Anti-Spam Tactics
Spam refers to unsolicited email, mostly commercial, advertising a product
or service that is mass mailed to thousands of email addresses at a time, filling
people’s Inboxes. Spam does not refer to legitimate commercial email for which
consumers have given their consent. Spam is often a source of scams, viruses
and offensive content.
There are some tactics you can use to greatly reduce the amount of spam you
receive. Combining these tactics can help you read your email in peace, without
being accosted by continual spam.
Block spam at the server level.
We offer this service allowing you to use our spam blocker called Spam Assassin,
at the server level. This means that your spam will be shuttled to a particular
junk folder before you ever see it. However, these email messages will remain
on your server until you delete them. Check through these messages to make sure
that the spam filter was not too aggressive and has not mistakenly tagged good
email as spam.
Remove email links from your Web site.
Spam "robots" are continually scouring the Internet in search of new
email addresses. Removing actual links to your email and replacing them with
a spelled out email address such as “your.name at yourcompany-name.com” can
greatly reduce your current amount of spam. You can also create graphics that
display your email address. (Spam robots can't read the text in graphic form.)
If you have never used your current email address other than for company email
and you are still getting spammed, this may be the culprit.
Do not use your business email address for registrations.
Use separate email addresses for different online activities: create one email
address and share it only with trusted personal and business contacts. Create
expendable email addresses for other online activities. Many people find that
after signing up for a newsletter or registering at a certain site, they are
suddenly inundated with spam. Many companies harvest their visitors email addresses
and sell them to the highest bidder. If you must provide an email address for
a purchase, subscription, or registration, use a non-company account with a
free webmail provider, such as Hotmail or Gmail.
Do not ask to be removed.
Many people make the mistake of replying to spam email messages and asking to
be removed from the list. Ironically, attempting to remove yourself may result
in even more junk email. Unsubscribing lets spammers know that they have a "live
one" on the other end.
Never buy and never reply. Don't respond to spam solicitations. Buying products that are advertised in spam messages encourages spammers to continue. If you truly need what is being offered, find it from a reputable business. Replying to a spam message is a definite mistake, and will almost always result in more spam. Never visit Web sites or buy anything advertised in a spam message. Spam is almost always a scam. Just delete it.
Use your email client's built-in spam filters.
Most email clients are now equipped with some sort of spam filter. Do not be afraid to use yours. It may take a little time to set up, but it will be time well spent. It will be infinitely better than wading through thousands of spam messages.
What is phishing?
Don't let spammers hook you like a "phish". Protect your personal information.
Spammers can reel in your valuable personal information through a practice known as "phishing." This occurs when an email shows up appearing to come from a reliable source with whom you do business, like a bank or online business. Often the message suggests that there is an urgent need for you to provide personal information, such as your login name, passwords or even credit card numbers, often combined with the faked threat that your account will be blocked if you do not comply. In these cases, the website link provided is to a copycat, but counterfeited site. Be aware that companies will NEVER contact customers in this manner. If you have doubts, don't trust the information supplied in the email, call the company to confirm if the request is legitimate. Also, never reply to these messages or connect through the link provided in a spam that you suspect is "phishing." If you are interested in a website, access it directly through a web browser.
Protect your computer
Shield your computer with anti-spam and antivirus programs, and other security software.
Anti-spam software can automatically scan your email for spam before it gets to your Inbox, sending it to a junk email box instead. This prevents you or a family member from inadvertently opening spam messages, and helps you manage your email more effectively.
To protect against virus-carrying messages and attachments, install security patches and antivirus programs on your operating system and update them regularly.
A firewall provides added protection from hackers by protecting your privacy and personal information.
Never go online with any computer before it has had anti-spam, antivirus and firewall protection installed.
Always question the source.
Never open attachments unless you are expecting them from someone you trust. Spammers can highjack the personal and corporate email accounts of others - a process known as "spoofing" - to send viruses that can corrupt your computer. If you are in doubt about an attachment, verify with the sender before opening it.
Don't let your computer become a spam zombie.
Without the system protection listed here, your computer could be infected with viruses that are programmed to create gateways (known technically as proxies) that relay spam to other email recipients.
Recently you may have received email with word like Viagra changed to something like
V`ia`g`ra or
Viiaagraa
The spammers do this because they know you can still read the email.
And they also know that many people have already blocking the word Viagra, so you will also need to block the new variation on the word V`ia`g`ra too.