Simply don't give out your personal e-mail address for ANYTHING that you don't trust implicitly. If I have to give my e-mail to enter some web site or download some software, I **always** use a second account that's for just spam. I only check it once every couple weeks to delete all the crap out of it and to make sure it's still active.
It's not really very hard. I've had my Mac.com account for two and a half years (since the day Mac.com went public at MWSF 00) and never get any spam in it. Never. That's simply because I'm careful about who I give my address to.
It doesn't always work that way. There are e-mail generators, which randomly choose a name in a dictionary and will add numbers or letters to the end of the name. One way to beat this is to have an incredibly long e-mail address, so the computers will take forever to find your name. Also, don't directly post your E-mail on a web page. (so it shows up in the HTML) There are "bots" that scan HTML and extract e-mail addresses.
Your e-mail will be spamed eventually. The longest I had a address that wasn't spamed was 3 years and that's pretty good.
<strong>Also, don't directly post your E-mail on a web page. (so it shows up in the HTML) There are "bots" that scan HTML and extract e-mail addresses.</strong><hr></blockquote>
This isn't fool proof, put this page will give you instructions on how to post your email on a webpage so that most if not all current bots can't get at it:
This is a rules-based engine that can kill spam based on certain characteristics of the eMail messages -- I haven't implemented it yet, but I have spoken to people who have, and they find it quite effective.
The ultimate solution, unfortunately, may have to be legislation. Spam is insidious in that it consumes other people's time and resources to combat -- hopefully a solution to this problem can be reached soon. I find that combating spam costs me at least an hour of working time a day, not to mention server resources and bandwidth.<hr></blockquote>
Out of curiousity, what good is reporting your spam via spam cop? I try to remove my self from the lists by following the instructions in the email, and 9 times out of 10, my remove message is bounced back saying the account no longer exists. I'll get the same email from a different variation of that address the next day...
Ebby is correct of that last note. Never reply to spam -- that just lets the spammer know that they've found an active account to keep spamming.
I haven't read up on it yet, but I suspect SpamCop works by logging complaints of the spammers to their respective ISPs who then in turn lay down the law.
The problem with automated spam filters is that they are not perfect. I don't trust them. I prefer to have a set of rules that are defined by me and delete all the messages that don't comply to those rules. Every once in a while, I'll check to make sure something didn't get deleted by accident, but I'd say I had a 99% hit rate with my Entourage rules. I've since moved to Mail.app and the rules in it are a joke, but I'm looking forward to more effective filters in Jag-wire. For me, the rules were relatively simple, like:
if the subject says: sex, viagra, mortgage, sfm, penis, etc. delete it.
if it is sent to 'undisclosed recipients', delete it.
if it doesn't have my name in the message, delete it.
Just mess with your criteria until you get a good set of rules. Good luck and NEVER reply to spam (as others have said, just to reiterate).
Comments
I prevent it from ever happening.
Simply don't give out your personal e-mail address for ANYTHING that you don't trust implicitly. If I have to give my e-mail to enter some web site or download some software, I **always** use a second account that's for just spam. I only check it once every couple weeks to delete all the crap out of it and to make sure it's still active.
It's not really very hard. I've had my Mac.com account for two and a half years (since the day Mac.com went public at MWSF 00) and never get any spam in it. Never. That's simply because I'm careful about who I give my address to.
[ 06-22-2002: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</p>
Your e-mail will be spamed eventually. The longest I had a address that wasn't spamed was 3 years and that's pretty good.
<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/bighouse/fetchmail.html"; target="_blank">Here are some instructions</a> for getting started. You'll want to search google or somewhere for learning how to configure procmail, though. There's a spam-oriented version of that walk-through <a href="http://ceicher.homeunix.com/mt-static/docs/FreeSpamFilteringForMacOSX.html"; target="_blank">here</a> as well.
<strong>Also, don't directly post your E-mail on a web page. (so it shows up in the HTML) There are "bots" that scan HTML and extract e-mail addresses.</strong><hr></blockquote>
This isn't fool proof, put this page will give you instructions on how to post your email on a webpage so that most if not all current bots can't get at it:
<a href="http://www.hivelogic.com/safeaddress/index.php"; target="_blank">Email Address Encoder</a>
Some other thoughts on this issue:
<a href="http://www.alistapart.com/stories/spam/"; target="_blank">Win the Spam Arms Race</a>
On a semi-related note, i wonder how the company that makes spam, the food, feels about their name being used for something that is so hated?
[ 06-23-2002: Message edited by: Stroszek ]</p>
<a href="http://www.ambrosiasw.com/webboard/Forum64/HTML/000201.html"; target="_blank">http://www.ambrosiasw.com/webboard/Forum64/HTML/000201.html</a>;
[quote]Originally posted by andrew:
Here are some good resources for fighting spam.
<a href="http://www.spamcop.net/"; target="_blank">http://www.spamcop.net/</a>;
Sign up for a free account there, and report any spams you get. There is a plugin for Mail.app (Mac OS X) that automates the submission process:
<a href="http://www.subsume.com/static/WebObjects/SubsumeSite/SubsumeSite/Tech/Software/SpamCop.html"; target="_blank">http://www.subsume.com/static/WebObjects/SubsumeSite/SubsumeSite/Tech/Software/SpamCop.html</a>;
Believe it or not, this does work. I've had people take me off of lists, and spam has been reduced somewhat by reporting these people to their ISPs.
Also, if you must make your eMail address public via a web page, encode it using a tool such as this:
<a href="http://www.hivelogic.com/emailencoder.php"; target="_blank">http://www.hivelogic.com/emailencoder.php</a>;
Finally, if you have admin access to your eMail server, you might consider using Spam Assassin:
<a href="http://www.spamassassin.org/"; target="_blank">http://www.spamassassin.org/</a>;
This is a rules-based engine that can kill spam based on certain characteristics of the eMail messages -- I haven't implemented it yet, but I have spoken to people who have, and they find it quite effective.
The ultimate solution, unfortunately, may have to be legislation. Spam is insidious in that it consumes other people's time and resources to combat -- hopefully a solution to this problem can be reached soon. I find that combating spam costs me at least an hour of working time a day, not to mention server resources and bandwidth.<hr></blockquote>
I haven't read up on it yet, but I suspect SpamCop works by logging complaints of the spammers to their respective ISPs who then in turn lay down the law.
edit: my suspicions were correct. See the FAQ:
<a href="http://spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/3.html"; target="_blank">http://spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/3.html</a>;
[ 06-24-2002: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</p>
if the subject says: sex, viagra, mortgage, sfm, penis, etc. delete it.
if it is sent to 'undisclosed recipients', delete it.
if it doesn't have my name in the message, delete it.
Just mess with your criteria until you get a good set of rules. Good luck and NEVER reply to spam (as others have said, just to reiterate).