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Newsletter Archives - SPAM June 16, 2002 Ways To Stop Or At Least Minimize Spam
Spam, unsolicited junk email, is a problem. We all get it in our mailboxes and inboxes almost every day. Here are some things that you can do to stop, or at least minimize, the junk.
Never Respond To Spam
You should never respond to spam; if you do, you're letting the advertiser know that there’s a real, live person at the end of the email address and you may get even more junk email. Unless you actually respond, advertisers who send spam have no way of knowing whether or not you open and read their messages.
Junk email often have details about how to remove your name from a mailing list in the body of the message. This can be anything from replying to the sender with the words unsubscribe in the subject line to going to a Web site. Never respond to spam! While advertisers from legitimate businesses will usually take your name off their mailing lists, with spammers, when you try to unsubscribe you’re really just confirming your e-mail address and you're likely to wind up on more spammers' lists of valid accounts.
Use Another Email Address for Spam Magnets
Consider using other email addresses – this will at least minimize spam in your main in-box. Most ISPs (Internet Service Providers) offer five to seven free e-mail accounts with their basic service, and there are always free email accounts that you can sign up for.
If you use extra addresses you can keep your main address almost completely spam-free. Only give it out to people you know, such as friends and family. Don’t use your main e-mail address or screen name in chat rooms, message boards or other public places. Use one of the other e-mail addresses on shopping sites.
If you reserve your main address for personal and business emails, it's much less likely to get into the hands of spammers. Set up an address exclusively for fun and worthwhile activities online that are spam magnets--such as discussion boards. If you set up an address just for these, you can then give out that address--instead of your main address--any time you do something that may generate Spam. Use it when you register at Web sites, enter a chat room, or post messages to discussion lists or newsgroups. If you keep this address just for junk mail, you'll only have to check the mail there occasionally, to delete all the spam.
Create a New Address
If the spam in your in-box has gotten out of control, you might think about creating a brand new e-mail address. Your email address can play a big role in the amount of Spam you receive. If your e-mail address has a combination of letters and numbers it will make it harder for spammers to get. For example, "john123smith@aol.com." Adding numbers to your email address--preferably between your first name and last name--can sometimes outwit spammers who use auto-generators to try to guess every combination of common names, like "John,” "Jon"," " Johnny," "Jonny," "John101," etc.
Report Spammers, When Possible
For most people, spam is somewhat irritating, but to Internet Service Providers, it's a huge problem. All that spam takes a tremendous amount of resources (which, of course, increases the prices that we have to pay for Internet access). If you'd like to help stop spam, you can do so. Before you do anything else, report spammers to your ISP.
If you are an America OnLine member, you can forward junk mail that comes from other AOL members to screen name TOSSpam or TOSReports. If the spam comes from a non-AOL account, forward the message to TOSEmail1. If you get a message with a suspicious-looking file attachment or an inappropriate graphic, forward the entire e-mail TOSFiles.
For other email services, check with your Internet Service Provider for any steps they may have that can be used to report Spam.
*************** March 24, 2002 Decreasing Junk Email
The following is a question from a newsletter subscriber:
I get so much junk email. Is there anything I can do about it?
Answer:
Junk e-mail or SPAM has been around since the beginning and unfortunately isonly going to get worse as more people use e-mail as a primary form of communication.
If you belong to one of the many large services such as AOL, MSN, CompuServe, Prodigy, Hotmail or Juno you are much more likely to receive large quantities of SPAM because these services are targeted by SPAMMERS (people and businesses who send junk email). If you belong to a small regional ISP, your chance of getting large volumes of SPAM is more closely tied to your behavior while on-line.
Typically, a sure way to get junk mail is to give out your e-mail address to websites that request it. Do things a little differently and you can minimize the amount of junk e-mail that you receive.
Here are some tips that may help reduce the amount of spam you receive:
Don't Give Your Primary E-Mail Address To Anyone Who Is Selling Anything
Sign up for one of the many free e-mail services such as Hotmail (www.hotmail.com) or Lycos (www.lycos.com) and use that address for any of your on-line purchases. By doing this, you keep junk mail out of your primary account and if the junk mail becomes too much, simply stop using that free account and start another.
If you want to be able to track who is selling your e-mail address, use a different e-mail address for each of your merchants. For example, create a Hotmail account using a unique identifiable name like myamazon@hotmail.com and only use that account when doing business with Amazon.com.
When signing up for these free email accounts, don't use real information about yourself, unless you explicitly trust the source.
