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I Do Not Like Spam So What Can I Do?

Read more articles on Computers and Email Scams.

January 24, 2007

Posted by neillevine

About This Editor: I am a writer. Have been writing for other sites, but expect to do most of my future work HERE! My expertise extends from the esoteric such as burning hydrogen to the unpredictability of the stock market and my writing makes me a jack of all trades and exasperated master of none. I have had some influence over national wildfire and water policy and there are hints of a change in energy policy, BUT as Samuel Goldwyn once said, "A verbal promise is not worth the paper it is written on."

         

When I surf the net, I sometimes have to leave my email address in order to get access to a site or even to receive information that I want.

Since selling addresses is a well established and fairly common business practice, this often leads to a flood of spam, most of which I do not want and which often distract me from emails that are important.

Setting my filter protection high to block out unwanted junk mail also blocks contacts that I do want since it is difficult, if not impossible, to add addresses that I want to accept before I receive them. And when I send out a lot of resumes or other bulk contacts, using my spam filter creates even more problems since I definitely want a reply to a job application or other multiple contact email

Most of the junk email I receive is for things I have no interest in or cannot use such as debt help and authentic replica watches, which are fraudulent on their face, since it is the original brand name luxury watch that is valuable.

At one point, I was clicking on the link for removing my name from the sender’s mailing lis. Most bulk emailers are respectful, but a few are not and somehow that computer caught a virus, from a nasty bulk emailer, I suspect, that rendered the machine useless and forced me to purchase a new one.

Two strategies that I have found that do work is, first, do not give out your email address. Then spammers will not acquire it for their mailing lists so they can gain access to your account.

The other is to use two accounts. One to use to register and the other to receive important emails. It is easy to bulk delete spam from the decoy account and you only have to check it when you register for something you actually want.

Not a downright convenient approach, but certainly viable and a step above doing nothing.