The OneMinute Geek :

Stopping spam

Problem:

Of the 100 or so emails I receive daily, more than half is spam!  I get ridiculous promises of free money, better love life, higher-paying jobs, invitations to parties, suggestions about drugs…and the situation seems to be getting worse.  Imagine the time we collectively waste managing all that junk mail.

How can I get rid of spam?

Solution:

Unfortunately, spam is here to stay.  I don't think we will ever be able to fully escape it, even if our government were to ban it.  However, there are a few steps you can take to help stem the tide.

1.  Forward all spam to the cops:  uce@ftc.gov

The Federal Trade Commission is preparing to crack down on deceptive email.  They are building a huge database of called "the refrigerator" to analyze suspicious email for patterns.  The more junk email they receive the better.  You should also report all spammers to your Internet Service Provider, e.g. AOL, LavaNet, etc.

2.  Use email-filtering software.

Your computer may already include some tools for filtering incoming mail.  None are completely effective but they do help.  Microsoft Outlook and Eudora, for example,  enable you to setup rules for recurring email.  Hotmail, Yahoo and AOL can also be configured to block and/or divert spam.  Lastly, there are a handful of software utilities that may help.  Check-out Spam Buster from Contact Plus.

3.  Don't share your email address.

I realize this sounds a bit ridiculous, but the fact is the more people who know your address, the more likely you will end up on a spam list somewhere.  Don't provide an email address when completing an application.  Don't subscribe to online newsletters.  And don't include your address on any web sites.  Because it's tough to live in complete anonymity these days, many people use several email address: one for business, one for pleasure (e.g. online gaming,  message boards), and one for close family and friends. You might also consider having a public email address. You can use the public address when you place an order or ask a question that requires an email address. Perhaps you will never check the messages that arrive at this public address.

4.  Don't share other people's email addresses.

Ever find a great a joke and email it to all your friends? Well, chances are that a few of those friends forwarded that email to their friends and those friends to their friends, and so on.  If you sent your email with all your friends' addresses in the "To:" or "Cc:" fields, then everyone else who receives that original email can now harvest all those email addresses.  If you need to broadcast an email, put the recipients' email addresses in the "Bcc:" field and use your public email address in the "To:" field.

5.  Don't "unsubscribe" to any junk mail.

Most spam includes a link or field for removing your address from that mailing list.  Unfortunately, spammers tend be an unscrupulous group.  Not only do they frequently change their sending address to avoid detection by the spam filters, but they also use those 'Please remove me!' addresses for other spam lists!  After all, you’ve just validated your address as that of a real person who reads incoming email.

James Kerr is President/CEO of SuperGeeks, a Hawaii-based computer service and repair company (www.supergeeks.net). Please feel free to send your questions, comments and suggestions to Mr. Kerr. He can be reached at kerr@supergeeks.net and 942-0773 .