Dealing with Spam

Spam — the common term for unsolicited e-mail — is a huge nuisance to e-mail users. Many companies, both legitimate and fraudulent, use e-mail as a marketing tool because it is so inexpensive; a mass e-mail campaign can generate profit even if only a very small percentage of recipients respond.

If spam is not controlled it can take over your inbox and become a frustrating waste of time, so it’s important to take measures to deal with it effectively.

Protect Your E-mail Address

If you do not recognize the sender of an e-mail, or if the sender’s name is not clearly displayed, simply delete it. Any reply to spam confirms to the sender that your e-mail address is valid, and in turn it may be sold to other spammers.

If you do open a message from an unknown sender, never click on any links or images. Some messages might even include a "Remove Me" link, but this is a just another way for spammers to confirm that you received their message; clicking it will cause you to receive more spam.

Some "dos" and "don’ts" to protect your e-mail address:

  • Do… share your personal or business e-mail address only with contacts that you trust.
  • Do… create a secondary e-mail address with a free web-based service (e.g., Yahoo or Hotmail) to use for Internet activities; if this address begins to receive too much spam, switch to another one.
  • Do…ignore e-mail petitions; spammers harvest e-mail addresses from sign-and-forward messages, even if the original was created by a reliable source.
  • Don’t…use your primary e-mail address when registering for a website or making an online purchase; if you do, be sure to check the website's privacy policy.
  • Don’t…post your primary e-mail address in newsgroups, chat rooms, or message boards, as spammers commonly look to these as sources of addresses.

Spammers also harvest e-mail addresses posted in plain text on web pages. To trick their harvesting technology, disguise your posted address by spelling out the @ symbol, such as "timothy.simon at bestnonprofit.org."

Another option for protecting your e-mail address is a disposable e-mail service such as spamgourmet. This service allows you to create temporary e-mail addresses to receive e-mail, and then re-routes messages to your primary inbox without revealing your primary address.

Use Filters

If your inbox becomes overrun with spam, and you find yourself constantly hitting the delete button, consider activating or acquiring a filter. Many recent versions of e-mail programs include a junk-mail folder for spam filtering.

The web-based e-mail programs Gmail, AOL, MSN, Netscape, Mozilla, Yahoo, and Earthlink also come with built-in spam filtering that can be activated.

Instructions for the listed programs are available by clicking on the following links:

Although spam filters are becoming more efficient, they do not always work perfectly. Whatever method you choose, always scan the junk mail folder for legitimate messages before deleting the folder's contents entirely.

If filtering options are not built-in to your e-mail program (or if you have a challenging spam problem), consider add-on filters. Add-ons are designed to pull spam by working with your existing e-mail program. Many programs are available (some free) – check the websites for pricing information.

Examples include:

Take Care When Sending Group E-mails

Because spam has become so prevalent, most people employ some method of spam filtering. If you use e-mail for marketing purposes — such as with e-newsletter distribution — ensure that your valid e-mail message is not labeled as spam by using simple language and punctuation; avoid phrases associated with promotion or marketing.

Some filters label an e-mail as spam if they detect that it has been sent to a large group of recipients at once, so you may want to break down the mailing list into smaller groups. In any case, always consider how your message might be interpreted as junk by e-mail filters.

Practice good e-mail etiquette by sending mass mailings only to those who have requested it. Respect the privacy of people on your mailing list by refusing to share their information with other organizations.

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