Pinellas Computer Club
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| How To Stop Spam - Email For Grown-Ups |
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Getting junk email may be tolerable or even fun for younger users, but
professionals and most other adults need reliable and easy to use email
that is not polluted by frustrating and possibly dangerous material.
To
get that, you need a high-quality email system with good habits and
controls to keep it private and spam-free. This usually means starting
over with new addresses and a solid plan. The only real way to stop spam is to kill the email address that is getting it. You cannot unsubscribe no matter what they say. You can't reason with them or stop them in any way. Once an email address has gotten onto a spammer's list, it will remain there and spread. Spammers share their lists and trade them all over the world. It's a never ending flood. Spam filters and blockers can be used, but they all have serious limitations. There is no way to prevent spam from getting through and wanted messages from getting blocked. It is a very backward and unrealistic way to protect your privacy. The good news is that once you have changed your address, with our help you should never need to change it again. We'll cover how to get your own, cheap, high quality email system (not just one address) in another thread. This one is about fighting spam and gaining control over your privacy. Ok, let's say you have changed your email address. DON'T TELL ANYONE! Not even family and close friends just yet. First, form a strategy. The following is a great basic email plan that provides control on a long term basis. This plan has 3 basic levels of privacy and security. One email address for each level is usually all you will need or want. Your Level 1 address is the most private and the most important. It is for your closest family and friends only. This is the address that you never want to change. So NEVER GIVE IT OUT! Only those most important contacts that can be completely trusted to keep your address private should get it. It's a good idea to mention your desire for privacy to them. Tell them to never give it out, never type it into any website or form and never send email to multiple addresses. Spam fighting is everyone's responsibility. After all, your address is your private information. Insist that they keep it so. It's common courtesy. A Level 2 address is a little more public. It is for business contacts and companies that you have an established relationship with like the power company, your bank, your accountant/broker/lawyer/etc. You should generally trust these people to keep your address private. You should read their Privacy Policy before giving them your address. Level 3 addresses are completely public and should never be used for personal communications or anything important or private. They should be used when you cannot trust the recipient (most of the time). Use level 3 for unimportant communications and subscriptions. Joke of the day, newsletters, etc. You will probably only receive on these addresses and never need to send from them. Consider that any address used for level 3 is "disposable" and may need to be killed or changed at any time to stop spam if it gets on a spam list. Killing level 3 addresses should not matter to you because your important stuff is done with level 1 or 2. When in doubt, give out a level 3 address. Most registrations allow you to change your email address later, so once they prove they don't send spam, you can change to a level 2 if necessary. 
In summary, you have 3 addresses, one for family, one for business, and
one or more for junk. This basic plan works extremely well if you are
careful about which addresses you use for each situation. By properly
setting up your email client on your PC, you can easily have all your
mail come to the same inbox and choose which address to send from. This
cannot be done with AOL, Yahoo, MSN or other junk-email systems.If you have a lot of online registrations & memberships, you can take this concept a step further. You can create separate addresses (actually just "forwarders") for individual contacts - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for example - and funnel them all to your one inbox. Most quality email systems offer 100 email forwarders or more for free. Another great way to prevent spam is to use a Contact webpage (like we have here) that allows a visitor to send you a message without ever getting your address, unless you reply. When someone asks for your address, just direct them to your web page. They fill out a form and click send; you get it as an email. Pinellas Computer Club Members get a free Contact page. Just sign up and ask for it. Fighting spam is good for the internet and everyone who uses it. Rid yourself of it once and for all and be a part of the solution.  
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