 |
Introduction |
I used to view spam as a nuisance that is best dealt with by refusing to give it significance -
delete it as it comes in, but don't worry about it. Recently, though, I have been asked a number of times
to advise on how to deal with it so, I am listing below my recommendations for trying to deal with as much of the problem as possible in the simplest ways possible. |
| Conclusions |
There are no magic bullets that eliminate spam but leave genuine email
untouched. However, working through the following list from top to bottom may bring down your spam problem to an "acceptable level" before reaching the more complicated, time-consuming, suggestions at the bottom of the list. |
| The List |
Most of these notes relate to "pop" accounts, where email is downloaded from a server onto your own computer and viewed using software known as an "email client". Email clients include Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Pegasus, Eudora. If you are using one of these programs to view/send email, then you have a "pop" account and pretty well all of the following advice applies.
AOL,Yahoo and Hotmail are usually set up as webmail services where you see your email via the web. Solutions such as anti-spamming software are not applicable to webmail services. Obviously, commonsense advice such as being careful about who you give your email address to applies equally to pop and webmail services.
Working on the principle of getting the most effective results from the least effort, start at the top of this list and accept or reject my advice as you think fit (anything you do or do not do as a result of reading these pages is entirely up to you - I take no responsibility for any consequences
whatsoever) :- |
| 1
Do not open spam messages |
If your judgement tells you from the subject heading and/or "from" address that a message is spam then delete it without reading it. Believe it or not, some email can actually report back to say that it has been read and when it was read. Also, spam may include viruses and/or upsetting content and is best not opened. By the way, if you
can see a "preview" pane which shows the content of a message without double-clicking the header, then turn the preview pane off as it is tantamount to opening the message. |
| 2
Do not reply to spam messages |
If a spam message includes a link to reply to (in order to get your name removed from their list, for instance), ignore it. NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER reply to a spam message. Replying to a spam message makes your address far more valuable to spammers as you have now confirmed that yours is a genuine email address and that it is active - ie you are confirming that email sent to that address is being read. Avoid the temptation to vent your anger and frustration by replying. Your reply will not be read and, even if it is, it is money in the bank to the spammers. NEVER EVER EVER EVER reply to spammers. |
| 3
Avoid links in spam messages |
NEVER, EVER EVER click on a website link found within a spam message. This, too, could validate your email address and pass it to others. |
| 4
Guard your email address |
Avoid giving your email address in forms on websites that promise free offers, coupons, prize draw entries, and so forth. If any offer on a website that requires your email address sounds too good to be true then it almost certainly IS too good to be true. It's probably a scam (with no prize etc). Almost certainly, the primary purpose is to collect your email address and sell it on. |
| 5
Create a special email account |
Whenever anyone (including untrusted websites requiring some form of registration) requires you to give an email address, and you are suspicious of what they may do with it, then give
a special email address created for this purpose. Don't use this special email account for "genuine" email. Check it occasionally and clear the junk out (otherwise, the ISP may close the account). |
| 6
Avoid "list cleaners" |
Some spam email messages actually promise to get your email address removed from spammers' lists. All you have to do is respond to the message.......... Need I say more? DON'T DO IT! They are not removing addresses - they are COLLECTING them. By responding, you have just given them exactly what they want - and what they can sell - a genuine email address owned by a gullible, trusting person! |
| 7
Use the Email Filters in your Email software |
You can do a certain amount of filtering of email as it comes in. Most software gives you options to take specific action (eg delete the message or move it to a specific folder) depending upon certain criteria (eg "move all messages from spammer@spamco.com to my deleted folder"). This is by no means perfect, though, as your email program may tell you you've got new mail and you spend time trying to find the new mail, only to conclude that it was only spam that your filtering rule has automatically moved away from your sight. Irritating? I find it so.
Another problem is that spammers will keep changing the name of the sender. so it can be difficult to set up a rule that only catches the spammer but which keeps up with the spammer's antics. However, it is possible that 3 or 4 well constructed filters
may keep out 90% of your junk. In that case, you may decide it's possible to just manually delete the remainder. |
| 8
Consider disguising your email address |
If you need to give your "genuine" email address (eg in a website form) you can disguise it in a way that should fool an "email address harvesting" program.
