by Kevin Spark
1. Use an e-mail service with a built-in spam filter. Services like Google’s Gmail have robust filters that prevent most spam e-mails from getting through. These services also use the power of huge user bases to continually refine their filters and block known spammers. When one user marks a certain e-mail message as spam, all other users will gain that benefit in their spam filter.
2. Don’t click e-mail links unless you know where it will take you, and never reply to spam messages, even to “unsubscribe”. Oftentimes, spammers will send e-mails to thousands of e-mail addresses, most of which the spammer is not sure are even valid. When you click the link in the e-mail or reply to it, you verify that your e-mail address is indeed valid, opening the floodgates for even more spam.
3. Use a 3rd party spam filter. While some e-mail applications such as Outlook include primitive spam filtering, adding a third-party spam filter can help further reduce spam through methods such as white lists (legitimate senders), black lists (senders who have already been flagged across the internet as spammers), and Bayesian (keyword) filtering. Spam filters are often bundled with anti-virus in software suites such as Norton Internet Suite. Better spam filters usually operate on their own and can be found from a number of sources on the Internet.
4. Prevent your e-mail address from being posted online. Spammers have spiders that search the internet for any e-mail addresses they can find. Oftentimes, when a person posts on a blog or in a chat room, their e-mail address is permanently posted online for anyone to see. If you must post your e-mail online, use the form “YOURNAME AT GMAIL DOT COM” or something similar. That way many spiders will fail to recognize the text as a valid e-mail, and your e-mail address will not be added to their spam list. Some services like Facebook will post your e-mail address as an image on your profile. While this is currently an effective tactic, spammers are beginning to use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to retrieve e-mail addresses from these sites.
5. Finally, keep your private e-mail address private. Reveal your “protected” e-mail address to your family and friends, but do NOT use it to sign up for any services online. Even companies that you believe to be secure may reveal or sell your e-mail address–a legitimate website’s “trusted partner” may not be so legit or responsible. Sign up for additional e-mail addresses with one of the many free online e-mail services, and use those “public” e-mail addresses when you sign up for accounts and services on the Internet. You can set your public e-mail addresses to forward to your main e-mail account, which will maintain a level of anonymity between you and the potential spammer.
