How To Protect Your PC Against Spam

By: Wayne Davis
Submitted: 2009-04-17 15:42:51
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An increasingly common problem since the inception of email, Span is a concern for many users. No one wants to deal with spam, and almost every user is tired of fighting it, but while there are thousands of programs claiming to offer spam guard devices, you may need additional ways to deal with this persistent problem.

The electronic equivalent of all that junk mail you regularly receive in your physical mailbox, Spam typically advertises a variety of both real and virtual products. There can be a number of different types of spam, but the most common is email spam, and it’s usually a bulk message sent to thousands. Everything from rogue antispyware programs to work at home jobs to health products are advertised through spam email. Advertisers love this method because the costs are few, and while there is some legislation out there to stop spam, it’s not enough to prosecute every case.

7 Ways To Prevent Spam

1.One of the ways you can help protect your address from the glut of spam is to create an email name with “strength.”  Strength implies a more complex or complicated email name than, say, “SallyJones” or “JackSmith” or “Mary1” or “Steve1.”  Most experts recommend an email name that has a combination of letters and numbers, but that would be difficult to replicate without really knowing that particular person.  Of course, the combination of letters and numbers should have meaning to you or you may not remember it at first.  To avoid spam, you need to get more creative with your email address. There are a number of strength meters online to help you with this process.

2.You can also help protect your computer from spam by installing one of a variety of spam blocking or spam filtering software.  This type of antispam software helps separate your real mail from the junk mail.  You can also create your own spam-filtering system by setting your email’s options to check for specific information in incoming emails.  An example of precise information to check for could be to see if your actual email address is specifically listed in the “TO:” or “CC:” fields.

3.Another helpful solution is to be selective in who you send emails to or reply to.  If you receive an email from someone you don’t know, DO NOT OPEN IT and DO NOT REPLY TO IT for any reason.  Doing so could get your name added to a plethora of companies who will constantly be bombarding you with junk emails.  Most email programs offer a spam filter.  They will set aside any suspicious-looking emails into a folder called “Spam” for your review before including them with the rest of your emails in your Inbox.  You will then have the option of deleting the spam forever and/or adding the email address of that “spammer” to your email provider’s list of unwanted receivers.  After that, you shouldn’t be bothered from that particular spammer again.  However, people who initiate spam emails frequently change names so they can potentially find another way into your Inbox.  If, on the other hand, a piece of email accidentally gets categorized as spam and shouldn’t be, you have the option of restoring it to good status so that it can be received in your Inbox in the future.

4.You can also set up two email accounts.  Use one as your primary address and the other as your public address.  You can then designate only the important emails to your primary address, while using the second address for public or disposable information.  You could also, alternatively, have your second email address forward emails to your primary address, thus never having to give out your primary email address except to trusted and personal sources.

5.Beware of the boxes you check when applying to or purchasing items from internet sources.  Many web pages have boxes to check if you wish to receive future mailings about certain items or events, or related items or events.  The boxes may already be checked for you and if you wish not to be notified of related information, you may have to “un-check” the box.  Pay attention, even if you’re in a hurry, to all boxes you mark and information you pass out when completing a form on the internet.

6.Another way to prevent spam from creeping into your computer is to view emails using plain text instead of HTML code.  Messages in HTML can, sometimes, redirect your computer to a specific web advertiser’s page automatically before you even know what it’s doing.  If you are utilizing the preview pane in your email program, you might want to consider disabling it because some images that ride along in emails can grab email addresses from your computer for future spam email purposes.

7.Here’s a novel idea for avoiding spam, but one that it may take you a while to get used to.  If you need to post your email address on a web site, trying doing so in a unique way that won’t entice spammers to be able to easily pick up on it (at least until they figure it out).  If you have to use your email address as a link, try listing it in an unusual way.  For example, rather than SallyJones@business.net, you could list your email address as SallyJones{at sign}business.net.  Listing your email address in this manner will make it harder for spam robot technology that searches the web to gather information to collect your information.

By employing various methods of spam filtering, you can protect your computer from a huge amount of spam.  You may not be able to eliminate all of it forever, but you can change your tactics as necessary to continue to combat the efforts of spammers at gaining access to your computer.

Article source: Expert Articles