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Alumni Home > Help > EFL & Spam Filtering FAQ
Email Forwarding for Life (EFL) & Spam Filtering FAQ
Email Forwarding in general:
- What is Email Forwarding?
- How does Email Forwarding work?
- I already have an email account. Why would I want Email Forwarding?
- I already have an email account. How is Email Forwarding different from my email account?
- Can I use Email Forwarding if I don't have an email account?
Setting up Email Forwarding:
- How do I set up Email Forwarding?
- How do I change my forwarding email address?
- Can Email Forwarding forward email to multiple forwarding email addresses?
- What should I do if I will not have a forwarding email address temporarily?
- How do I set the return email address to my @alum.mit.edu address?
- How can I send an email from my @alum.mit.edu address?
Email Forwarding in depth:
- Does Email Forwarding delay email?
- Does Email Forwarding store my messages?
- Does Email Forwarding work with email attachments?
- Does Email Forwarding limit the size of email attachments?
- Does Email Forwarding block certain types of attachments?
- Does Email Forwarding work with non-English email?
- Does Email Forwarding filter out spam (junk email)?
- What is a Spam Filter Allow List?
- What is a Spam Filter Deny List?
- How do I prevent the spam filter from blocking legitimate email?
What is Email Forwarding?
Email Forwarding is a service exclusively for MIT alumni. It helps friends, family, and colleagues stay in touch with you. When you move, travel, or change jobs, you no longer have to tell everyone how to contact you. As long as you keep your forwarding email address up-to-date, people can always email you at your @alum.mit.edu address.
Related questions:
- How does Email Forwarding work?
- I already have email. Why would I want Email Forwarding?
- I already have email. How is Email Forwarding different from my email?
- Can I use Email Forwarding if I don't have email?
- How do I set up Email Forwarding?
How does Email Forwarding work?
When you register on the Alumni Association homepage, you get an @alum.mit.edu Email Forwarding address. At the same time, you specify an email account as your forwarding email address. When people send email to your @alum.mit.edu address, it is forwarded to the email account(s) you specified. Registering will also enable you to access other services, including email lists and the online directory.
When you move, travel, change jobs, or change ISPs, your email account will likely change. By using Email Forwarding, you can simply login to your Infinite Connection account and update your forwarding address online. You no longer have to notify everyone of your email address change, nor will you ever miss an email again.
Related questions:
- I already have email. Why would I want Email Forwarding?
- I already have email. How is Email Forwarding different from my email?
- Can I use Email Forwarding if I don't have email?
- How do I set up Email Forwarding?
I already have an email account. Why would I want Email Forwarding?
Your email account will likely change when you move, travel, change jobs, or change ISPs. To stay in touch with your friends, family, and colleagues, you have to notify them of this change. In addition, when you are between email accounts, you may miss important email from them.
By using Email Forwarding, you no longer have to notify everyone of your email address change, nor will you ever miss an email again. Your @alum.mit.edu Email Forwarding address will be with you for life; people can always use it and email you at your @alum.mit.edu address.
Related questions:
- I already have email. How is Email Forwarding different from my email?
- How do I set up Email Forwarding?
I already have an email account. How is Email Forwarding different from my email account?
Email Forwarding is only an email forwarding service, unlike your current email which is an email account. The main difference between Email Forwarding and your email account is that Email Forwarding does not come with storage space for email. Email Forwarding works with your email account by forwarding email sent to your @alum.mit.edu address to the email account that you have specified as your forwarding address.
Related questions:
Can I use Email Forwarding if I don't have an email account?
Because Email Forwarding is only an email forwarding service, it has to work with an email account. You cannot use Email Forwarding if you don't have an email account to which email can be forwarded.
There are many places on the Internet that offer free, advertiser-supported email accounts. You can use Email Forwarding with such an account, or you can use Email Forwarding with your business account or any other email address you might have.
Related questions:
How do I set up Email Forwarding?
To set up Email Forwarding, you need to first register for an Infinite Connection account. During the registration process, you will be asked to choose a login name. Your login name followed by @alum.mit.edu becomes your Email Forwarding address.
You will also specify a forwarding address(es) when you register for an Infinite Connection account with the Alumni Association. Your "forwarding address" is typically your current email account. In the future, you can login to your Infinite Connection account and change it online anytime. It is important to keep your forwarding address up-to-date so that people can always email you at your @alum.mit.edu address.
Don't forget to give out your @alum.mit.edu Email Forwarding address to everyone!
Related questions:
- How do I set the return email address to my @alum.mit.edu Email Forwarding email address?
- How can I send an email from my @alum.mit.edu address?
How do I change my forwarding email address?
To change your forwarding email address online, follow these steps:
- Go to the Alumni Association homepage.
- Click on "Email Forwarding", located in the Infinite Connection box on the right hand side of the page, and enter your log-in information.
- Choose "Update" in the box that shows the address you want to change.
- A text box that shows your current forwarding address will appear. Replace that address with your new forwarding address. Make sure that the checkbox before the phrase "Enable email forwarding to this forwarding address" is checked. Then click "Update".
Your forwarding address change will take effect within 15 minutes.
Related questions:
Can Email Forwarding forward email to multiple email addresses?
Yes, Email Forwarding can forward the same email to multiple addresses. To set up multiple forwarding online, follow these steps:
- Go to the Alumni Association homepage.
- Click on "Email Forwarding", located in the Infinite Connection box on the right hand side of the page, and enter your login information.
- Click on "Add" next to the title "Forwarding Address".
- You can add up to 5 forwarding addresses.
Your forwarding address change will take effect within 15 minutes.
What should I do if I will not have a forwarding email address temporarily?
