Absolute Beginners Guide to Computer Basics (2nd Edition)

2017-07-07 02:10:07

Viruses aren't the only annoying things delivered via email. If you're like most users, well over half the messages delivered to your email inbox are unsolicited, unauthorized, and unwantedin other words, spam. These spam messages are the online equivalent of the junk mail you receive in your postal mailbox, and it's a huge problem.

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If you do have to leave your email address in a public forum, you can insert a spamblock into your addressan unexpected word or phrase that, although easily removed, will confuse the software spammers use to harvest addresses. For example, if your email address is johnjones@myisp.com, you might change the address to read johnSPAMBLOCKjones@myisp.com. Other users will know to remove the SPAMBLOCK from the address before emailing you, but the spam harvesting software will be foiled.

Although it's probably impossible to do away with 100% of the spam you receive (you can't completely stop junk mail, either), there are steps you can take to reduce the amount of spam you have to deal with. The heavier your spam load, the more steps you can take.

Protecting Your Email Address

Spammers accumulate email addresses via a variety of methods. Some use high-tech methods to harvest email addresses listed on public web pages and message board postings. Others use the tried-and-true approach of buying names from list brokers. Still others automatically generate addresses using a "dictionary" of common names and email domains.

One way to reduce the amount of spam you receive is to limit the public use of your email address. It's a simple fact: The more you expose your email address, the more likely it is that a spammer will find itand use it.

To this end, you should avoid putting your email address on your web page, or your company's web page. You should also avoid including your email address in any postings you make to web-based message boards or Usenet newsgroups. In addition, you should most definitely not include your email address in any of the conversations you have in chat rooms or via instant messaging.

Another strategy is to actually use two email addresses. Take your main email address (the one you get from your ISP) and hand it out only to a close circle of friends and family; do not use this address to post any public messages or to register at any websites. Then obtain a second email address (you can get a free one at www.hotmail.com, mail.yahoo.com, or gmail.google.com) and use that one for all your public activity. When you post on a message board or newsgroup, use the second address. When you order something from an online merchant, use the second address. When you register for website access, use the second address. Over time, the second address will attract the spam; your first email address will remain private and relatively spam-free.

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Outlook Express doesn't actually block any email messages; the messages are still received by your computer, but sent immediately to the Delete folderwhere they can still be viewed until you delete the contents of the folder. In fact, it's a good idea to browse through the Delete folder, just in case a "good" message has accidentally been tagged as spam, which sometimes happens.

Blocking Spammers in Outlook Express

If you use Outlook Express, you can manually block messages from known spammers by using the Blocked Senders List feature. When you receive a spam message in your inbox, just tell Outlook Express to ignore all future messages from this spammer.

All you have to do is select the message from the sender you want to block, and then select Message, Block Sender. In the future, all messages from this sender will automatically deleted.

Fighting Spam with Microsoft Outlook

An even better spam fighter is built into Microsoft Outlook 2003, the email program that comes with Microsoft Office 2003. Outlook's spam-blocking feature alone might be worth upgrading from Outlook Express to Outlook 2003.

You access Outlook's anti-spam tools by selecting Actions, Junk E-Mail, Junk E-Mail Options. This opens the Junk E-Mail Options dialog box, shown in Figure 29.2. Select the Options tab to view the level of spam protection available. You can choose from the following options:

Figure 29.2. Activating Microsoft Outlook's spam-blocking features.

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For most users, I recommend the High option; it will catch a high percentage of spam with minimal blocking of regular messages. You can minimize the downside by telling Outlook not to block messages from people in your Contacts list. Just select the Safe Senders tab in the Junk E-Mail Options dialog box and click the Also Trust E-Mail From My Contacts option.

No Automatic Filtering. Turns off Outlook's spam filter.

Low. Blocks the most obvious spam messages.

High. Blocks the majority of spam messagesbut might also block some non-spam email.

Safe Lists Only. Blocks all email except messages from people on your Safe Senders List.

You can also have Outlook block messages from specific senders. Just select a message from a sender you want to block, and then select Actions, Junk E-Mail, Add Sender to Blocked Senders List.

Using Anti-Spam Software

If the amount of spam in your inbox becomes particularly onerous, you might want to consider using an anti-spam software program. Most anti-spam software uses some combination of spam blocking or content filtering to keep spam messages from ever reaching your inbox; their effectiveness varies, but they will decrease the amount of spam you receive to some degree.

The most popular anti-spam software includes

ANT 4 MailChecking (www.ant4.com)

MailWasher (www.mailwasher.net)

McAfee SpamKiller (www.mcafee.com)

Norton AntiSpam (www.symantec.com)

RoadBlock (www.roadblock.net)