Never Reply To A Junk E-Mail Message
Even though the message claims to be able to remove you if you reply with unsubscribe or the like, in many cases it is simply a trick to get you to verify your address.
For America Online Users
If you're an AOL member, and get spam from another AOL member, forward the email to the address TOSSPAM. Since it is against AOL's Terms of Service to send junk email to AOL members, America Online will take action against the offending member.
*************** December 30, 2001 Spam
Spam is electronic junk mail or junk newsgroup postings.
Some people define spam even more generally as any unsolicited e-mail. Real spam is generally e-mail advertising for some product or website sent to an email address, mailing list or newsgroup.
In addition to wasting people's time with unwanted e-mail, spam also eats up a lot of network bandwidth. Consequently, there are many organizations, as well as individuals, who have taken it upon themselves to fight spam with a variety of techniques. But because the Internet is public, there is really little that can be done to prevent spam, just as it is impossible to prevent junk mail. However, some private online services, such America Online, have instituted policies to prevent spammers from spamming their subscribers.
There is some debate about the source of the term, but the generally accepted version is that it comes from the Monty Python song.
Eliminating Junk Email
Thanks to newsletter subscriber Anne for the following question.
I seem to be getting junk e-mails, many of an adult nature, which I can recognize from the "subject" line. I then delete without reading. How did I get them, and how do I get rid of them for good?
Answer:
Unfortunately, this is something that everyone gets. If you’re an America Online member, and if the spam (junk email) is from an AOL address, forward them to the AOL address TOSSPAM. That will stop spam from that AOL member.
If they're from outside of AOL, you can block the email address using AOL's mail controls -- go to keyword Mail Controls -- then go into "block from address." This will shut off all mail from that particular address. You can keep adding addresses to your block list -- unfortunately, the "spammers" (people who send junk email) keep getting new addresses to use.
For other Email programs, check with your Internet Service Provider for steps on blocking unwanted email and spam.
Steps You Can Take to Reduce Spam
Don’t use your email address to register anywhere -- for example, when you shop online, or go to a site that requires you to register, don't use the email address that you give to friends and family. Create a new email address -- free -- in yahoo, hotmail, lycos or one of those. If you happen to register at a website that sells email address, your free address (that you don’t use) will be the one that will get all the junk email.
Never respond to a spammer! Some junk email will tell you to respond to be removed from the mailing list. DON’T DO IT! Your response only confirms that your address is a “live” email address and that will generate even more junk email. Ignore or delete junk email.
Reminder: Never give your password to anyone. If a spammer gets your password, he can then use your email address to send junk mail.
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June 24, 2001
Stopping Spam
Thanks to newsletter subscriber Marion for the following question.
I have suddenly received tons of Spam. Some of it is of an undesirable nature now. Each time I receive unsolicited Spam, I click on "how to remove from mailing" and follow directions. I receive replies from e-mail service that it could not be delivered, no such address, etc. What other alternatives do we have?
(Spam is unsolicited e-mail usually advertising some product, service, business, scheme, website, etc.)
It is generally considered a bad idea to ask to be removed from Spam lists. Not only will most spammers not remove you, since they now know your email address is being used they will put you on their "active list."
You can use Spam filters. In Outlook Express they are called message rules. To set up a rule go to Tools, then Message Rules, then Mail. Click on the action you want to take. For example "Where the Subject line contains specific words". Then in the Rule Description box you will see "contains specific words" is displayed as a link. Click on it to change it to the actual words you want to filter.
The problems with filters is that every time you figure out a way to filter Spam the spammers figure out a way to get around the filters.
For America Online members, Spam received from other AOL members can be forwarded to the email address TOSSPAM@aol.com.
One way to keep Spam to a minimum is to use multiple email addresses. Have one email address you keep as private as possible. Only give it out to friends, family, and those few others who absolutely need it. Never give it out on a public forum. Then go to hotmail.com, yahoo.com, or any of hundreds of other places that offer free email and sign up for a free account. Give that email address out in public and to those who only need to contact you once or twice. Once the spammers find that address and start flooding it with Spam stop using it and get another free account.
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February 4, 2001
Don't Unsubscribe from a Spammer's List!
Once you have identified a message as spam, don't believe a single word in it, least of all any unsubscription information it contains.
Spammers don't remove addresses from their list. If you try to unsubscribe, the best that can happen is nothing. More than likely, though, you'll likely get more spam afterwards, since you have just verified that you do indeed receive messages at that email address.
Some Internet Service Providers take active steps to insure that members don't spam other members. If you are a member of America Online, and receive spam from another AOL member, forward the email to tosspam@aol.com.
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