Spam Mail

What is SPAM?

The general definition is ‘unsolicited mail that is sent to large numbers of people’. Messages written for, and subsequently sent to one individual that is known to the sender is not Spam unless it becomes highly repetitious.

The individuals who send Spam have become their own section of the Internet, with their own host servers, methods and politics. Many Internet sites and servers are banning Spamming and for several reasons.
· The first is because it is, in one sense, unethical.
· The other is, as time goes by, more and more Internet sites and servers will stop all e-mail from them and thus prevent legitimate mail from being received.

The result has been that Spammers have begun to set up their own Internet sites and servers that cater to, and encourage Spamming. Since it is very easy to simply create a new return address for each of millions of e-mails, filtering each email by return address is only effective when dealing with small-scale, Spammers. The result is that many sites simply block all e-mail from a particular Spammer-friendly site. What this means to you is, if you have an mail account with a site that also supports Spammers, your e-mail will sometimes not get through. This is why Internet sites are gradually splitting into two classes -- those that welcome Spammers and have no normal users, and those that actively stop Spamming from their sites to protect their legitimate users.

The Spam Do’s and Don’ts

No.1: Never make lists of email addresses, and if you absolutely have to, never email such lists.
It is surprising how many beginners do this unintentionally.
Here’s an example. An Internet user gets an interesting joke email that he/she wants to send to all their online friends….AH….but they do it by including all the addresses in a single posting. The problem being that each who person receives a copy also gets a copy of all the addresses of the people that email was sent to. Then one of the people who received the email forwards it to all of their friends in exactly the same way. The address list is huge by now! Finally it could arrive at the mailbox of someone in the Spamming trade who now has lots of new addresses to Spam. This can however be avoided.
To stop this happening, mail separate copies of each email to each recipient. The point behind this is that there is only one addressee on any one email.

No.2: Never respond to Spam. A single ‘hit’ amongst thousands of Spam mailings is more than enough to justify the practice to someone in the Spam trade. If you actually want what is being offered in the Spam email, go to the web site that carries the product or service and tell them of your disapproval of Spam methods and tell them you will not support a company which uses Spamming.

No.3: Never comply with Spam mail instructions to send a reply email with the word ‘remove’. This is only a ploy to get a response. A reply will alert the Spammer that a human is attached to the email address which, will only serve to make your address more valuable. Your address can now be placed on more lists and they can send you even more Spam.

No.4: Never sign up with sites that promise to remove you from Spamming lists. There are two kids of sites like this. The first is those who are genuinely sincere. The second is the Spam address collectors.
The first kind of site is either ignored or exploited by the Spammers and the second is owned by them. In both cases, you have just confirmed that there is someone reading the mail sent to your email address which will only increase its value to the Spammers.

No.5: Don’t attempt to mail-bomb or hack the Spammers. This a) Only adds to wasted Internet traffic and b) Creates sympathy for Spammers and those who are associated with them, and c) Only serves to make the Internet even more unreliable than it already is.

Spam is not only annoying but has become increasing more hazardous as systems become more vulnerable to viruses and hack attempts, many of which are initiated by unsolicited emails.

Users can take additional steps to protect themselves. The user must be vigilant to eradicate the Spam while leaving innocent email messages intact.
Emails can be reviewed prior to downloading via the Shoalnet Webmail and unwanted messages deleted. Another option is by downloading a programme such as Mailwasher, though others are available. Mailwasher, for example, can be filter by keywords contained in the mail (e.g. pornographic emails) or be set to ban certain sites (e.g. user@lotsofspamforyou.com). Virus protection is also essential incase some slip through!