If the gif image is opening from a url then your said system works fine. We are talking when gif image is embedded in the email. Although lists do work well spammers use throw away domains that last in some cases as little as 24 hours and the lists can't keep up with that. Matthew Shrewsbury, MCSE+Internet MCSE 2000 CCA Server+ Network Manager -----Original Message----- From: thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Euan Cooper Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2006 4:35 PM To: thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [THIN] Re: OT: spam gifs Our anti spam filter catches most of these type off spam - they all use html to display the giff (or tiff of jpg) and an <a href> to point ot a web site - by comparing the url with lists of known SPAM urls we get a very high "hit rate" on this type of spam. The vendor maintains the list of known spam urls, so as new ones are found our system detects them. In our case we could not simpy block image files as we have legitimate business needs to allow images in e-mails -Ec -----Original Message----- From: thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Matthew Shrewsbury Sent: 25 April 2006 4:26 AM To: thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [THIN] Re: OT: spam gifs I banned *.gif files last year and have not regretted it. I use a open relay filter that just removes the *.gif files from the email. Matthew Shrewsbury, MCSE+Internet MCSE 2000 CCA Server+ Network Manager -----Original Message----- From: thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Riggins Sent: Monday, April 24, 2006 11:53 AM To: thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [THIN] OT: spam gifs We've recently started receiving some spam that is simply a .gif that contains the text so the spam filters aren't able to check content. It appears that the only way to block this is to ban messages that contain .gifs. Is it going to eventually come to that? Are any of you running into the same dilemma? Thanks, Roger Riggins Network Administrator Lutheran Services in Iowa w: 319.859.3543 c: 319.290.5687 http://www.lsiowa.org Lutheran Services in Iowa Confidentiality Notice ================================================================== The information contained in this communication may be confidential, is intended only for the use of the recipient(s) named above, and may be legally privileged. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication, or any of its contents, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please return it to the sender immediately and delete the original message and any copy of it from your computer system. If you have any questions concerning this message, please contact the sender.