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Avoiding all spam is just about impossible. However, there are a number of things you can do to substantially reduce your exposure to it. If you jealously guard your email address, filter your incoming mail, report all spam, boycott services promoted by spam and never, ever believe the removal instructions on a spam email, you should notice a substantial reduction in the amount of junk email you receive.
Be careful about where you leave your email address. When you have to publish your email address, like in Usenet news, on message boards, or when requesting more information from a webiste, do not use your real email address. Use a mailexpire alias to get what you want instead. |
It is also important to report all spam you receive. Usually, the "from" address on spam is forged. You need to trace through the headers to figure out where the spam came from and who to complain to. You can use a service such as Spamcop to do this automatically.
Let the spammers know that you will never use their product. If they've left a toll-free number call it from a payphone and let them know how you feel. Take as long as you like - it's their dime! If you're outside the US, use a service like DialPad to make free calls to the US.
Finally most spam, includes some sort of "Removal Instructions". Typically this involves sending an email to some address or typing your email address into a form. Guess what? This just confirms that your email address is active. This makes it more valuable to spammers, and you just end up getting more junk mail. Never, ever follow the removal instructions.
This is just a quick guide to getting yourself out of spam hell. If you want more detailed information, take a look at spam.abuse.net or ecofuture.Best of luck! |
