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We noticed that the amount of spam we were getting at NETrageous was significantly increasing each month. A couple of months ago, we were each getting about 30 to 50 spams a day! Spams had gone from being a real nuisance to a serious problem. So, we decided to see if we could systematically reduce the amount of spam we receive. We starting using the tips we present here. And it worked. We've reduced the amount of spam by about 55%. We're also adding a "Stop Spam" page to our Web site with all the resources in this issue -- plus new ones -- as we find them. If you know of any good anti-spam resources we've missed, please email us at So here are some tips -- and lots of resources -- to help you reduce the amount of spam you receive. Register with "exclude" lists. Exclude lists are lists of email addresses that more experienced spammers use to filter out people who don't want to receive spam. You fill out a simple form and then you are excluded from receiving bulk email from the companies that have their email address lists filtered. For example, add your email addresses to: No Junk Email: http://www.glr.com/nojunk.html The Jensen House's No Spam list: http://kenjen.com/nospam/ Always follow the instructions *exactly* to remove yourself from each spam you receive which includes "Remove" instructions. (Many spams don't include these instructions -- if so then just delete the spam.) We always look at the top and bottom of the spam -- if it's buried, we don't bother. We don't want to waste the time searching for remove instructions. Check to see exactly who the email is sent to (if you have more than one email address). After all, it's useless to try to remove yourself from a list when you are asking them to remove the wrong email address. So, it's important to send your request from the correct email account (the one which was sent the spam). How do you know what email address was sent the spam? You won't find it in the "To:" Field. There are lots of resources below to help you do this. Here's a brief description if you use Eudora: You can click on the Blah Blah Blah button at the top of the email. You'll see your email address buried in the top few lines.) Note: Your request to get off the list will most likely bounce over half of the time. Nonetheless, it still does seem to help. Use a separate email address when you post to newsgroups and mailing lists. Never use this email address for personal email. Then, you can quickly go through the email in this account to see what's spam and what isn't. And your main personal email address won't be as clogged with spam. For example, AOL users can set up a special user name for free, and use that for their postings. Then, they can just discontinue that account if they start to get too much spam. NEVER buy anything from a company that spams. Don't visit their sites or ask for more information. (If you respond to their spams, you're encouraging them to continue spamming.) See the Boulder Pledge below. Filter your spam. Other Good Resources to Deal With Spam: Fight spam on the Internet. http://spam.abuse.net/spam/ Includes a good description of how to complain to the spammer's provider. http://spam.abuse.net/spam/howtocomplain.html Our other articles on why spamming is a bad idea and what to do
about spam. The Boulder Pledge "Under no circumstances will I ever purchase anything offered to me as the result of an unsolicited email message. Nor will I forward chain letters, petitions, mass mailings, or virus warnings to large numbers of others. This is my contribution to the survival of the online community." Yahoo There is so much discussion on the Web about spam, that Yahoo has two separate categories for it, Junk email and Direct email (a euphemism for spam -- we're not making this up). SPAM Media Tracker This Web site has an amazing list of articles on spam. http://www-fofa.concordia.ca/spam/news.shtml Netizens Against Gratuitous Spamming Some excellent resources, including three methods to deal with spams, starting with the "I'm nice" method. http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~ivl/nags/index.html Stop Unsolicited Mass E-Mail Advertisements! Excellent discussion of the problems with bulk email. Includes special tips for America Online users, things to keep in mind before joining an Internet mailing list or newsgroup, and where and how to complain. Junkbusters We've mentioned this site before, but it's worth repeating. Excellent links, resources, and news. http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/junkemail.html Get that spammer! Lots of anti-spam resources, including tools and strategies for tracking down individuals, and links to lots of other anti-spam sites. Good tips for what an ISP can (and should) do about spam.
The Netizen's Guide to Spam, Abuse, and Internet Advertising. Lots of good resources, including recent spam related news, links, and suggestions for dealing with spam. How to Get Rid of Junk Mail, Spam, and Telemarketers. Good tips, information and links to help you avoid spams, junk mail and telemarketers. http://www.csn.net/~felbel/jnkmail.html Mark Neely's Anti-UMail FAQ. Lots of interesting links, plus a good description of the common pro-spam arguments, with rebuttals. http://www.accessnt.com.au/faqs/spam.htm Blacklist of Internet Advertisers. We've been writing about these folks since we started Internet ScamBusters. The site includes lots of useful links, as well as information on how to deal with spam. http://www-math.uni-paderborn.de/%7Eaxel/BL/ Direct Electronic Mail Marketing Association. Includes a complaint form for getting off spammers' lists. http://www.memo.net/demma/dema.html A Fairly good description of spam and what to do about it. http://www.lsoft.com/spamorama.html Everything E-Mail's Unsolicited Email (Spam) Issues. Good (short) list of resources. http://www.ronin.com/pa-software/unsolicited.html Existing and Emerging Laws Related to Junk E-mail. http://www.tigerden.com/junkmail/laws Also, visit their page on places to complain about spams. http://www.tigerden.com/junkmail/compladdr.html Junk Email The Campaign to Stop Junk Email Web site. Lots of good resources, plus up-to-date news on the campaign. http://www.mcs.com/~jcr/junkemail.html How to Get Rid of Junk Mail, Spam, and Telemarketers Another good page of tips, news and links. http://www.csn.net/%7Efelbel/jnkmail.html Junk Email Advice for Businesses Includes a good essay called "Why You Shouldn't Advertise by Bulk Email: Guidance for Internet Marketers," as well as suggestions for what ISPs should do about junk email. http://www.mcs.com/%7Ejcr/junkemailbusguide.html Spam, Scams and Relevant Resources Good list of resources. List of domain names that allow spam (great for filtering). We hope these resources help you succeed in reducing the amount of spam you receive. Let us know your results. Thanks! Internet ScamBusters Visit http://www.netrageous.com/reports/searchengine.html A free offer from our sponsors -- that's us! (We publish Internet ScamBusters as a free resource to the Internet community.) To SUBSCRIBE to Internet ScamBusters, send an email to: scambusters@scambusters.org and write SUBSCRIBE in the subject
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