Eg if your address is "fred@myisp.com" you could complete the form with "fred@dontspamme.myisp.com".
The theory is that any spamming software will now send a message that doesn't reach you, whereas a human being genuinely needing to email you can strip out the "dontspamme" part and re-create your correct address.
Personally, I don't like this as you are relying on the person actually applying some thought and time to extract your address. You are also relying on their "computer savvy" to know what you did, why you did it, and how to overcome it. You are also relying on their goodwill to do all this. I certainly wouldn't dream of doing this if, for instance, I was looking for a favour or advice or something like that from the other end. |
| 9
Consider refusing cookies on your web
browser |
Some websites won't be able or willing to continue to give you content if you refuse cookies, but stopping cookies
may reduce the possibility of private info from your computer being passed around amongst unscrupulous companies and spammers. I personally refuse all cookies except "session
cookies" (which are deleted when I close my browser). If a site
insists that you accept cookies, then you can turn them on, accept the
content, then turn them off again. A bit of a pain, but not many actually
insist on cookie acceptance (and I get suspicious of sitesthat insist on
it). |
| 10
Run anti spyware software on your computer.
(actually, this should be MUCH higher up the list.
In fact, anyone using the internet - whether suffering a spam problem or
not - should run anti-spyware software) |
Some programs (referred to variously as Spyware, Adware, Malware) can be downloaded onto your computer and be happily working away in the background, reporting your internet activity and private information to people and organisations completely unknown to you. The same sort of program is often responsible for those incredibly annoying "popup" windows that seemingly come from nowhere when you are browsing the web. Not all of them come from this source (some are invoked by the website you are looking at. These seem to be generally motivated by the greed of the website owner, who is trying to cash in on the attention you've just given to his website by foisting some completely irrelevant ad on you that's connected with a web business that gives him a kickback). Anyway, back to the point. There are at least 2 very good free programs
( AdAware and SpyBot)
that will clean this junk off your computer. Depending upon your web-browsing habits you may get some of it back again, so it's best to run one of these programs periodically. Personally, I run
Spybot every day on my computers. |
| 11
Change your email address |
You can get a new email address. After you have done this, tell all your genuine contacts about your new address, but continue to monitor the old address. Every time you get a "genuine" message to the old address send a standard reply advising of your new address and advising that you will stop monitoring the old address at a given date (say, in a month or 3 months). You can periodically check the old spam-infested account if you wish, but your new account will be largely spam-free. You can, of course, quote the old account name for those occasions when you are forced to give an email address but don't trust the person/site you're giving it to. Remember that some ISPs (eg Freeserve) will close your account if there is no outgoing mail for a specified period of time (90 days?). |
| 12
Join A Subscription Screening Service |
There are services available by which every email that comes to you is filtered. If you have already approved the sender then the message is passed directly to you. If you have not previously approved the sender then an email is sent to the sender requiring them to confirm that they are a human being rather than a program. This is done by requiring a simple form to be completed
in which data appearing on the screen is fed back into the form. Humans
can read the screen, but software can't. Although each form has to be only completed once by each correspondent, do you want to put them to this hassle? Can you afford to risk putting them off? Maybe you want to put them off? Do you have a lot of new correspondents to put through this process or is it a fairly stable list of friends and family? Do you want to keep paying £2-£3 per month to keep out spam? Will this keep out "genuine" emails from systems that can't "read the screen" (eg newsletters that you may have subscribed to). |
| 13
Install Anti Spam Software |
Anti-spam software is not expensive. Some of it is free. The problems as I see them are :-
 | It takes time to learn how it works |
| It is complicated to set up properly |
| It has to be maintained to keep up with moving targets |
| You can lose genuine email without (or course) knowing you've lost it |
| Some spam is going to continue to get
through |
|
| 14
Do not reply to spam messages |
Did I say this before ? NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER reply to a spam message. |
