A number of clients have contacted us
recently for advice in reducing the amount of "spam" they receive. Also
known as junk email or unsolicited commercial email, spam email is
becoming increasingly common, becoming more and more difficult to
eliminate without one changing their email address. However, there are
ways to reduce the amount of spam you receive.
Often your email address is obtained through it being received by an
unlawful party (particularly through people or organisations you provide
your email address to that don't have a "privacy policy", forwarded
emails such as chain letters and jokes, published on websites and
general "dictionary attacks") that just send out email by using common
names/email addresses.
To reduce the amount of spam:
1.
The first important rule is to not respond to spam if you do not know
who the organisation or person is, even if it says you can unsubscribe
by clicking on a link or replying to the email. Oftentimes, this
confirms your email address is active and will continue to send spam.
Rather, just delete it.
2. Ask your internet service provider (ISP) to see if they provide a
spam filter. Some ISPs provide them free, but others not. The best ones
are the ones on the end of the ISP, as it will "trap" the incoming mail,
saving you time, money and bandwidth.
3. Your antivirus or Internet Security package may contain a spam
filter. If you use Norton Internet Security 2006, 2007 or Norton 360,
you can download a free "Norton Add-On Pack" which provides additional
features including Norton AntiSpam. This is available from Symantec's
website at
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/custserv.nsf/docid/2006092513351446.
4. Inside many email programs there is the ability to
set the level of spam filtering which will detect a spam and move them
into the "Junk Email" folder. For example, in Microsoft Outlook 2003 you
can set this by following the steps as at
http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/outlook/HP010423191033.aspx?pid=CH063564711033.
Alternatively, you can create email rules with various subjects or
keywords such as "free" and "Make money".
5. At a last resort, you may be required to change their email address.
"fredjones" is probably a common name in the spammers' dictionaries so
changing it to something like "fredjones2007" may reduce it.
In order to prevent further spam:
1. Set up a secondary email account (such as a free Hotmail account)
which is used to receive newsletters, complete surveys, responding to
newsgroups or email distribution lists.
2. Use your primary email address to people you really want to receive
mail from. Do not publish this on your website, rather use another email
account that can be changed if spam becomes a problem. At CyberGuru, we
use forms and web enquiry email addresses that can reduce the amount of
spam received by our clients. Having email address used for this purpose
enables us to reduce the exposure of the other email addresses receiving
spam.
3. Check the "Privacy Policy" and "Terms of Use" on any website or
newsletter you register for any fine print and check boxes that may use
or pass on your email address for more than what was intended.
4. Configure your email client to remove the "preview pane" and block
any "active content" such as pictures in HTML messages, which that
spammers use as Web beacons. These are small images in HTML emails,
often configured individually so that if they are downloaded can
identify that you've seen the email.
5. Don't spam other people - ensure they are willing to receive your
email as some consider invitations to join groups or forwarded email
spam. Invitations to groups such as Myspace provide your details to a
third party which may be used for advertising, and forwarding on emails
without deleting the previous content (such as who sent it to you) can
provide a large list of email addresses of which may end up in the hands
of a spammer to spam people with.
CyberGuru highly recommends if spam is a real problem to consider these
suggestions first, and seek advice from our
Support solution in case
there is a malware or spyware installed on the computer.
