Mumszone - A site for all parents

By Media Masters

Emailkey.com general spam prevention advice.

Professional spammers and virus writers spend all their time trying to bypass spam filters, virus checkers and other blocks put in their way. They also invest heavily in trying to build lists of addresses and keeping track of which addresses are lucrative. Here are some useful things to know about spam and how to protect yourself against it.

How they get your address
There are several ways for a spammer to get your address. The basic, old-fashioned way is to use a piece of software that trawls the Internet, including Blogs and discussion forums, looking for email addresses. They simply add these to their list. Another way is to use a piece of software that, based on a known domain name, like Hotmail.com, can simply guess addresses. These programs use a database of known name combinations to create email addresses that they then email to to see if they are real and that they work. Other ways to harvest addresses are by setting up prize draws, surveys, and fake websites that trick you into giving out your details. Virus worms are also sometimes designed to harvest addresses.

Is there any legal protection?
Yes, there are laws in the UK against your private address being added to a marketing list without you agreeing to it first. There are also laws in the US against spamming to unsolicited addresses. However, the ability of the individual to seek any damages in such a case in either country is severely limited by lack of knowledge and the difficulty of proving the case.

Once you are known, it is too late Protect your email address carefully. Don't simply give it out to all and sundry. Be wary of what forms you fill in that ask for your address. Read their terms and their privacy policy. Once spammers have it in the public domain, you will always get spam, no matter what legal rights you think you have.

Emailkey.com is a prevention and a cure
With an Emailkey.com account you can prevent spam as much as you can stop it. First, you can use your Emailkey.com email address online and turn on the maximum spam protection settings, so that all spam sent to that address won't clog your Inbox. Second, you can use the Address Book, Challenge/Response, Quarantine Folder and Mailkeys in Emailkey.com to deal with spam you are already receiving from previous online activity. Read the How It Works section for more information.

Don't respond. At all. Ever.
Spam emails contain pieces of code that are designed to tell the spammer three things: 1, that the email was delivered successfully; 2, that you opened and read the email; 3, that you responded by clicking on a link. Most people fall for the clever one at the bottom that says "click here to unsubscribe". Never respond or click on anything. The minute you do, you are telling the spammer "I read my emails and respond to them. I will probably end up buying something from you". Even if you don't intend to buy from them, you will make the spammer money because they will then sell your email address to another spammer.