What is SPAM? Spam is the common term for unsolicited commercial email (UCE) the Internet version of junk mail. "Spam" can also be a verb, used to describe the method of flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message. The term "Spam" has a negative connotation. In addition to being unsolicited and annoying, Spam emails often include advertisements for dubious products, get-rich-quick schemes, or quasi-legal services.
Why do I get Spam? For the same reason you get junk mail through the Postal Service - people are trying to sell you things. It is even cheaper to send emails, so you get even more of them! Spam mailing lists are created in a variety of ways, including scanning Usenet discussion groups, buying or stealing Internet mailing lists, searching the Web for addresses, and even just guessing e-mail addresses at random. If you use e-mail, chances are you're going to get Spam.
How did my e-mail address get on a Spam list? There are many ways that spammers harvest and collect e-mail addresses to build their lists. Although you need to be careful of where you leave your e-mail address at web sites, in newsgroup posts, and when chatting, sometimes you'll end up on a list without exposing your address whatsoever. It's common for spammers to guess at potentially valid addresses by taking a common username and adding valid domains to it. For example, chances are there will be a "bob@" at just about any provider's domain. (Note at the time of creation of this document there is no bob@visuallink.com) (Note: Remember NEVER send a reply to a spammer with a remove request. This only confirms that your address is valid, and you'll probably get even more Spam.)
What does this new filter do? It is a tool that automatically reduces the amount of Spam you receive. You should be able to check your e-mail without digging through junk email.
How does it work? By using an Anti-Spam Filtering technology, we eliminate suspected Spam before it reaches your e-mail inbox. As soon as new Spam is detected, software rules are written to block it from reaching your account. These messages are then discarded.
What happens if the Spam filter catches an e-mail I want to read? THIS IS POSSIBLE!!!! This Spam blocking software works by refusing mail from improperly secured mail servers. If your friends are using ISPs that have this problem you WILL lose mail. The good news is that this is ALWAYS fixable; they simply need to contact their ISP and ask them to properly configure their mail servers. This will help make the world a little harder on the spammers and a little nicer on the rest of us.
What happens if I still get Spam? This system will not block 100% of the Spam targeted at you. However it will block a significant amount. And we are always working to improve it.
That's not enough - what can I do? If you are using the service and would like to help us improve the filtering, forward any Spam you do receive to spam@postini.com with full headers. If you do not know how to enable these headers in your mail application, check out this link -http://spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/19.html
Here are a few simple things you can do to help keep Spam at bay - gleaned from various authors on the Internet.
Never Respond To Spam. Sure, they say they'll take your name off the list, but they're lying. What they really want to do is confirm that they've got a live address. Also, if you respond, they'll sell your address to every other spammer on the planet meaning you'll soon be flooded with even more Spam.
Don't Post Your E-Mail Address On Your Website It seems like a good idea at the time, but posting your email address on your personal home page is just an invitation to spammers. Spammers and the people who sell spamming as a business have software that "harvests" email addresses from the Net. This software crawls through the Internet seeking text strings that are -something-@-something-.-something-. When it finds one, it catalogs it on a database of other email addresses to be used to send Spam.
Use A Second E-Mail Address In Newsgroups Newsgroups are the great email address gathering ground for spammers. If you post to a group, you're going to get Spam - it is just a matter of time. So how are you supposed to participate? Use a different email address than the one you use for talking to friends and relatives. In other words, have a public address and a private address. You'll just have to deal with the Spam in your public account.
Don't Give Out Your E-Mail Address Without Knowing How It Will Be Used If a website is asking for your email address, they want to use it for something. Be sure you know what. Read the terms of use and privacy statements of any site before telling them your address. Ask yourself some simple questions. Are they going to share or sell my address? Do I want emails from this website? Do I trust them? Is it worth the risk? If you can't answer these questions satisfactorily, if you can't find their privacy statement, don't tell them your address.
Use A Spam Filter While there is no such thing as a perfect filter, anti-Spam software can help keep Spam at manageable level. Some of it is cumbersome, some works better than others, some even requires that you let your email messages go through another system for storage and cleaning. Check your email program for filtering and then add the known spammers or domain names to your list.
Never Buy Anything Advertised In Spam The reason that people Spam is because they can make money. They make money, like all advertisers, by convincing people to buy a product. If no one buys the things advertised in Spam, companies will quit paying spammers to advertise their products.
Never Visit Websites Advertised In Spam Websites make most of their money by selling advertisement space on the site, if a site gets lots of hits, advertisers will usually pay the site proprietor more for the space. Some webmasters resort to Spam in order to drive up the number of people visiting their sites, in turn they get paid more for selling advertisement space. In turn the webmasters continue to solicit the help of spammers.
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