ItsGeekToMe.co

In my answer to a question from Nate F. in last week’s column, I promised a more in-depth discussion on SPAM fighting techniques. So, this week I’m dispensing with the questions in order fulfill that promise.  Let me clarify at the outset that this is decidedly low-tech information, as I believe that no amount of technology can protect you better than some simple prevention techniques.

The most important line of defense is to treat your e-mail address like the valuable piece of personal information it is.  Proceed with your eyes wide open, knowing that there are people out there who will SPAM you like the dickens if they can get their hands on your e-mail address.  Also convince those with whom you exchange e-mails to protect theirs and yours too.  One good way to begin is when sending e-mails to multiple recipients who don’t otherwise know each other, mask the e-mail addresses by entering them in the BCC: field (Blind Carbon Copy) instead of the one marked TO:.  This will result in each recipient receiving an e-mail with only the address of the sender in it.  If people expose your address in a bulk e-mail, kindly point out to them that what they have done is the modern-day equivalent of giving out unpublished phone numbers, and that in the future they should use BCC: to protect people’s privacy.  When you forward an e-mail, always do other people the courtesy of deleting the block of e-mail addresses that appears in the message body.

When you receive SPAM, never reply to it – not even messages that contain a helpful-sounding line like “Reply with ‘REMOVE’ in the subject line to be taken off our mailing list.”  To put it bluntly, that’s a lie, and not only will you NOT be taken off the SPAM list, but your reply will verify that your e-mail address is valid, and a confirmed valid e-mail address is worth even more when it’s sold.

Many web services will require you to provide an e-mail address when you first sign up, and there are many legitimate uses for e-mail addresses.  Websites such as your bank, or your credit card company routinely keep in contact with you via e-mail.  However, if you’re one of the type of people who likes to sign up with lots of websites (such as Spouse Peripheral, who has been on a “Get free stuff” kick lately) you must remember that the only reason you are getting free stuff is because someone else is getting something of value in exchange – your e-mail address.  You can get around this by creating a free e-mail address on one of the many webmail sites I’ve talked about in the past, and using it strictly for these cases.  Spammers can send all the SPAM they want to that address, because you don’t need to ever read the e-mail that gets sent there until you need to get the registration confirmation e-mail from a site you’ve signed up for.  Even in that case the e-mail you want will usually be the most recent one, so you can simply ignore all the rest.

Watch out especially for websites that have a cute or inspirational video or animation, or that offer services like free online e-cards, then have a field that says “Send this page to a friend” and asks for an e-mail address.  Most of these are set up simply to harvest e-mail addresses.  If you really want to send it to a friend, copy the URL out of the address bar and paste it into an e-mail you create yourself.  This is another case where you need to be firm with your friends and family and make sure they NEVER enter your e-mail address into a web form.  It only takes one person who is trying to do you a favor by sending you a page they think you’ll enjoy to get your carefully protected e-mail address on a SPAM list.