| Technology security firms report
that as of the end of 2006, between 85%
and 90% of all email was junk email, otherwise known
as spam. One firm reported a 67 percent increase in total spam
in the last half of 2006, and a 500% increase in image spam (junk
email containing an graphical image of text, rather than actual
text; graphics are much more difficult for spam filters to
effectively filter). Where does spam
originate? Spammers collect (or "harvest" using automated "bot"
software) email addresses in a number of ways: from email
subscriptions, CC-sent forwarded emails and email addresses posted
on web sites (to name a few of the most common). Once one
spammer adds your email to his or her list of emails, your email
will migrate to other spam lists through the black market. And
once your email address is collected by a spammer, it will be
spammed forever.
Although your email provider tries to filter
spam before it ever reaches you (they have ways of determining the
particular servers from which the bulk of spam comes), the results
of their efforts are limited (because spammers constantly switch
servers).
There are numerous types of consumer "spam blocking"
software on the market, none of which is 100% effective (no mater
how much the software may cost). Some are easy to use and
fairly transparent, while others make life more difficult for the
senders and/or receivers of legitimate email.
However, there are some simple, free steps you
can take to eliminate many of your junk emails, and perhaps
most.
1. The only way to quickly and easily
eliminate virtually all spam is to drop your old email address and get a new one. Do this once a year,
and you will enjoy living a mostly spam-free life. However, changing emails on a
frequent basis is not practical for most people. If you are going to change emails, you
will want to notify everyone in your address book, which can be daunting
and is an imposition upon your friends and colleagues. Even then,
you will probably miss some legitimate (and important) future emails.
2. Creating a free web-based email to use for any purpose
other than corresponding with trusted individuals who you know personally
can help stem the growth of spam (but not stop it) to your current email account.
Yahoo and
Gmail are two excellent options.
3. Finally, if you must retain use of
your current, spammed email address, be certain to learn how to use the email filtering and spam
protection software built into your email software. If this is not enough, Google "spam
blockers" to see what options are currently available. But be warned: the
effectiveness of such software varies greatly, none of the spam blocker packages guarantee that you
won't lose some legitimate incoming email, and none of the software works nearly
as well as dropping your current email address on a regular basis and starting over with a new one.
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