Nothing makes me angrier than opening my email in-box to
find over 150 messages, wading through them all, and
discovering that 135 of the messages rate as nothing more
than junk.

The problem with junk email or "spam" (the popular slang
for unsolicited commercial email) only seems to get worse
with each passing day.

Luckily, we can fight back in ways that will actually cut
down significantly on the amount of spam we receive on a
daily basis.

Try these tips and see if they can't cut the spam you
receive down by at least half.


** Don't Respond

Much of the spam you receive contains an "unsubscribe" link
saying something like "To unsubscribe, click here." Do NOT
click that link.

Clicking it lets spammers know they've got a live email
address!

** Use Mailwahser

Get a program like "Mailwasher" from Mailwasher.net that
allows you to view the email you receive before you
download it.

The program makes it simple to delete dozens of emails,
including viruses, before they reach your computer.

** Use Your Filters

Your email program most likely contains filters you can use
to weed out emails containing the usual spam words like
"opportunity, $$$, sex, viagra" and a host of others.

You can set the filters to delete messages containing these
words before ever downloading them to your computer.

** Use An "Assassin"

Spam "killer" services offer users high-powered filtering,
often requiring a sender to prove their identity before an
email gets sent to the recipient.

One such service, SpamArrest.com, forces email senders to
go to a website and type in a random word before their
email gets delivered. This service has gained a lot of
popularity lately and seems reasonably effective.

** Use a Temporary Email

Maintain a public and private email address and never give
your private email to anyone other than family and friends.

Go sign up for a free email account with Hotmail.com or
mail.yahoo.com to use whenever you subscribe to a
newsletter or request a free report. That way, if the spam
ever gets too bad, you can simply abandon the free account
and open another.

Your private email address should remain safe because
nobody will know it except the people you trust.

** Never Post Your Email

Never post your private email address in forums, guest
books, news groups or on a website. Spammers use little
robots that comb the Internet looking for email addresses
they can collect and sell to others.

Always use a free account or set it up so you can shut off
the exposed email address once the spam gets too bad.

** Abandon Ship

Shut down your current account and just start over! This
may seem a drastic move, but it may represent the best
course of action if your sanity or your email box can't
handle another offer for sexual enhancements, a great
business opportunity, or a free cruise.

Notify everyone you want to know your new email address and
get on with life.

Despite the fact that Federal legislation (the CANSPAM act) made it illegal, harvesting email addresses from the web using automated robots remains alive and well.

Spammers who need fresh email addresses release software spider programs that comb the Internet and suck email addresses off Web pages, guest books, and anywhere else you might post your email address.

Once they get your email address, spammers will trade it around like 5th graders with a new pack of Pokemon cards at recess and you can expect the avalanche of email to begin flooding your inbox.

In order to combat this still rampant practice of stealing email addresses from websites and sending people email they don't want, the following tips should help protect you.



** Break It Up **

Obviously the best way to avoid getting picked up by an email harvester is not to post your email anywhere on anyone's website (including your own).

If the only way someone can get your email is if you give it to them, that creates a similar situation to operating with an unlisted phone number.

If telemarketers can't get your phone number, they can't call.

If you must post your email address, post it in a way that a robot won't recognize it as an email address. Instead of posting YOURNAME@YOURDOMAIN.COM, you can put YOURNAME (AT) YOURDOMAIN.COM and then, in parenthesis, put (replace AT with @ to email me).

Though it seems like an extra step for legitimate email, you'll find it a very effective technique.


** Use An Image **

Currently, online spiders (ANY spider, including search engines) cannot read text that appears in a graphic or picture. If you must display an email address on a page, then do it by typing your email address into your favorite graphics program and saving the image as a .gif or .jpg. Then post the image onto your web page so people can see the email, but spiders cannot. This too creates an extra step for people because they must type in your email address, but it's an effective solution if you must display an email address on your own website.

** Use An Email Form **

Another way to cut down on spam originating from your own website is simply not to display an email at all.

Instead, allow customers and prospects to contact you through a form where they fill in fields, click a button, and your website emails you their message.

A note of caution: make sure the form script you use does not keep your email address visible in the form code.

If the form code contains the email address, spam robots can find it even though you don't see it on the page.


** Make It Hard To Guess **

Sometimes you'll get unsolicited email because a spammer guessed your email address.

It's not a far stretch to imagine that someone probably has the email Jim@yourdomain.com, so spammers will do a "dictionary" attack on common usernames.

One way to defeat this is to place a "dot" (.) in your email address, such as Jim.Edwards@yourdomain.com. The dot makes it virtually impossible for spammers to guess your email address.