Roz designz: E-tip #25|What in the World IS Spam?

What in the World IS Spam?
Obtrusive email adverts

Can we get real? As daily Internet users we are receiving anywhere from 20 to 100’s of Spam emails a week and for some of us this is a daily occurrence. What

do we do? There are those of us who have resorted to multiple email addresses or opted to change our email address every 6 months or so.

What’s Spam? Email Spam; aka bulk-email, aka junk-email or plain & simple unsolicited commercial email. If you receive an email in your Inbox that you did not request information from, choose to delete it or make sure to do thorough research on the company before doing any online transactions with them. [Do not click in the email or reply to it until you have taken the above step]

Take a look at the Numbers! You do the math!

1978: an email Spam is sent to 600 addresses

1994: 1st large scale Spam sent to 6,000 newsgroups which in turn reached millions of people

2005: [June] 55 billion Spam emails sent per day

2006: [Dec.] 85 billion Spam emails sent per day

2007: [Feb.] 90 billion Spam emails sent per day

Some Tips on Nuking Spam:

Don’t EVER use the “remove from email list” option. This is basically a way for Spam-holes to verify that your email address is legit and they can sell it to others. [personally I learned this the hard way] Take my advice this will load your Inbox with Spam!

You can report Spam emails to the Federal Government by sending an email to uce@ftc.gov. Here is a great Spam reporting service. SpamCop

Web-techs’ be careful when submitting to search engines claiming; “Get listed in 1,000’s of search engines”. Many times these so called search engines are non- existent and are no more than email harvesting bots. The result; you got it, major Spam in your Inbox. Some are as bold as to charge for their service! Friend save your hard earned cash because they will just turn around and sell your email address to line their pockets with even more cash.

Chain letters like the Nigerian Scam is no more than an emotionally moving email and a complete HOAX. If you are uncertain about an email you can check into these to-go-to-be-true emails at: Snopes, which is a listing of hoaxes and urban legends’. If you do not see a particular email title listed, do a search on Snopes to make sure that the email in question is not a hoax. Especially if you are planning to forward it to others.

Use a good Spam fighting program.

Spam Assassin

Spam Killer

ZDnet lists several Spam fighting programs

Use a disposable email address when filling out online forms, surveys, e-lists, purchasing items or even in chat-rooms. There are several offers for a free email account; Yahoo mail, G-mail [Google] and Hotmail [MSN]. They are easy to set up and Free. Don't expect a cure all but, it does help in filtering out Spam to your primary email account.

Email messages to Ignore. Delivery failures [I get a lot of these], these come from worms or viruses and not spammers. It’s a good idea to have virus protection running whenever your PC is on and especially if you’re online.

The infamous email spoofing. These appear to be trusted websites such as; E-bay, PayPal, 1and1.com, etc., don’t let them fool you. How can you be sure they are for real? Take a look at the full header to see the exact domain name that it is coming from. Many times these emails come from alternate domains. Make sure to check these because we tread on thin ice with all our vital information on our PC’s. Amen?

Obscure your email address as much as possible. Here are a few of ways to hide your email address from Spam bots.
1. Use this hidden code .&.#.6.4.;. instead of the @ sign when typing in your email address. [remove the dots when typing this code-there are only 5 characters] Example without dots using this code: roz@rozdesignz.com
2. Use this (at) instead of the @ sign when typing in your email address. Example: roz(at)rozdesignz.com
3. Use a graphic of the at symbol. [you are welcome copy and paste this graphic]
General rule of thumb: use your common sense, it’s one of your best weapons in fighting the Spam GIANT. Instincts are GOOD!

In conclusion as we have read above, there are a number of ways to fight back. Eventually legislature will create laws to stop this onslaught of obtrusive emails. But, for now as everyday Internet users we have a few e-tips to help limit some of the Spam coming into our Inboxes.

When sending multiple recipients an email be sure to check your Inbox for any returns. The returned email actually means that they have a pretty good email Spam filter and considered your email-bulk or junk-mail. Send those friends, clients and co-workers an individual email to be sure they receive it.

Maybe soon we can get back to the original meaning of Spam. Its food isn’t it? LOL! Happy emailing!

RESOURCES:
Federal Trade Commission on Spam

Copyright © Lora Rozkowski. Lora is a website designer, author and owner of two Christian businesses. For more information send an email to: Roz@rozdesignz.com Reprinted with permission. Take a look at Roz's portfolio.

Please let me know if I can answer any questions or help you further.
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