Spam Protection

Setting up email filters will help you to filter out unwanted emails. We have also included a number of sites where you can obtain more information about Spam and how to prevent it.

What is spam?

Spam is the common term for unsolicited commercial email (UCE)-the Internet version of junk mail. "Spam" can also be a verb, used to describe the method of flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message.

The term "spam" has a negative connotation. In addition to being unsolicited and annoying, spam emails often include advertisements for dubious products, get-rich-quick schemes, or quasi-legal services.

Why do I get spam?

For the same reason you get junk mail through the Postal Service-people are trying to sell you things. Email is cheaper to send, so you get even more of it! Spam mailing lists are created in a variety of ways, including scanning Usenet discussion groups, buying or stealing Internet mailing lists, searching the Web for addresses, and even just guessing email addresses at random. If you use email, chances are you're going to get spam.

How did my email address get on a spam list?

There are many ways that spammers harvest and collect email addresses to build their lists. Although you need to be careful of where you leave your email address at Web sites, in newsgroup posts, and when chatting, sometimes you'll end up on a list without exposing your address whatsoever. It's common for spammers to guess at potentially valid addresses by taking a common username and adding valid domains to it. For example, chances are there will be a "bob@" at just about any provider's domain.

(Note: Remember - NEVER send a reply to a spammer with a remove request. This only confirms that your address is valid, and you'll probably get even more spam.)

Setting up email filters in Outlook Express or Netscape

Microsoft Outlook Express (Windows):

1. Double-click the junk email message in your Inbox to open it.
2. Highlight the text of the subject line.
3. Click the Edit menu, choose Copy, and close the message.
4. Click the Tools menu, select Message Rules, and choose Mail.
5. Check the box labeled Where the Subject line contains the following words.
6. Check the box labeled Delete It.
7. In the Rule Description field, click the underlined text (i.e., the text that reads, "contains specific words").
8. Right-click inside the top blank field and select Paste from the menu that appears.
9. Click Add, and then click OK.
10. Enter a name for this filter in the Name of the rule field.
11. Click OK on all windows.

Microsoft Outlook Express (Macintosh)

1. Double-click the junk email message in your Inbox to open it.
2. Click the View menu and select Internet Headers.
3. Scroll through the Internet Headers window, find the subject line of the message, and highlight the text of the subject line.
4. Click the Edit menu and select Copy.
5. Click the Tools menu and choose Mail Rules (or Rules in Outlook Express 5).
6. Click New Rule (or New in Outlook Express 5).
7. Type a name for the filter in the Rule Name field.
8. Click the From pull-down menu (or the All Messages pull-down menu in Outlook Express 5) and select Subject.
9. Click your mouse inside the field to the right and delete any text you find there.
10. Click the Edit menu and select Paste.
11. Click the Action 1 pull-down menu (or the Change color menu in Outlook Express 5) and choose Delete message.
12. Click OK.

Netscape Messenger (Windows and Macintosh)

1. Double-click the junk email message in your Inbox to open it.
2. Highlight the text of the subject line.
3. Click the Edit menu and choose Copy.
4. Click the Edit menu again and select Mail Filters or Message Filters.
5. Click New.
6. Type a name for the filter in the Filter name field (Windows) or Name column (Mac).
7. If you see a sender pull-down menu, click it and select subject.
8. Click your mouse in the blank text field to the right of the contains pull-down menu.
9. Press Ctrl-V (Windows) or Command-V (Mac) to paste the subject text into the field.
10. Click the Move to folder pull-down menu and select Delete.
11. Click OK on all windows (on Macs, simply close the filters window).

For more information on Spam, see the following sites:

• http://www.ecofuture.org/jnkmail.html
• http://www.protectyouremail.net/
• http://www.pwrtc.com/~wdegroot/oefilters.html
• http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/harvesting.html