Tips for Avoiding SPAM

What is "spam"?

• it costs almost nothing to send spam, so "spammers" send out billions of messages every day.  This increases the cost of running the Internet and e-mail sites, and it wastes countless hours of time for Internet users, who must wade through and delete the unwanted messages.
• much spam is directed toward "phishing" identity theft scams and other forms of fraud.  See Identity Theft and How to Avoid It for more information.
• much spam is pornographic or otherwise highly offensive in nature.
• no efforts are made to "target" spam to persons who might actually be interested in the products being sold.  As a result, an 8-year-old girl is just as likely as an adult to receive pornographic spam.
• the spammers don't care whether you are offended.  Any efforts you may make to remove yourself from spam mailing lists are likely to increase the amount of spam you receive.

Is spam illegal?

Unfortunately, many spammers are located overseas, and many of those in the U.S. use "spam and run" tactics that make them almost impossible to catch.  Many people are afraid that a "do-not-e-mail" registry would be a goldmine of addresses for those spammers who stay beyond the law.  It remains to be seen whether anti-spam laws have any effect who-so-ever, and no one expects them to completely eliminate spam.

"Spoofed" Return Addresses

One of the more annoying characteristics of spam is the "spoofing" of legitimate return addresses.  That is, the spammer sends a message with a return address that makes it look like it is coming from a legitimate e-mail server, even though it isn't.  There are two technical solutions, both of which require cooperation from operators of e-mail servers:

• use an e-mail service that incorporates "Sender ID":  legitimate web sites can register the Internet address(es) of their e-mail servers with the domain-name system (DNS).  E-mail servers receiving mail can then verify that the e-mail came from the indicated return address and reject any that doesn't.
  
• use an e-mail service (such as Yahoo!) that incorporates "Domain Keys":  same concept as Sender ID, but the sending e-mail server information is sent in the form of an encrypted digital signature.  This is believed to be more secure than the Sender ID approach.
  

What you can do:

• never respond to a spam message.  Some spammers send out messages with randomly-generated e-mail addresses trying to find new targets.  If you respond, you get added to their list!  With great caution, you may follow directions in a message to "unsubscribe" from a list if and only if you are sure that the sender is a legitimate business whom you trust and not a spammer.
• in fact, don't even open a message that appears to be spam.  Some spam comes with built-in code that will notify the sender that your address is legitimate if you open the message.
• if your e-mail program has a "preview pane", disable it (same reason as above).
• avoid using an "auto-reply" feature when you can't answer your e-mail.  Although it might seem desirable to tell people sending you e-mail that you are on vacation, a reply tells a spammer that your address is legitimate.
• keep at least two e-mail accounts.  Give one address only to family and close friends; give the other to on-line sites that require an e-mail address.  Giving your e-mail address to an on-line site is a sure way to be targeted.
• when you set up your e-mail accounts, use names that are highly unusual.  For example, replace jsmith2 with j8mith99t3.  The more complex the name is, the harder it is for spammers to "guess" it.
• avoid giving your e-mail address in a chat room.  If you have to, use the "other" address per above.
• avoid putting your e-mail address on a public web page.  Spammers use special software to harvest such addresses and add them to their mailing lists.
• never buy anything from a spam message.  A high percentage of spam messages are scams, and patronizing even the legitimate businesses who use spam encourages them to send more.
• do not sign up for a "do not spam" list.  At present, there is no known way to prevent law-breaking spammers from using such lists to harvest e-mail addresses.
• do not forward chain letters, petitions, or virus warnings.  These are often used by spammers to collect e-mail addresses.
• use an e-mail service provider that includes spam filtering, preferably with the anti-spoofing technology discussed above.  SFA faculty, staff, and students receive some filtering from the Meridius program.  Be sure to read the periodic notifications from Meridius and click on the link to view the suspected spam, since legitimate messages sometimes get caught by the filter.
• use e-mail software that includes spam filtering.  Be sure to check your "junk" mailbox (or whatever the program calls it) periodically, since legitimate messages sometimes get caught by the filter.
• install a firewall program (automatically activated with Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later).
• if your account is being bombarded with excessive amounts of spam in spite of your best efforts, close it and open a new one under a different name.