spam filter not working

I get spam from five different entities with different names and email addresses. But they have one thing in common, they share a single mail server for transmitting those emails. I know this because I looked at each different email header and noted that their Return-path server was identical, even if the individual account number on it was different. I wrote a single rule that looked like this:

if [ any ↕︎]

[ Return-path ↕︎] [ contains ↕︎] [ server-name.com ]

Where server-name is replaced by the offending Return-Path server. Now all five of these SPAM emails which I was receiving at least once a day automatically moved to the Trash folder using a single Mail rule.

That Return-path is a Mail header field that Apple does not include in the menu list below the [ From ] selector. One needs to add Return-Path via that menus Edit header list… entry at the bottom. Looks like this:

When you click OK, the Return-path header item is added to the menu:

You can see the Return-path entry by selection the offending message, and then from the View menu > Message > Raw Source. This will open a smaller separate window with the Raw Mail header content. Yes, its gibberish. Press cmd+F to open a find window and enter Return-path. This will highlight that header field in yellow and the server-name will appear within angle brackets. Most are however, a sequence of characters, numbers, and much longer than this example:

If I wanted to block emails like this:

[ Return-path ↕︎ ] [ contains ↕︎ ] [ facebookmail.com ]

You have to be careful when taking this approach because some legitimate emails that you want to receive may use a different account on the same Return-path server, and in that case, you risk trashing them too. That is why you look for a Return-path pattern in the SPAM you can rely on to not impact legitimate emails.

And one thing you cannot prevent is eventually, the SPAMMERS will change their Return-path mail server and you will have to go through this process again, though not frequently.

Hi Mor-san,

It appears that you're having some issues with the spam filter in your email. Checking your email settings and resetting your junk mail preferences may be required. Check out the link below.

If junk mail filters aren’t working in Mail on Mac

Have a nice day.

I have shown you what I use that works well. If it does not work for you, then I can provide no further info, other than what my Mail Preferences > Junk Mail panel looks like: