In many anti-spam systems a safe senders list indicates that mail from those on the list is good and spam free, but how true is that?

Any safe senders list is PERSONAL to each user, it is impossible to have a global safe senders list since my friend may be your enemy as far as the type of email you need and I receive.

Our own spam control system has a safe senders list which subscribers can add email addresses to, but more importantly delete emails from for senders who are no longer active. Safe senders list should be reviewed at least monthly and redundant emails removed lest you have several known spammers on your safe senders list.

Who is a safe sender?

A safe sender is a person, web site or firm whom you 100% trust to send you email, it's as simple as that.

If you have ANY DOUBTS about the ethics and credibility of a sender do NOT add them to your safe senders list.

To some degree top class contacts who would qualify to be on your personal safe senders list need NOT be on such a list if they know your REAL email address and normally sent email to you direct.

Such contacts will be in your personal ADDRESS BOOK for ease of emailing, but do read our article on good practices with your use of your contacts address book as there are hidden dangers you may not be aware of - address book best practices

Mail FROM contacts on your SAFE SENDERS list gets priority, it is accepted as NON SPAM and passed direct to your Inbox without further question. SAFE SENDERS email cannot be classified as spam, but there are conditions when such mail is spam;

You may have added a sender to your safe list automatically and forgotten you had.

Your safe list may not be easily found or editable - it may have entries years old - safe list entries in your Spam Solution account can be viewed and deleted easily.

A safe list entry ceases to be used and therefore can and should be removed from your safe list You find a contact is actually a spammer or is unethical in their business dealings, BUT you forget they are in your safe list.

We suggest a manual review of your SAFE LIST every month, and keep it small and neat - if you do not recognise entries either delete them or find out who they are. Print out the list so you can reference it easily against any suspect email you receive.

Is your safe list genuine?

It is possible for spammers to send emails appearing to be FROM email addresses in your safe list, hence the need to constantly review this safe list, and keep in touch with contacts if you get spam mail which appears to be from them. It could be a problem on their site which they need to be aware of and deal with.

Are you on the safe list of all your address book contacts? - if not your email may not be getting through. We suggest you email this page to your address book contacts to ensure they are aware of best practices which will benefit you all.