Spam-bushed

How do spammers get my e-mail address? Avoiding Spam Fighting Back Doing business sans spam Online resources for stopping spam.

Don't let Internet junk mail get the best of you. Samantha Amjadali explains what spam mail is and what you can do about it.

Last year the debate over cookies highlighted privacy concerns on the Internet. In 1997 the focus has moved to 'spam' — bulk unsolicited junk e-mail which mostly intends to part you from your money.

'EARN $3000 A WEEK!' cries one e-mail as it lands in your inbox. 'MAKE MONEY WHILE YOU SLEEP!' trumpets another. (One of the hallmarks of spammers is that they love using Caps Lock).

Spam, curiously named for the processed 'spiced ham' canned meat, can arrive in newsgroups or via direct e-mail. They are usually identical in their content but are delivered very differently.

Newsgroup spams are messages posted to newsgroups where the spammer will flood one or more newsgroups with the same hyped-up promises.

E-mail spams clog up your mailbox with junk e-mail which forces you to either read it or wade through each item individually and delete them one by one. The subject lines are sometimes shrewdly worded to arouse your attention.

How do spammers get my e-mail address?
Spam mail mavens obtain your e-mail address in the same way that traditional junk mail operators get your business or home address: you give it to them.

Whenever you use a credit card, enter a competition, visit a trade show or even sign up for a magazine subscription, you are handing your postal details over to someone who may add you to a list. This list can then be offered for sale to companies who feel you may be interested in their wares.

It's the same with spam mail, only worse. Any Web site or real-world situation where e-mail addresses are supplied is a potential target.

'List brokers' offer multi-megabtye lists or even entire CD-ROMs filled with e-mail addresses to anyone who will pay for them. Other organisations and even individuals will gladly send spammed messages to names on their private databases — for a fee, of course.

There are many other devious methods for gathering e-mail addresses.

Because all e-mail addresses conform to a common format of name@ domain.extension it's not difficult for specially-designed spam programs, of which Email Magnet is one of the most popular, to scan Web pages, newsgroups, chat channels and bulletin boards and extract any string of words matching the e-mail address format.

Online directories such as Bigfoot (http://www.bigfoot.com) and Four11 (http://www.four11.com), which contain names and e-mail addresses, are another goldmine for address scanners.

Spammers have been known to set up e-mail newsletters with tempting titles, to lure unsuspecting Internauts into submitting their address. There are even programs that can subscribe to mailing lists and then steal all the names and addresses sometimes exposed in the CC field of a message sent to the list.

Here are our tips on staying one step ahead of the spam merchants.

• Treat your e-mail address as confidentially as you might your home address or phone number. Think carefully before submitting it anywhere online.
• Before subscribing to a mailing list, signing an online guest book or adding your details to an e-mail directory, ask the administrator if they sell lists to third parties.
• If e-mail is a crucial part of your business, set up two accounts. This doesn't necessarily have to cost you anything, as there are several free e-mail account providers — most notably Hotmail (http://www.hotmail.com) and Juno (http://www.juno.com). Use the later for postings to newsgroups and registering with mailing lists or chat groups.
• If you want to stop your e-mail address being spammed from within newsgroup messages, try adding a 'spam-stopper' to your address as it appears at the foot of each message you post.

Spam-stoppers contain additional characters to make the address invalid while providing real users with a clue of how to obtain your correct e-mail address. For example, if your e-mail address is polgara@wizard.com.au you could instruct your newsreader to show the address as polgara@wizard.com.au@remove-this-bit-for-my-real-address. Filtering software is unable to recognise the address, so any spam mail sent to this address is bounced back to the sender.

Top 10 spammers
Watch for these names and addresses. If your e-mail program has filters, add them to your 'kill' list.

*access800@industryone.net
* bizman@answerme.com
* cyberpromo.com
* cyber-promo.com
* cyberpromotions.com
* email4you.com
* homebiz@mark9.com
*sender@answermymail.com
* shoppingplanet.com
* success@imhere.com

Many spammers use a fake return address — or, in a fit of spite, the real address of someone totally unconnected. So if you add that address to a dozen other spam lists or send off one of those nefarious tools known as a 'mail bomb', it may only end up annoying an innocent fellow Net user.

There's another good reason for not responding. Some spammers often use replies to their messages to verify that an account is active. Ignore this spam and it may go away.

So, when you get unwanted junk e-mail, try one of the dozens of 'dob-in-a-spammer' type pages such as http://www.junkbusters.com and http://www.suburbia.com.au/spam/report.html

You can also move a little further up the feeding chain, contacting the spammer's ISP and forwarding copies of any spams from that account. Provided they aren't sympathetic with their spamming customer, this is the best and often most effective course of action.

Most ISPs actually prohibit customers from using their accounts for spamming through an 'Acceptable Useage Policy' which rogue spammers ignore to their peril. If an ISP receives enough complaints about a known spammer, their account will eventually be closed. Unfortunately, there are now plenty of spam-minded ISPs that market their services to spammers, with the guarantee that they won't get kicked off, regardless of how many complaints are received. So if spam mail arrives with an e-mail domain name such as makemoney.com or quickbucks.com, don't expect a civic-minded response!

If you are getting a lot of spam mail you could try e-mailing your own ISP to see if they have any suggestions to resolve your difficulties. Common e-mail addresses for this purpose include abuse@yourISP.com or postmaster@ yourISP.com. If your ISP doesn't maintain such an e-mail address and the problem is severe enough, ask to have one set up.

Nip spamming in the bud by including various warnings to spammers on your Web page: the "No Junk Mail" logo (http://www.mcs.com/~jcr/junkemail.html) cannot be missed. Also add a line or two to your homepage or e-mail signature file, to the effect of "I do not want to receive any junk mail from your organisation and I pledge never to purchase anything from a company that spams".
If your e-mail or newsgroup program has filtering capabilities, use these to weed out messages whose subject lines contain words that spammers inevitably use, such as "Make Money", "Unique Opportunity" or "Earn $* Per Day".

Some hints on how to apply Eudora Pro 3.0's exceptionally capable filters in this way can be found at http://wso.williams.edu/~eudora/eudora-3-0-spam-filter.html

• Use a short signature file at the end of your e-mails discreetly advertising your product and your URL. Those who want to know more about your product can do so at their convenience.
• You can use newsgroups to spread the word on your business, just follow some simple guidelines. Ensure your message is relevant to the newsgroup topic. Keep it short and try to provide useful information. Only post the message once, not a dozen times. And before you post anything, read the newsgroup's FAQ to ensure that commercial announcements are permitted.
• Sending spam can be a waste of your time and money and it does nothing to create goodwill among potential customers. Use a Web page to advertise your product, and treat it as you would a brochure for you company.

Online resources for stopping spam

• CancelMoose: http://www.cm.org/
• Netizens Against Gratuitous Spamming (NAGS): http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~ivl/nags/index.html
• Neville's Trombone: http://mwbdesign.com/trombone/
• SpamHater: http://www.compulink.co.uk/~net-services/spam/

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