SPAM

Everybody has a problem with spam, the flood of unsolicited email that clogs our email boxes daily, hawking everything from mortgage refinancing, pornography, and counterfeit drugs.  Spam has exploded to the point where between 40-70 percent of email is spam.

Consumers are the front lines in the war against spam and they can take a number of steps to protect themselves and their computers.

• Do not reply to the spammer, even to try to “unsubscribe.”  These unsubscribe promises from spammers are bogus – your reply just tells them that your email address is live and take the time to read their solicitations.
• Do not click on an embedded link in a spam message, even just for fun.  At the very least, you reward the spammer by visiting the promoted website.  Worse, these links can take you to sites that download spyware or other malware onto your computer.
• Do not go to a website promoted by spam, even if you load the web address directly into your browser without clicking on a link.  An illegal website selling fake pharmaceuticals – or anything for that matter – is a little like a Broadway show.  If no one shows up, it goes dark.
• Try not to display your email in public.  Spammers often harvest email addresses from websites, member directories for online services, newsgroups and chat rooms.
• Know whom you are giving your email to and what they will do with it.  Read privacy policies of websites where your address.
• Use multiple addresses.  Dedicate one address for business, one for friends and another “disposable” address for everything else that you can turn off if it becomes a target.
• Use an email filter
• Pick a unique address that makes it difficult for spammer’s software to guess.  3johnx5_smith is more difficult to guess than johnsmith.
• Report spam to the FTC by forwarding to uce@ftc.gov and your internet service provider.

While these steps won’t solve all of your spam problems, they will reduce your exposure.  And they are some you can do today.