Fighting Email Spam - 5 Easy Steps

Doesn't it seem that Spam is everywhere? Just how prevalent is it? According to Scott McAdams, OMA Public Affairs and Communication Department, "Studies show unsolicited or "junk" e-mail, know as spam, accounts for roughly half of all e-mail messages received, Although once regarded as little more than a nuisance, the prevalence of spam has increased to the point where many users have begun to express a general lack of confidence in the effectiveness of e-mail transmissions, and increased concern over the spread of computer viruses via unsolicited messages.

In December of 2003, President Bush signed the "Can Spam" bill. It was approved by the Senate by a vote of 97 to 0. It was designed to prohibit unsolicited commercial e-mail senders from using false return addresses to disguise their identity. This is called spoofing. It was also designed to prohibit the use of dictionaries to generate such mailers. Two prevalent methods spammers used before this legislation were the harvesting of addresses off Web sites and the use of misleading subject lines. Both of these practices are now prohibited. Commercial e-mail senders must now include an opt-out mechanism as part of their message. Violations of this law is considered a misdemeanor crime
subject to up to one year in jail.

The unfortunate spread of spam has not necessarily decreased because of this law. Spam is now coming from other countries in increasing numbers. Because they are not directly subject to our laws and regulations, these out of country spammers are harder to fight and prevent. This is one of the unfortunate prices we pay for global access to information.

What can we do?

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Take great care when putting your email address out on the internet

There are programs called "spam spiders". These programs search the Internet for email address and harvest them. Spammers then have legitimate addresses to spam. You will be amazed at what you get back if you did a search of "spam spiders" on Google or your favorite search program.

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Use spam blocking software

Find and use a good spam protection program. It will save you time. You need to remember that this software is not foolproof, but it does help. Also, you may need to spend some time manually setting some of the parameters.

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Use multiple email addresses

There are lots of free email addresses available to you. When you subscribe to a newsletter, use one of the free email addresses. When you need to enter an email address into a website form, use another free email address.

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Do not open email attachments from people you don't know

Spam often has attachments. These attachments often are the carrier of viruses. Your company probably has filters that prevent this email from reaching your desk. Your personal email is easier for the spammer to reach. You need to look for services that offer filtering. A seller who offers firewall protection often supplies this type of service to its customers. Look here first.

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Chose email providers who have bulk-mail folders available

The concept is fairly simple. Emails from people you know come straight to your inbox. Emails from people you don't know go to a spam folder. At a latter time, you can view these messages and choose which you want. The others are trashed.

Spam will be part of our email experience. The best that we can hope for by following the above 5 steps is to force spam to become a minor nuisance.