How Do I Deal With Spam?

Have you ever received those catalogs in the mail that you never read, and just throw away every time one arrives? How about applications for credit cards that you know you will never use? Of course, we all have received mail similar to these examples at one time or another, and we all wonder how in the world these companies ever got our addresses. Well, hang on, folks; the whole process of junk mail is now entering the cyberspace realm. Junk email, or "spam", as it is so affectionately called, is a big problem in today's email centric world. And it's getting worse all the time. This report will serve to shed some light on how the spammers get ahold of email addresses, how to respond to spam, and most importantly, how to avoid spam.

Where Does Spam Come From?

That's a good question. Spam comes from people who are perhaps legitimately trying to solicit business from new customers, just like those catalogs for aluminum siding that come in the mail to my apartment. Of course, most of them are completely off target, and are an annoyance that ends up in my deep six file. But there are other messages that are outright offensive. These include mail ranging from how to make millions of dollars in one week to pornography based subjects. Obviously, this is a concern for parents, not to mention it's not fit for the workplace.

So where do these "spammers" get ahold of all the email addresses that they send their messages to? One of the most common areas that spammers pick up stray email addresses is through newsgroups (Kearney.Net supports newsgroups via our newsgroup server at news.kearney.net). Newsgroups, or discussion groups, are message boards where users can post messages on various topics. People reading these message boards can then reply to them. Newsgroups are an excellent source for information and research, and their topics are broad. But, when a user posts a message to a newsgroup, that user's email address is sent in as well. This makes it easier for others to reply via email. Now consider that many newsgroups contain thousands of messages posted to them. That's a large pool of addresses, and spammers just love email addresses. To that end, a spammer will comb these newsgroups, interested in nothing but the email addresses contained in them. The spammer will then mass email those addresses with whatever topic that he or she is trying to sell, peddle, give away, or worse. Spammers are more than likely unscrupulous individuals, not caring about the people they send their mailings to. In addition, many of these spammers have purchased bulk listings of emails on CD, and they have no way of knowing if the email addresses on the CD are still current, working accounts. So, they fire off a trial balloon by sending out a message to all of these addresses. They will then put a message at the bottom of the mail that states something to the effect of:

If the spammer receives a reply, he will know that the address is active, and is working. He will more than likely sell this address to other spammers who use the same practice of selling to even more spammers. The snowball effect becomes apparent.

I follow one rule in my every day email sessions: If someone sends me email trying to sell me something, get me to visit sites that are pornography based, or persuade me to send them money, I *never* reply...I report.

What Do You Mean By "Report"?

Spammers don't follow the natural rules of emailing. For example, when replying to an email, you click "Reply", type your reply, and then hit "Send". The email then goes back to the person that sent it to you. So, can't you just hit reply on a spam message and complain to that person about how much his or her activity has angered you? Nope. Spammers rarely put their real email address as the return address on their messages. Most of the time if you actually do reply to the spammer by hitting "Reply", the message will get bounced back to you with an error message of "This person does not exist at this email address". Spammers also use techniques of using other internet services' email equipment to send their mail. This has the effect of making it even more difficult to find who really sent the message. Imagine that a spammer in California is using an email server in Mexico to send out his messages; this not only makes him harder to track, but also compromises the efficiency of the email server in Mexico. Sending hundreds or thousands of spam messages through that server will degrade its performance, thereby affecting the legitimate, paying customers. The spammer is not a paying customer of that server, so why should he have access to it? (Note: Kearney.Net's newest mail servers, mail2.kearney.net, smtp.kearney.net, and pop3.kearney.net all have built-in protection against this activity. Make sure that your system is set up to take advantage of the new mail servers. If you were set up on Kearney.net before April 1999, you need to call us at 865-4736 and we will move you over to the new servers).

Can the spammer be found? Yes; this can be done by using a reporting service such as SpamCop.Net (http://spamcop.net). Spamcop analyzes the spam message's headers and can accurately trace the mail back to its source no matter how clever the spammer is at covering his tracks. The system then provides a service of reporting the abuse to the spammer's internet provider. I am personally responsible for the removal of several spammers' accounts from various email systems around the country simply by reporting the messages that they send to me. Please note that SpamCop is free, but if you use it often, it's a good idea buy a membership.

How Can I Protect Myself?

The best way to protect yourself from getting spam is to sign up for a free, "throw-away" email address, and use this address for posting to newsgroups or filling out online questionnaires. These email addresses keep track of spammers, and filter out the most commonly received spam mail. This way, the spam never reaches your inbox, and your Kearney.net email address is kept private. Many sites such as Hotmail.com, Netscape.com, Yahoo.com, and others offer free email addresses.

As always, discretion is the better part of valor. Be careful how you give out your email address. If a company wants you to fill out a questionnaire or survey, use your throw-away email address whenever possible. Many of these questionnaires have a special "opt-out" check box that tells the company that you do not want to receive special mailings or further information, and that you do not want them to sell your email address to other companies. Taking precautions, as well as reporting the spammers themselves, will help to start the ball rolling toward a spam-free internet.
 

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