Reducing junk email (spam)
Junk email (spam) wastes your time and costs you money. It sometimes carries viruses and web bugs. Here are a few tips to help you to deal with it.
- A reputable organisation will remove your email address from its mailing list if you request this. But never ask to be removed from a spammer's list because that would just confirm the validity of the email address.
- HTML email looks good, but using it can lead to your receiving additional spam. Eight out of 10 spam HTML e-mails contain tracking codes. A tracking code enables a sender to record and log a recipient's e-mail address as soon as a message is opened. (Computer Weekly, www.computerweekly.com, 13 February 2003.)
- Don't give away other people's addresses when you send email to many people (unless they all know one another). Not only are you increasing the risk of the addresses eventually falling into the hands of spammers, you might also fall foul of the Data Protection Act. Ensure that you use Bcc, not To or Cc.
- Be selective when you submit your web site to search engines. All the major search engines are reputable, but a few of the lesser-known engines are just a tool for spammers to obtain email addresses.
- Spammers collect email addresses from the Web using automatic tools. Should you hide the addresses on your web site so that they cannot be read by these tools? One popular suggestion is to use a form such as:
yourname AT yourcompany DOT co DOT uk. You then tell the reader to reassemble the email address. This is not a practical solution for most businesses. - Do not forward virus warnings (whether genuine or not). A classic case is the JDBGMGR.EXE scare. You receive a message from someone you know. The message tells you that they have got a virus which is not identified by various anti-virus tools and that you should first delete the file and then forward the message to everyone listed in your address book. Doh! Your naive friend was fooled — make sure you aren't!
- Many companies use server-based email filtering tools. If you work in a small organisation that doesn't have this form of protection, use one of the many email filtering tools that are on the market.
- And remember, if you receive junk email, don't automatically blame the apparent sender — there are viruses and worms such as KLEZ that make the email look as if it is coming from someone even though it isn't.
These tips for avoiding spam were originally written for City Business Magazine (www.city-business.com) and appeared in the June/July 2003 issue.
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