAP, AOL, and Hotmail/MSN accounts can be used.
Yes, you can. You need to make sure you set your firewall to allow MailWasher Pro full access to the internet. MailWasher Pro interacts with FirstAlert! through Port 4050.
Yes, you can.
To enter your proxy server settings in MailWasher Pro:
1. In MailWasher Pro click Tools > General Options > Connection Options and tick, Use a proxy server.
2. Enter your proxy server address and port number, click OK.
MailWasher Pro checks any messages that are not marked as legitimate either by your Friends List or by your filters. For this reason, we strongly suggest you make sure your Friends List is up to date. This ensures maximum accuracy so no accidental reporting takes place. MailWasher Pro does not allow you to report emails that have already been added to the FirstAlert! database. When an email has already been added to the database, the status of the message reads "Known spam", and the report check box does not display.
No. By default, this option is disabled.
To set up your FirstAlert! account in MailWasher Pro:
1. From the MailWasher Pro main screen, click Tools > Spam Tools to display the Spam Tools window.
2. Click FirstAlert! and select the Use FirstAlert! database of spam.
3. Enter your FirstAlert! account number and password and click OK.
In this area you can also set the actions you want MailWasher Pro to take with messages matched by FirstAlert!™ and when you want the actions to be performed. If you are unsure we recommend you leave the settings as they are and when you are more comfortable with the FirstAlert! system, alter these to your own preferences.
If you have previously had voluntary communication with the sender, then this is not spam and should not be reported.
Other types of messages that should not be submitted are automatically generated messages such as:
Automated Notifications
Undeliverable Mail
Mailing List Probes
Virus Alerts
Challenge Response Auto Replies
It is known that spammers have forged these types of emails, however the purpose of these emails are actually very legitimate. Automated notifications can tell you when a business contact is out of the office, undeliverable email notifications tell you when an email you have sent has not made it to the recipient and why.
After you have set up FirstAlert! a new Report column displays in the message table.
Select the Report check box beside a message and click Process Mail to send that message to FirstAlert! administrators. The administrators analyze the reported emails and accept the email as spam and add it to the database, or reject it.
MailWasher Pro does not check any messages against FirstAlert! that are marked as legitimate either by your Friends List or filters. Nor can legitimate messages be reported.
As MailWasher Pro checks your email account(s), it automatically checks each message against the FirstAlert! database of known spam. By default, any messages matched are displayed with the status "Known Spam" and marked ready for Delete and Blacklist.
Optionally you can choose to have MailWasher Pro automatically delete these messages. To set options for MailWasher Pro click the Spam Tools button from the MailWasher Pro main screen and then click FirstAlert!.
Rejected messages are deleted. The number of messages submitted by you that are rejected is recorded against your account and we will contact you if the number of rejected emails reported by you becomes excessive.
No. Sharing your FirstAlert! account number and password violates the terms and conditions of FirstAlert!
Registered MailWasher Pro users have FirstAlert included with their purchase for 12 months, a subscription to the service and thereafter is USD29.95 per annum.
FirstAlert! is a standard feature of MailWasher Pro versions 4.0 or later
If you purchased MailWasher Pro before the 24th of March 2004, click here to subscribe to FirstAlert!
If you purchased MailWasher Pro after the 24th of March 2004, your MailWasher Pro registration key will automatically enable FirstAlert!
Your FirstAlert! account details will also be emailed to you in a separate email for safe keeping.
The FirstAlert! database requires real people to actually check each email that goes into the database so that we minimnise the risk of false positives.
Unfortunatly this costs (a not inconsiderable amount of) money, and therefore we need to charge something for it as there are no update fees for Mailwasher Pro.
If you do not wish to subscribe to FirstAlert!, please just uncheck this option in, Spam Tools>>Firstalert in Mailwasher Pro.
Yes, you can. To cancel your subscription send an email to FirstAlert! Support .
You receive a free years subscription to Firstalert when you purchase Mailwasher Pro.
Renewing this is entirely optional, so if you do not wish to continue on with this, please just disable Firstalert under, Spam Tools>>Firstalert in Mailwasher Pro.
Or, please see here for further info on Firstalert
MailWasher Pro is free for life, and it won't stop working without FirstAlert! Instead you won't have access to the FirstAlert! service.
Renewing this is entirely optional, so if you do not wish to continue on with this, please just disable Firstalert under, Spam Tools>>Firstalert in Mailwasher Pro.
Or, please see here for further info on Firstalert
Send an email to FirstAlert! Support and we email your account details.
Be careful not to add any extra spaces when entering your account number and password into the FirstAlert! section of the Spam Tools window.
If you are behind a firewall be sure port 4050 is available.
If you have a proxy server, check that you have entered your proxy server settings into the FirstAlert! section of the Spam Tools window.
Check that you have entered your FirstAlert! username and password correctly, also making sure you have not added any extra spaces in these fields. If you have checked this, please contact FirstAlert! Support.
You should send an email to FirstAlert! Support as soon as you realize you have incorrectly submitted the message. Give us the subject of the message you reported and we delete the message from the list.
We require that you take care in reporting emails to FirstAlert! so we can reduce accidental submissions. Therefore, we want you to see every email before you report it. When you have filters set to hide the email from the list in MailWasher Pro, you can not see the email to check if it is one to be reported.