Stop Spam

What most annoys Internet users? The answer is a four letter word: spam, those obnoxious, unsolicited e-mail messages touting get rich quick schemes, miracle diets, amazing beauty products and pornographic pleasures. Unlike paper junk mail, which senders pay for, spammers pay almost nothing to e-mail millions of their offensive messages. It's your ISP and ultimately you that have to bear the cost of transmitting unwanted e-mail across the Net. AOL, MSN, Earthlink, Yahoo! and other e-mail providers try to block spam before it reaches your mailbox, but their efforts are only partially effective.

Some countries have laws against spam and some spammers have been fined for their actions, but the practice continues. In fact, it's increasing. Why, you may wonder, when spammers are universally despised? Because it works. Sending e-mail in bulk is so cheap that even if only a handful of people respond, there's a profitable payoff for the spammer.

Unfortunately, spam is here to stay. That doesn't mean you have to be an innocent victim. Here's how to fight back:

Protect your e-mail address.

Spammers either buy lists of e-mail addresses or use software programs that mine the addresses from the Internet. If your address is posted in discussion groups, on websites, chat rooms, blogs, etc., the chances are that it will end up on one or more of these lists. Only post your address publicly when absolutely necessary.

If you have to post your address, you can fool the mining software by writing it this way: professor(at)learnthenet.com. Instruct people who want to e-mail you to replace (at) with the @ sign.

Set up multiple e-mail accounts.

If you do participate regularly in online activities where you post your address, then set up another e-mail account. Only give it to close friends and family.

Source learnthenet.com