24 Hour Technical Support FAQ!

Typically, an email spammer buys a list of email addresses from a list broker, who compiles it by "harvesting" addresses from the Internet. If your email address appears in a newsgroup posting, on a website such as your own website or other websites you use, in a chat room, or in an online service's membership directory, it may find its way onto these lists. The marketer then uses special software that can send hundreds of thousands - even millions - of email messages to the addresses at the click of a mouse.

You will NEVER be able to FULLY GET RID of spam, but here are some methods to reduce the spam you do get or will get in the future.

Stay away from the most commonly used email addresses such as info@, webmaster@, sales@, and stay away from using Catch-All addresses. A catch-all email address will collect improperly addressed email sent to your domain and send it to 1 address, leaving you open to any spam directed at your domain name.

Try not to display your email address in public. That includes newsgroup postings, chat rooms, websites or in an online service's membership directory. You may want to opt out of member directories for your online services; spammers may use them to harvest addresses.

For your own website, do not use a "mailto:" link or display the email address in plain text on your website. Harvesting programs look for this and harvest any email address they find using this method. A more secure way is using a Form Mail where visitors who wish to contact you will fill out a form on your website and hit submit. They will never know your email address (until you reply to them) and you can choose whether to reply to them or not. If you must put your email address on WebPages in plain text, if possible, spell it out rather than use the @ symbol. For example: john at email dot com.

Encode your source code or find an "on-the-fly" source code encoder. Use this to scramble your code on your website so that the average person is more reluctant to try to figure out the algorithm to break in and steal your email address.

Use two email addresses - one for personal messages and one for newsgroups, WebPages and chat rooms. You also might consider using a disposable email address service that creates a separate email address that forwards to your permanent account (an Alias). If one of the disposable addresses begins to receive spam, you can shut it off without affecting your permanent address. (Highly recommended)

Unless the Spam email is coming from a reputable source (such as ebay.com for instance), DO NOT RESPOND OR TRY TO "UNSUBSCRIBE" yourself from this spammers list. You would just be giving him confirmation that the email reached you and your email will now be added to a 'known-working' list and you will be spammed even more.

Check the privacy policy when you submit your address to a website. See if it allows the company to sell your address. You may want to opt out of this provision, if possible, or not submit your address at all to websites that won't protect it.

Read and understand the entire form before you transmit personal information through a website. Some websites allow you to opt out of receiving email from their "partners" - but you may have to uncheck a pre-selected box if you want to opt out.

Use a unique email address. Your choice of email addresses may affect the amount of spam you receive. Spammers use "dictionary attacks" to sort through possible name combinations at large ISPs or email services, hoping to find a valid address. Thus, a common name such as jdoe may get more spam than a more unique name like jd51x02oe. Of course, there is a downside - it's harder to remember an unusual email address.

What can I do with the spam I'm receiving now?

You can use Spam filtering to reduce the amount of spam you receive currently. Spam filtering comes in many forms but the basic 2 principals are Server-Side spam filtering and Client-Side spam filtering.

Server Side Spam Filtering: This method is an excellent method to limit spam, there is the potential for legitimate emails to be classified as spam and deleted, if this type is enabled. The entire reason behind this is because the computer is the one filtering your mail for you, not a human. The computer follows a set of rules to determine if an email is spam or not and a legitimate email may be classified through these rules as spam.

Client Side Spam Filtering: This method is one where you have control of what gets deleted and marked as spam. Third party software programs run on your computer BEFORE your email client checks for email. Depending on the software, and depending on its configuration, the software may provide the ability to contact major anti-spam databases (like spamcop.net) and use their database to MARK email as spam, but then ultimately allow you the option of removing the mark.

3rd party services also can be used where you use them to handle your email. Some use a method where if the sender is not on their email list, the sender will receive notification that the recipient has not yet received the mail as they use this service. The email will then have a link to go to a page that will have a 'confirmation code' that needs to be typed in a box and submitted (to make sure it's not a computer) and then the email will be delivered to the intended recipient.

How Can I Avoid Spam Scams?

Treat commercial email solicitations the same way you would treat an unsolicited telemarketing sales call. Don't believe promises from strangers. Greet money making opportunities that arrive at your in box with skepticism. Most of the time, these are old-fashioned scams delivered via the newest technology.

Here are some of the most common scam offers likely to arrive by email:

Chain letters - Chain letters that involve money or valuable items and promise big returns are illegal. If you start one or send one on, you are breaking the law. Chances are you will receive little or no money back on your "investment." Despite the claims, a chain letter will never make you rich. For more information on chain emails, check out http://www.ftc.gov/chainmail.

Work-At-Home Schemes - Not all work at home opportunities deliver on their promises. Many ads omit the fact that you may have to work many hours without pay. Or they don't disclose all the costs you will have to pay. Countless work at home schemes require you to spend your own money to place newspaper ads; make photocopies; or buy the envelopes, paper, stamps, and other supplies or equipment you need to do the job. The companies sponsoring the ads also may demand that you pay for instructions or "tutorial" software. Consumers deceived by these ads have lost thousands of dollars, in addition to their time and energy.

Weight Loss Claims - Programs or products that promote easy or effortless long-term weight loss don't work. Taking off weight, and keeping it off, requires exercise and permanent changes in your diet. All the testimonials and guarantees in your email are not worth the space they take up on your hard drive.

Credit Repair Offers - Ignore offers to erase accurate negative information from your credit record. There's no legal way to do that.

Advance Fee Loan Scams - Be wary of promises to provide a loan for a fee, regardless of your past credit history. Remember, legitimate banks don't issue credit cards without first checking your credit.

Adult Entertainment - You may get an email from an adult entertainment site that claims to offer content for "free" and doesn't require a credit card number for access. All you have to do is download a "viewer" or "dialer" program. However, once the program is downloaded onto your computer, it may disconnect your Internet connection and reconnect to an international long distance phone number, at rates between $2 and $7 a minute. Be skeptical when you see opportunities to view "free" content on the web.

Resources:

A very good resource on your journey to reduce spam is
http://www.earthlink.net/home/tools/epa/about/cybercop/

A great place to learn how to get the email headers
http://spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/19.html