Spam, a Tasty Spiced Ham Entrée Or an Email Box Full of Trash Ads?

If you have ever opened a can of SPiced hAM (SPAM) you found the most unappealing sight imaginable. Meat (with clear gelatin oozing down the sides. Compressed into a block. But when placed into a blender with a table spoon of fresh yogurt, 1 teaspoon of finely grated onions, and 1 teaspoon of chopped gherkins and spread on a small round cracker you have a canapé to die for.

Likewise, if you take a few moments to scan through that over abundance of System Produced Advertising Mail (Spam) you will find some canapé's in there as well. In a single days scan of my "spam" last year I found one offer for a free year subscription to a magazine I had been paying $29.95 a year to receive. All I had to do was fill out a survey on my shopping needs. This survey provided some bulk emailer with a list of exactly what type of SPAM to send me.

Spam is usually a result of your logging on to a webpage for something you needed. The big hosting Internet Providers hate spam, all but their own. Naturally! This is because it cuts into their bandwidth, and raises their costs. If you have received spam and "Never ever ever" filled out a form on line it is not hard to imagine how they got your email address. However most of us give up our email address to 3 to 5 sites a day. The result is these sites are selling this info to services that catalogue the who, where it was found, type of sites visited and your name. If you add this data to information provide in your daily transactions, with online stores and bill paying services. You will find you have left quite a trail on the web.

In one two day period I received over 100 "spams". While most were generic trash, there were some flecks of gold in the bottom. I found an advanced notice of a stock split, and a website that sold generic medicine for my pets at half what I paid my Veterinarian. In another period I found an ad for computer parts I needed for half what I was paying wholesale. This cost me nothing extra and took less than 20 minutes to screen.

There is a way to handle the increase of email. I find it makes it easier to handle if I receive all of my family mail, and personal mail, on one of those free email sites. I NEVER use this address on any website, and even threaten my family with no email, over them releasing that address to anyone outside the family. These sites usually don't allow attachments so I don't worry about viruses. If it is something I want to keep I forward it to my incoming account.

The use of SPAM is not new. We have had bulk mail companies bombarding us with ads, offers, and free samples for years. These companies have just moved up to the internet from the post office box. I have never seen anyone successfully go to the Post Master and demand that XYZ company stop sending them credit card applications. I once spoke to my mail carrier about leaving the junk mail at the station. He laughed and explained that no mail is junk mail as long as it has a stamp on it.

Since all of these SPAM originators pay for a website with an email account then they have a stamp. The companies that once compiled and sold bulk mailing lists now compile and sell email list. The info comes from YOU and your family's web usage. You already instruct your family not to fill out mail in cards. So also tell them not to login to strange sites. Tell them to use the spam address if they have to login.

While SPAM, like bulk mail ads, are a little irritating they are usually not dangerous to us, or our computers. We would never enclose our social security number on a bulk mail card. We should also never enclose our social security number on a login. Just as criminal might bulk mail a card to get info on your home security, and then break in if the answers were good and the locks were poor. Then a hacker or cyber crook may also try to get into your system by hiding a Trojan in a junk email. That is what a good updated virus program is for.

Remember that mail is mail. Whether it arrives on the internet, or in our mailbox, mail is a source of information. When needed it can be a lifesaver, if it is unsolicited and unneeded it is a pain. So just shred or delete what is not needed, but remember to look first. You may have the winning ticket!