Do you receive lots of junk email messages from people you don't know? It's no surprise if you do. As more people use email, marketers are increasingly using email messages to pitch their products and services. Some consumers find unsolicited commercial email - also known as "spam" - annoying and time consuming; others have lost money to bogus offers that arrived in their email in-box.
Typically, an email spammer buys a list of email addresses from a list broker, who compiles it by
"harvesting" addresses from the Internet. If your email address appears in a newsgroup posting, on a website, in a chat room, or in an online service's membership directory, it may find its way onto these lists. The marketer then uses special software that can send hundreds of thousands - even millions - of email messages to the addresses at the click of a mouse.
How Can I Reduce the Amount of
Spam that I Receive?
Try not to display your email address
in public. That includes newsgroup postings, chat rooms, websites or in
an online service's membership directory. You may want to opt out of
member directories for your online services; spammers may use them to
harvest addresses.
Check the privacy policy when you
submit your address to a website. See if it allows the company to sell
your address. You may want to opt out of this provision, if possible, or
not submit your address at all to websites that won't protect it.
Read and understand the entire form
before you transmit personal information through a website. Some
websites allow you to opt out of receiving email from their "partners" -
but you may have to uncheck a preselected box if you want to opt out .
Decide if you want to use two email
addresses - one for personal messages and one for newsgroups and chat
rooms. You also might consider using a disposable email address service
that creates a separate email address that forwards to your permanent
account. If one of the disposable addresses begins to receive spam, you
can shut it off without affecting your permanent address.
Use a unique email address. Your
choice of email addresses may affect the amount of spam you receive.
Spammers use "dictionary attacks" to sort through possible name
combinations at large ISPs or email services, hoping to find a valid
address. Thus, a common name such as jdoe may get more spam than a more
unique name like jd51x02oe. Of course, there is a downside - it's harder
to remember an unusual email address.
Use an email filter. Check your email
account to see if it provides a tool to filter out potential spam or a
way to channel spam into a bulk email folder. You might want to consider
these options when you're choosing which Internet Service Provider (ISP)
to use.
What Can I Do With the Spam in my
In-Box?
Report it to the Federal Trade
Commission. Send a copy of unwanted or deceptive messages to
uce@ftc.gov. The FTC uses the
unsolicited emails stored in this database to pursue law enforcement
actions against people who send deceptive spam email.
Let the FTC know if a "remove me"
request is not honored. If you want to complain about a removal link
that doesn't work or not being able to unsubcribe from a list, you can
fill out the FTC's online complaint form at www.ftc.gov. Your complaint
will be added to the FTC's Consumer Sentinel database and made available
to hundreds of law enforcement and consumer protection agencies.
Whenever you complain about spam,
it's important to include the full email header. The information in the
header makes it possible for consumer protection agencies to follow up
on your complaint.
Send a copy of the spam to your ISP's
abuse desk. Often the email address is abuse@yourispname.com or
postmaster@yourispname.com. By doing this, you can let the ISP know
about the spam problem on their system and help them to stop it in the
future. Make sure to include a copy of the spam, along with the full
email header. At the top of the message, state that you're complaining
about being spammed.
Complain to the sender's ISP. Most
ISPs want to cut off spammers who abuse their system. Again, make sure
to include a copy of the message and header information and state that
you're complaining about spam.
How Can I Avoid Spam Scams?
The FTC suggests that you treat
commercial email solicitations the same way you would treat an
unsolicited telemarketing sales call. Don't believe promises from
strangers. Greet money making opportunities that arrive at your in box
with skepticism. Most of the time, these are old fashioned scams
delivered via the newest technology.
Here are some of the most common scam
offers likely to arrive by email:
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Chain letters. Chain letters that
involve money or valuable items and promise big returns are illegal.
If you start one or send one on, you are breaking the law. Chances are
you will receive little or no money back on your "investment." Despite
the claims, a chain letter will never make you rich. For more
information on chain emails, check out
www.ftc.gov/chainmail.
-
Work-At-Home Schemes. Not all work
at home opportunities deliver on their promises. Many ads omit the
fact that you may have to work many hours without pay. Or they don't
disclose all the costs you will have to pay. Countless work at home
schemes require you to spend your own money to place newspaper ads;
make photocopies; or buy the envelopes, paper, stamps, and other
supplies or equipment you need to do the job. The companies sponsoring
the ads also may demand that you pay for instructions or "tutorial"
software. Consumers deceived by these ads have lost thousands of
dollars, in addition to their time and energy.
-
Weight Loss Claims. Programs or
products that promote easy or effortless long term weight loss don't
work. Taking off weight, and keeping it off, requires exercise and
permanent changes in your diet. All the testimonials and guarantees in
your email are not worth the space they take up on your hard drive.
-
Credit Repair Offers. Ignore offers
to erase accurate negative information from your credit record.
There's no legal way to do that.
-
Advance Fee Loan Scams. Be wary of
promises to provide a loan for a fee, regardless of your past credit
history. Remember, legitimate banks don't issue credit cards without
first checking your credit.
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April 2002
