The individuals who send spam are typically people who purchased or harvested a list of email addresses. They send messages from numerous different addresses to all areas of the Web.

Most email has an originating IP address embedded in the full address headers. This address helps to identify the sender of the email and track the individual to his or her service provider.

How Do I Prevent Spam?

Or in other words…What should I not do with spam?

• Never open an unsolicited email (i.e., spam).



• Never respond to spam. To the individuals who send spam, one response or "hit" among thousands of mailings is enough to justify the practice.



• Never respond to the spam email's instructions to reply with the word "remove" unless you trust or know the sender. Many spammers use the "remove" or "unsubscribe" links as a ploy to get you to react to the email. This may alert the sender that your email address is open and available to receive mail, which greatly increases its value. If you reply, your address may be placed on more lists, resulting in more spam.



• Never click on a URL or web site address listed within a spam email. This could alert the site to the validity of your email address, potentially resulting in more spam.
  
  
  
  
• Never sign up with sites that promise to remove your name from spam lists. Although some of these sites may be legitimate, more often than not, they are address collectors. The legitimate sites are ignored (or exploited) by the spammers, and the address collection sites are owned by spammers. In both cases, your address is recorded and valued more highly because you have just identified that your address is active.

What is the difference between solicited and unsolicited commercial email?

Unsolicited commercial email, commonly known as spam, is any message or posting, regardless of its content, that is sent to multiple recipients who have not specifically requested the mail.

Solicited commercial email is any commercial message, newsletter, or posting sent only to recipients who have requested it and can choose to opt out of receiving the mailing.

Tips and Tools for Minimizing Spam?

1. Use a unique e-mail address - Pick an address that is hard for spammers to guess and easy for you to remember. Also, if chatting online, use a unique screen name that is not associated with your e-mail address.



2. An e-mail address containing both numbers and letters can help prevent spam. Many spammers use "dictionary attacks" to e-mail many possible name combinations at large Internet Service Providers (ex: Verizon, AT&T, Earthlink...) or e-mail services (ex: Hotmail, Yahoo, Lycos...), hoping to find a valid address.



3. Also, use a unique screen name that is not associated with your e-mail address if you chat online. Screen names are accessible to spammers so don't make it too easy for them to guess your e-mail address.



4. Use multiple e-mail addresses - Consider creating separate addresses or accounts that can be used for online purchases, chat rooms and other public postings. You can also use a free forwarding address.



5. Consider creating multiple e-mail addresses or accounts. Use one address for family and friends only. Do not post this address online or give it to merchants. Your second address can be used online and for purchases. If you begin to receive unwanted e-mail at this address you can delete that account while not affecting your primary address.



6. Check with your Internet Service Provider. They may offer additional addresses for little or no fee.



7. Check the privacy policy when you submit your address to a Web site - Always be familiar with a Web site's privacy policy before submitting any information.



8. If it sounds too good to be true, - it probably is. Fraudsters, scammers, and crooks take advantage of people via unwanted e-mail.



9. Learn more about "pop up spam" - recently a new form of spam has developed via the Microsoft Windows operating system feature Messenger Service. It is a stream of "pop up" messages that stop you from using your home computer until you close them. If this is a common problem that you are experiencing learn how to make it stop.



10. Recently a new form of spam has been invading computers. This new form is called "pop up spam." This type of spam occurs when spammers exploit a feature of the Microsoft Windows operating system known as Messenger Service. The Messenger Service is designed to provide users on a local- or wide-area network with messages from the network administrator. Instead outside organizations are taking advantage of this opening into your computer and are sending "pop up spam" including advertisements, new programs or worse.



11. Disabling the messenger service will prevent the possibility of "pop up spam." To disable the messenger service: Click Start, and then click Control Panel (or point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.) Double-click Administrative Tools. Double-click Services. Double-click Messenger. In the Startup type list, click Disabled. Click Stop, and then click OK.



12. You can also cut off "pop up spam" by using a firewall. We strongly recommend the use of firewalls for this and many other security related reasons.
    

Other Tools?

1. You can use your delete key to manage your incoming junk e-mail, but there are other options available. Many of the programs you regularly use have capabilities that can help you deal with spam, kike using a junk mail filter.



2. Many e-mail applications and Web-based e-mail services provide filters to limit the amount of unwanted e-mail that flows into your inbox. The junk mail filters use known criteria such as phrasing, font style (ex: all caps), and symbols (ex: dollar signs, exclamation points) to classify messages as junk.



3. Most junk mail filters have several options for displaying or deleting the unwanted e-mail. Since junk mail filters are not completely accurate, you may want to send the filtered e-mail to one specific folder (not directly to the trash) so you can check and make sure non-junk messages do not get deleted. Once your junk mail filter is activated, you can refine the filter by making exceptions.



4. To learn more about the specific filters available, use the help feature within your e-mail client. Search for terms like "filter" "rules" or "junk mail."



5. Ask us about a spam filtering service for your business. We have recently partnered with Red Condor which is filtering out 99.9% of our client's spam with no false positives!