Because Email Forwarding is only an email forwarding service, it has to work with an email account. If you do not provide a valid email account to which email can be forwarded, email sent to your @alum.mit.edu Email Forwarding address will be returned to the sender.
There are many places on the Internet that offer free email accounts (such as Hotmail and Yahoo) that you could use as an alternate forwarding address.
How do I set the return email address to my @alum.mit.edu Email Forwarding email address?
You will need to open the software you use for your email and look for a place to set your return or "reply to" address. This differs between email programs, but is typically found under menu items called Options, Preferences, or Tools. Or you can consult the program's Help directory to get specific directions.
Related questions:
How can I send an email from my @alum.mit.edu address?
You can configure your email client (i.e. Outlook or Eudora) to use an SMTP (or outgoing) server that's available exclusively for MIT Alumni. In order to do so, you will need to open your email client and specify outgoing-alum.mit.edu as your SMTP (or outgoing) mail server. Typically the SMTP server information can be found in your email client under menu items called options, preferences, or tools. You should use port 465 (SSL) or 587 (TLS). Please note that your Infinite Connection login name and password are required for SMTP server authentication. You will also need to configure your email client so that your alum.mit.edu address is specified as the "from" address.
Another way to send an email from your alum.mit.edu address is to use the form on our website.
Does Email Forwarding delay email?
No, Email Forwarding does not delay email. When the Email Forwarding server receives an email, it is forwarded almost instantly. However, email may be delayed slightly if the Email Forwarding server has trouble contacting the server to which email should be forwarded at your ISP (internet service provider).
If your email is delayed for an extended period of time, you should contact both Alumni Association and your ISP.
Does Email Forwarding store my messages?
No. Within seconds of receiving a message, Email Forwarding forwards your email to your "forwarding address." Your mail is stored in your email account at your Internet services provider. The email received and forwarded by Email Forwarding is neither stored nor archived.
Does Email Forwarding work with email attachments?
Yes, Email Forwarding works with email attachments. Please note that executable files (i.e. files ending in .exe) will be rejected by the Email Forwarding server to protect our users from viruses.
Does Email Forwarding limit the size of email attachments?
Yes, Email Forwarding limits the size of email to 30 MB. Email larger than 30 MB will be returned to the sender.
Does Email Forwarding block certain types of attachments?
Yes. The network administrators at MIT have configured all MIT email servers (including alum.mit.edu) to block executable attachments. Unfortunately, there is no way to turn it off (even if you disable your spam filter). This was done in an effort to protect against virus attacks, primarily, but also helps keep alum.mit.edu off spam/virus blacklists that are used by many email providers. If we didn't have this measure in place, viruses could easily be forwarded through the alum.mit.edu system, making us bad "internet neighbors", which would negatively affect the delivery rate of legitimate email as many email providers would stop accepting mail from us.
Attachments are rejected if they contain the following extensions in their filename:
ade,adp,bas,bat,chm,cmd,com,cpl,crt,exe,hlp,hta,inf,ins,isp,jse,lnk,
mdb,mde,msc,msi,msp,mst,pcd,pif,reg,scr,sct,shs,url,vbs,vbe,wsf,wsh,wsc
This approach is starting to become an industry standard. Many ISP's block executable files. If people "zip" the executable attachments before sending them, they should be delivered to you (unless they really are viruses).
Does Email Forwarding work with non-English email?
Yes, Email Forwarding works with non-English email.
Does Email Forwarding filter out junk email?
Yes, the alum.mit.edu server uses "SpamAssassin" to evaluate all incoming email. You may modify the behavior of the spam filter by updating your allow/deny lists. To do this, go to the Email Forwarding for Life page.
What is a Spam Filter Allow List?
All email sent to your alum.mit.edu email address is filtered for spam (unsolicited email) before it reaches you, unless you have disabled spam filtering for your account. An allow list is a list of email addresses you have defined as legitimate. Before the spam filter scans any mail for you, it will look at the addresses on your allow list. Any mail that comes from an address on your allow list will be sent on without being evaluated by the filter. For example, if you know your sister's email address is sis@someisp.net, you can add that address to your allow list. Even if your sister sends you email that would normally be identified as spam, you will get her message. You do not need to add everyone you correspond with to your allow list, only those whose email messages could be misidentified as spam. If you wish to use a wildcard, the syntax is '.*' (no quotes). For example, to allow all messages from mit.edu, use .*@mit.edu. You may also use other regular expressions in the allow list but if you are unfamiliar with regular expressions, it's best to avoid them. The reason why you might like to set up an allow list is because it is possible that the spam filter will occasionally misidentify legitimate email as spam. This is referred to as a "false positive." To reduce this problem, you can add email addresses that you know to be legitimate to your allow list.
What is a Spam Filter Deny List?
A deny list is the opposite of an allow list. All email from an address on the deny list will be rejected, regardless of whether the email message would have been identified as spam. If you wish to use a wildcard, the syntax is '.*' (no quotes). For example, to reject all messages from spammer.com, use .*@spammer.com, to reject only messages from bill at spammer.com, use bill@spammer.com. You may also use other regular expressions in the deny list but if you are unfamiliar with regular expressions, it's best to avoid them.
How do I prevent the spam filter from blocking legitimate email?
As many users of any spam filtering software know, "false positives" are a potential problem. That is, what happens if a legitimate message inadvertently triggers the spam filter and the message doesn't get to you?
Although every effort is made to ensure that legitimate emails are not falsely identified as spam, there may be occasions when legitimate email is rejected. The EFL server is set up so that email identified as spam will be rejected and the server will notify the sender that the message was rejected as spam. Legitimate contacts can try again via a different email address. If you experience a problem with false positives, we recommend that you try adding the sender to your "allow list".
Related questions:
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