Security

Seven Easy Ways to Cut Down on Spam

By Jennifer Martinez

Are you tired of deleting email messages from your inbox with subject lines like “kulegnji” or “vitriine”? If spam has become the bane of your online existence, you’re not alone.

According to a recent survey, spam now accounts for 72 percent of all email messages. But junk mail is not just a nuisance and a waste of your time -- it's also become a common way to commit fraud and spread malicious software.

So how can you stop unwanted messages? While there are no foolproof ways to completely eradicate spam, these tips can help you significantly reduce the amount of junk mail you receive:

1. Block it. Make sure your PC is protected by antispam software that has the capability to automatically filter out annoying, dangerous or fraudulent emails from your inbox.

2. Check in with your ISP. Does your Internet service provider filter your emails? If yours doesn’t, find one that does. Also, report spam to your ISP provider or the Federal Trade Commission via its web site.

3. Protect your email address. Some companies, even reputable ones, will sell your email address to spammers for cash. So make sure to carefully read a company’s privacy policy before giving out your address. For instance, when you sign up for a service online, you may see some text at the end of the form that says "Yes, you may share my address with your third party marketing partners," and often the check box next to it is already checked. Be sure to uncheck it.

4. Hide your address. If you maintain a personal web site with your email address coded in plain text, you’re asking for trouble. Spammers regularly scour the Internet to locate email addresses on web sites and will easily find yours. You can “hide” your address with code or in an image, so that spambots won’t be able to recognize it. For instance, try writing your email address like this: John_Doe[at sign]company[dot com].

5. Get a secondary address. Consider using a disposable address that automatically forwards to your private email address when registering with web sites or shopping online. You can easily do so with services like Spamex, Mailinator or PookMail.

6. Make it unique. Spammers use dictionary attacks to sort through possible name combinations at large ISPs and email services, hoping to find a valid address. Research shows that email addresses containing numbers and symbols are more difficult to guess and thus receive less spam. So get creative when you choose your email address.

7. Do not respond to suspicious or mysterious emails. Any sort of response only confirms your email address and may result in more junk mail.