Tech Support :: Spam

How To Avoid Spam

Spam (unsolicited email) is an ever-growing problem on the Internet as a whole. At NetNet, we take every measure possible to reduce the amount of spam our customers receive. However, some unwelcome messages will still get through. Spam filtering technologies that block 100% of all spam simply aren't available at this time. Hopefully, the technology will improve in the not-so-distant future. In the meantime, there are some simple things you can do to help prevent spam from arriving in your inbox.

One very important thing to do is to be cautious of who gets your email address in the first place! If your email address falls into the wrong hands, it may end up on a list that gets sold to spammers. Once you get on a spammer's list, it is very difficult to be taken off.

1. Protect your Privacy. If a website you‚re visiting asks you for your email address, check to see if the website has a strong privacy policy that states they will not give, sell, lease or trade your personal information to third parties. If no such policy exists, you may want to think twice before offering any information.

2. Don't post your email address on a website. Spammers use programs called "spambots" that scan websites for email address to add to their lists. Discussion forums, auction websites, online guest books, etc. are just a few places where you should be careful about posting your email address. If you simply must put your email address on a website, you can make it more difficult for spammers by slightly modifying your address. For example, instead of support@netnet.net you might use support@netnetNOCAPS.net. A person looking at the modified address would be smart enough to remove the capitol letters, but a spambot would be fooled into collecting an invalid address that can‚t be used.

3. Beware of chain emails. You may have received a chain email from someone you know that says something like, "Forward this email to 15 people and you'll have good luck!!!!!" Don't. Forwarding chain email, aside from being very annoying, also forwards the email addresses of anyone else who received the email before you. If such a message falls into the hands of a spammer, everyone who forwarded that email is doomed to receive spam. Not very lucky!

4. Avoid common usernames. Some spammers create "cold lists" by taking common first names, last names and words and combining it with domain names of known providers, like @netnet.net (and other providers). This is akin to telemarketers that randomly dial phone numbers until they reach somebody. Try to avoid picking a username that may be so common that a spammer would guess your email address. For example, "John A. Smith" should avoid using john@netnet.net or smith@netnet.net, as he would be more likely to receive a lot of spam. Instead, something like johnas@netnet.net or jasmith@netnet.net would have a lower chance of getting random spam.

5. Delete, don't reply. There will be times when you may be tempted to write back to a spammer, either to give them a piece of your mind or to request they remove you from their list. Unfortunately, this may result in even more spam. Often times, a spammer doesn‚t know if your email address is valid or not when they email you (see #4 regarding cold lists). Writing back only validates your email address as being active, so they add you to even more lists! Never reply to a spammer unless you are 100% sure that you are writing back to a reputable establishment with a strong privacy policy.