SPAM

We've all found unwanted email in our computer and wondered where it came from and how they got our email address.

SPAM comes from many different sources (including the local grocery store, in a can... LOL).

SPAM usually originates from a list compiled and sold to mass advertisers. How did you get on the list? Well, you probably filled out an on line questionnaire or provided your email address to some innocent looking web page where you were looking to obtain your astrological forecast... or, you simply put your real email address in your browser.

NEVER, NEVER respond to SPAM. Do NOT "click here to remove from..." Those are simple ploys to verify your email address and place you on the active list which makes your email address more valuable to them. Yes, they are making money off of you!

NEVER use your browser as your email client. That is to say that you should never use the mail facility in Netscape or Internet Explorer. Why? Because that email address you supply may be passed off to other web sites on demand. When that happens, your email address drops into one of the lists and the rest is history. This doesn't mean don't use your browser to check "web mail". It simply means don't use your browser instead of Eudora or Outlook Express. Definitely use a client specifically designed for email. I use Eudora (by Qualcom) which is available free from http://www.eudora.com with a few ads or for a small fee, without ads. Outlook Express comes in Windows 98 and is a better alternative that your browser but is of course open to all the .vbs viruses which is another issue entirely.

If you are interested in determining where your SPAM came from you can begin to understand that by reading the following page:

http://www.stopspam.org/email/headers/headers.html

Once you are on one of the SPAM lists that are sold, it is virtually impossible to get off of it. Do not respond to SPAM or click to be removed from lists. Do not pay anyone that claims to remove you from SPAM lists. That is paying them to insure that you are on all the active SPAM lists.

Use the anti-spam tools available to you. Yahoo filters known spam. Mindspring does a pretty good job of stopping spam.

The most valuable tool you have is your delete key. Most spam can be recognized from the header (subject or address). Just remember the old saying: "If it sounds too good to be true, then it must be". There is no fortune, free teen sex, viagra without prescription, looking like a teenager again or any of those obvious hoax claims. Ignore them... click delete!

This isn't intended to be a lesson on anti-spam. Rather a simple info sheet. There is a wealth of information on the web about SPAM and a simple search with any of the common search engines will provide you with more than you will be willing to read.