ChatterBank4 mins ago
spam
4 Answers
can anyone tell me how to stop spam - am getting about 50 a day
Answers
Best Answer
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Oddly enough if you get the type of spam that has the click through "remove me from your spam list" at the bottom and you do, you actually get removed (not like in the old days when this action was considered verboten as it just confirmed you email address). Other than that, downloading a program like mailwasher might ease you burden somewhat. It can be found at www.download.com
Also it is a good idea to have a disposible account like hotmail or yahoo which you can use to sign up for stuff.
I personally would never click on a 'Remove Me' button unless I knew why I was sent an e-mail. i.e. if I had visited a site previously or had dealings with a company. Always turn auto-preview off in Outlook (if you use it) as some e-mails can have HTML embedded to send a message back to the sender telling them you read it, i.e. its a valid e-mail account.
Sage words indeed BadBob - btw dillon check with the host of the pop server - they may well be able to block a lot of spam at the server end to prevent it reaching your mailbox. Not wishing to state the obvious but if you use Outlook Express or a similar mail program you can auto block a certain amount of spam (sending it straight to your 'deleted' folder) by email subject, text keywords or by 'from' address. This is accessible under MESSAGE, BLOCK SENDER. Sorry if that's stating the bloody obvious!
Its a bit late now I would guess but one tip I would have is get 2 e-mail accounts one you use for friends and companies with a good reputation (ones you know and trust, your bank for example) and then one you just use when asked to provide it on the web or when posting in forums etc. There are programs which scan web sites looking for e-mail addresses and thats a common way for your address to appear on a list which is circulated to the various spam company's.