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You’ve Got Spam: How to "Can" Unwanted
Email Do you receive lots
of junk email messages from people you don't
know? It's no surprise
if you do. As more people use email, marketers
are increasingly using email messages to pitch
their products and services. Some consumers
find unsolicited commercial email - also known
as "spam" - annoying and time consuming;
others have lost money to bogus offers that
arrived in their email in-box.
Typically, an email
spammer buys a list of email addresses from
a list broker, who compiles
it by "harvesting" addresses from
the Internet. If your email address appears
in a newsgroup posting, on a website, in a
chat room, or in an online service's membership
directory, it may find its way onto these
lists. The marketer then uses special software
that can send hundreds of thousands — even
millions — of email messages to the
addresses at the click of a mouse.
How Can I Reduce the Amount of Spam that
I Receive?
Try not to display your email address in
public. That includes newsgroup postings,
chat rooms, websites or in an online service's
membership directory. You may want to opt
out of member directories for your online
services; spammers may use them to harvest
addresses.
Check the privacy policy when you submit
your address to a website. See if it allows
the company to sell your address. You may
want to opt out of this provision, if possible,
or not submit your address at all to websites
that won't protect it.
Read and understand
the entire form before you transmit personal
information through
a website. Some websites allow you to opt
out of receiving email from their "partners" — but
you may have to uncheck a preselected box
if you want to opt out .
Decide if you want
to use two email addresses — one
for personal messages and one for newsgroups
and chat rooms. You also might consider using
a disposable email address service that creates
a separate email address that forwards to
your permanent account. If one of the disposable
addresses begins to receive spam, you can
shut it off without affecting your permanent
address.
Use a unique email
address. Your choice of email addresses
may affect the amount of spam
you receive. Spammers use "dictionary
attacks" to sort through possible name
combinations at large ISPs or email services,
hoping to find a valid address. Thus, a common
name such as jdoe may get more spam than a
more unique name like jd51x02oe. Of course,
there is a downside - it's harder to remember
an unusual email address.
Use an email filter. Check your email account
to see if it provides a tool to filter out
potential spam or a way to channel spam into
a bulk email folder. You might want to consider
these options when you're choosing which Internet
Service Provider (ISP) to use.
What Can I Do With the Spam in my In-Box?
Report it to the Federal Trade Commission.
Send a copy of unwanted or deceptive messages
to spam@uce.gov. The FTC uses the unsolicited
emails stored in this database to pursue law
enforcement actions against people who send
deceptive spam email.
Let the FTC know if
a "remove me" request
is not honored. If you want to complain about
a removal link that doesn't work or not being
able to unsubcribe from a list, you can fill
out the FTC's online complaint form at www.ftc.gov.
Your complaint will be added to the FTC's
Consumer Sentinel database and made available
to hundreds of law enforcement and consumer
protection agencies.
Whenever you complain about spam, it's important
to include the full email header. The information
in the header makes it possible for consumer
protection agencies to follow up on your complaint.
Send a copy of the spam to your ISP's abuse
desk. Often the email address is abuse@yourispname.com
or postmaster@yourispname.com. By doing this,
you can let the ISP know about the spam problem
on their system and help them to stop it in
the future. Make sure to include a copy of
the spam, along with the full email header.
At the top of the message, state that you're
complaining about being spammed.
Complain to the sender's ISP. Most ISPs want
to cut off spammers who abuse their system.
Again, make sure to include a copy of the
message and header information and state that
you're complaining about spam.
How Can I Avoid Spam Scams?
The FTC suggests that you treat commercial
email solicitations the same way you would
treat an unsolicited telemarketing sales call.
Don't believe promises from strangers. Greet
money making opportunities that arrive at
your in box with skepticism. Most of the time,
these are old fashioned scams delivered via
the newest technology.
Here are some of the most common scam offers
likely to arrive by email:
Chain letters. Chain
letters that involve money or valuable items
and promise big returns
are illegal. If you start one or send one
on, you are breaking the law. Chances are
you will receive little or no money back on
your "investment." Despite the claims,
a chain letter will never make you rich. For
more information on chain emails, check out
www.ftc.gov/chainmail.
Work-At-Home Schemes. Not all work at home opportunities deliver
on their promises. Many
ads omit the fact that you may have to work
many hours without pay. Or they don't disclose
all the costs you will have to pay. Countless
work at home schemes require you to spend
your own money to place newspaper ads; make
photocopies; or buy the envelopes, paper,
stamps, and other supplies or equipment you
need to do the job. The companies sponsoring
the ads also may demand that you pay for instructions
or "tutorial" software. Consumers
deceived by these ads have lost thousands
of dollars, in addition to their time and
energy.
Weight Loss Claims. Programs or products
that promote easy or effortless long term
weight loss don't work. Taking off weight,
and keeping it off, requires exercise and
permanent changes in your diet. All the testimonials
and guarantees in your email are not worth
the space they take up on your hard drive.
Credit Repair Offers. Ignore offers to erase
accurate negative information from your credit
record. There's no legal way to do that.
Advance Fee Loan Scams. Be wary of promises
to provide a loan for a fee, regardless of
your past credit history. Remember, legitimate
banks don't issue credit cards without first
checking your credit.
Adult Entertainment. You may get an email from an adult entertainment
site that claims
to offer content for "free" and
doesn't require a credit card number for access.
All you have to do is download a "viewer" or "dialer" program.
However, once the program is downloaded onto
your computer, it may disconnect your Internet
connection and reconnect to an international
long distance phone number, at rates between
$2 and $7 a minute. Be skeptical when you
see opportunities to view "free" content
on the web.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent
fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business
practices in the marketplace and to provide
information to help consumers spot, stop,
and avoid them. To file a complaint or
to get free
information on consumer issues,
visit
www.ftc.gov or
call toll-free, 1.877.FTC-HELP (1.877.382.4357);
TTY: 1.866.653.4261. The
FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity
theft, and other fraud-related complaints
into Consumer
Sentinel, a secure, online database
available to hundreds of civil and criminal
law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
Copyright© April 2002 Federal Trade Commision.
All other rights reserved. |
