| According to Don Evett, in his spam Statistics 2006, | | | | phishing scam. Once the user clicks on these links |
| 40% of all email in 2006 was considered spam. Evett | | | | (that look legitimate, they are taken to a fake (but |
| predicts that the amount of spam will increase 63% | | | | real looking) site asking for credit card information, |
| in 2007. Of the spam received in 2006, 19% of total | | | | password details, etc... Legitimate, honest companies |
| spam messages (2.5 billion messages daily) were | | | | will never send an email asking you to click on an |
| pornographic in nature. So what can you do to | | | | enclosed link to save your account from shutting |
| protect your email address from all of these | | | | down. |
| spammers? Below are eleven simple ways you can | | | | 6. Never participate in an online forum site, if they |
| help lessen the negative impact of spam on your | | | | post your email address to their site. If you find a |
| computer as well as the Internet: | | | | site that does not disguise your email address, let the |
| 1. Don't unsubscribe to "subscription" emails from | | | | administrator know they are helping serve email |
| sources you didn't subscribe to by using their | | | | addresses to spammers. |
| "unsubscribe" link. Simply add the email address of | | | | 7. Set up a separate email address dedicated to only |
| their entire domain to your inbox blacklist. Many | | | | Internet transactions. Use a free email service for |
| spammers will use this "unsubscribe" link as a means | | | | this and keep your primary email address private. If |
| of verifying that your email address is real and then | | | | you are getting too much spam at your free |
| turn around and provide it to other spam marketers | | | | address, simply delete it and create a new one. |
| for money. | | | | 8. Watch out for pre-checked boxes. Many |
| 2. Do not click on the links of an email claiming to be | | | | companies will use pre-selected checkboxes defaulted |
| from a famous organization, unless you have | | | | to indicate your approval to sell or give away your |
| contacted them first and are expecting a reply. | | | | email address to third parties. |
| Clicking on these links can cause drive-by downloads | | | | 9. Don't forward chain e-mail messages. Some |
| of viruses or even barrages of pornographic Pop-ups. | | | | spammers actually start chain letters to gather email |
| 3. Never publish your email address online. Don't put it | | | | addresses. When you forward chain email messages, |
| on an online resume', contact page or homepage. | | | | you lose control over your email address and may |
| There are "spiders" continuously crawling the net | | | | further a hoax, aid in a phishing scam or help spread |
| looking for email addresses to add to their spam | | | | a virus also. |
| mailing lists. | | | | 10. Whenever you send email to a large group of |
| 4. Keep your computer clean. Run a virus checker | | | | people, always use the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) |
| with an updated virus database daily. Many viruses | | | | address field instead of To. When you BCC your |
| are written explicitly to harvest email addresses from | | | | message, everyone else viewing the message cannot |
| your computer and then spam those people in your | | | | see the addresses of the other recipients. This simple |
| name. | | | | method will help protect your friend's email addresses |
| 5. Don't fall for "phishing" email schemes. Messages | | | | from being unknowingly spammed. |
| claiming to be from Western Union, Paypal and other | | | | 11. Make sure you use an antivirus product with a |
| financial institutions promising account closure and | | | | powerful built-in spam filtering device like Stop-Sign |
| balance forfeiture if the user does not click on | | | | Internet Security. |
| "confirm" or "verify" account links are a sure sign of a | | | | |