POP/SMTP Email Getting Spamed

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Hi Micheal Swart

I understand that you are receiving a high volume of spam where the sender address or domain keeps changing. Is the affected mailbox an Outlook.com/Hotmail account, or is it hosted by another provider using POP/SMTP?

Please try the steps below:

Blocking individual senders may not help much if the spammer keeps changing the sender address or domain. In classic Outlook, the Junk Email Filter does not stop delivery; it moves suspected spam to the Junk Email folder. See: Overview of the Junk Email Filter in classic Outlook | Microsoft Support

1) Increase the Junk Email protection level

In classic Outlook:

• Go to Home > Block > Junk E-mail Options.
• On the Options tab, set the protection level to High.
• If you only want mail from trusted senders, use Safe Lists Only, but review the Junk Email folder often because valid mail may also be filtered.

2) Create Outlook rules based on repeated spam patterns

If the spam messages share repeated words, subjects, or content, create a rule to move or delete them:

• Right-click one of the spam messages.
• Select Rules > Create Rule.
• Choose a matching condition, such as subject wording.
• Choose Move the item to folder, then select Junk Email or another spam folder.
• Save the rule.

3) Report suspicious messages

In classic Outlook, select the suspicious message, then go to Home > Report and choose Report Phishing or Report Junk. See: Report suspicious messages in Outlook - Microsoft Support

4) Configure spam filtering with the mailbox provider

Because this is a POP/SMTP account, the email provider receives the messages before Outlook downloads them. Please check the provider’s webmail settings for spam filtering, blocked sender/domain lists, or advanced filtering options.

5) Consider using a new address if the spam volume is extreme

If the email address has been heavily exposed and the sender/domain constantly changes, there may not be an only fix. In that case, consider creating a new email address or alias with the mail provider, moving important contacts to the new address, and keeping the old address only for monitoring.

Please tell me how it goes. If the problem persists, please don’t hesitate to reply to this thread and I will be happy to help. Have a lovely day!  

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