How Can I Stop Getting Spammed?
Dealing with spam is like holding
back the tide. But we can offer some tips that will reduce the
amount of spam you receive. First of all, not all uninvited email
is spam. If you conduct business on the Internet, some of the
organizations you deal with may contact you by email and some
of those emails may amount to an advertisement. The type of spam
we are referring to is sent in bulk, by people with whom you have
never had any contact. This is the worst kind of spam.
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, 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.
First of all, and we can't stress
this enough, never ever order something advertised through spam.
There are plenty of reputable retailers to choose from, you don't
have to accept a spam offer. Placing an order rewards spammers
and just encourages them.
The restrictions placed by the government
on spamming has had little effect, so you are going to have to
defend yourself, at least for now. Here are some tips we can suggest.
- Try not to display your email address in
public. That includes newsgroup postings, chat rooms, websites
or in an online service's membership directory. If you do, email
harvesters will find your email address and add it to a database
for spamming.
- If you create a user ID on a website, don't
use your email address as your ID if that user ID will be visible
or listed to others.
- 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.
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