Spam (or unsolicited junk email sent to many recipients) accounts for nearly 40% of all email sent but as it is an international phenomenon it is notoriously difficult to legislate against. As a consequence individual web users need to be vigiliant to avoid their email addresses falling into the hands of spammers. Here are our golden tips for spam avoidence:
- Never buy anything from a spammer, however much of a good deal may appear to be on offer.
- Never ever reply to an invitation to unsubscribe from a spam mailing list; That simply tells a spammer that your email address is active, and leads to even more junk email.
- Research shows that activities most likely to reveal your email address to spammers are posting to newsgroups or message boards, entering AOL chat rooms, and signing up for online sweepstakes and lotteries. Online shopping and subscribing to email newsletters are lower risk, but not risk-free.
>> More info - We suggest you always read a site's privacy policy so you know exactly what they will or won't do with your email address
- Use a secondary email address for signing up to any message boards, posting to news groups or online shopping. Although Microsoft's Hotmail webmail service has an inbuilt spam filter, the service's huge popularity makes hotmail addreesses more attractive to spammers, so your secondary address is less likely to be guessed if you choose a more obscure UK based provider from the Free Email Providers Guide. Better still, consider using a 'disposable email' service like Spam Motel or Spam Gourmet.
There are a variety of software packages which will help you filter out spam messages before they reach your inbox. The best-known free software for home users is called Mailwasher. It enables you to preview emails before you download them to your PC and decide whether to delete them, bounce them back to the sender, or download them to your inbox.
If you want to take your personal fight against spam further, a tool called Spamcop will help you identify the real address a spam message has been sent from, and contact the spammer's service provider to get their account shut down.
Want to vent your anger? Have a go at Spam Wars, an online game that pits you against the evil Sid the Spammer in the ultimate spam battle!
MORE INFO
>> Wikipedia: What is Spam?
>> BBC Webwise: Net Comment
>> BBC Webwise: How to stop Spam
>> Search BBCi news for the latest anti-spam developments
>> BBC h2g2: Advanced Spamfighting Tips
Just wanted to slip in a mention for a website which covers spam and phishing current news. http://www.spamfo.co.uk
Might be of interest to readers. There's also an RSS news feed to keep up to date with articles without visiting the website all the time.
Posted by: Budda | Friday, February 11, 2005 at 11:51 PM