Tips against spam mail

Source: PC-Welt (a German computer magazine)

Spam mail refers to advertising emails that are sent to users unsolicited.

As our network is currently being flooded with these emails, we would like to present some countermeasures here. However, most of these tips may not be applicable to work accounts, but they are certainly useful in your private life.

Treat your address like a secret number

This includes:

  • Do not enter it blindly in web forms
  • Use a free second email account for such purposes
  • Do not enter other people's email addresses in web forms Do not forward websites to others by clicking on them if you have doubts about the provider's legitimacy

Do not reply to junk mail

Do not respond to requests contained in emails such as ‘Click here to stop receiving emails’ or ‘Reply with the subject line “Remove” to be deleted from the distribution list’, as this will confirm to the sender that the email address is valid and in use. The result: even more junk mail. Newsletters are an exception to this rule.

Use spam protection from email providers

This feature is provided by many providers and is often easy to activate. It may also help to choose long and unusual email addresses to avoid so-called ‘dictionary attacks’ – some senders of advertising emails simply send their junk to all common names and terms that appear in dictionaries.

Use filters in email programmes

Most email programmes have filter functions that can be used to block advertising emails that come from the same sender. Some free email providers also allow you to set up filter rules.

Use disposable email addresses if possible

www.spamgourmet.com– this service provides temporary email addresses that forward mail to your main address. This is useful, for example, if you need to register once to use certain services or software on the Internet.

Use free and shareware

With the freeware mailwasher for Windows 95/98/ME, NT4, 2000 and XP, POP3 mailboxes can be checked for advertising emails using filter functions – unwanted emails are deleted directly from the server and are not downloaded first. Emails can also be rejected as undeliverable – the sender receives a message stating that the account does not exist.

Restriction: the sender address ‘mailerdaemon@<providerdomain>’, which is rejected by most mail servers to prevent misuse for advertising emails. This problem does not occur with your own domains that are also used as email addresses.

Disguise email addresses to protect against search robots

Email addresses on websites are recognised by search engines used by advertising senders. You can prevent search engines from recognising them by simply adding a few characters to the email addresses on your website and informing users in the text that these should be omitted. The addresses are recognised by search tools, but they are invalid and cannot be used.

Robinson lists

So-called Robinson lists contain email addresses that do not want to receive advertising emails. Examples: the Robinson list of the Interessenverband Deutsches Internet e.V. (German Internet Interest Group) and the Robinson list of the American Direct Marketing Association (DMA). You can register here, although it will not help in every case, as the interest of companies in Robinson lists is questionable.

Pay attention to subject lines

Even if a subject line seems interesting, always check the sender first. If it is unknown, delete the email, as it may contain completely different content than the subject line promises.

Further information