GadgetGal
Do you receive an unacceptable amount of Junk/Spam Phishing Email? Who doesn’t baby!
Let’s take a quick look at how you can be screwed:
Spam: Any kind of unwanted online communication.
Think, Email info commercial. It comes from Monty Python
Phishing: Looks real, it’s not. Sender wants your personal information
Junk Mail: Another word for Spam
Malware: Software program to maim or kill your computer
Bet you don’t know this: Hormel, who makes Spam, does not like Junk email being named Spam. However, Hormel is very supportive of Monty Python.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(Monty_Python)
Here are some Spam facts from our very own Washington State Attorney General, Rob McKenna:
Spam “Nearly everyone who uses e-mail has received unsolicited commercial messages at one time or another. These e-mails, often referred to as “spam,” are an irritating fact of life for people who use the Internet to communicate with friends, do research, or purchase goods and services on line.
“In Washington State, the number one consumer complaint reported over the last 2 years is spam. The Federal Trade Commission, the agency with jurisdiction to receive and investigate spam email complaints, reports receiving over 130,000 complaints a day. Almost 45 percent of all email is now spam and that number is growing each year. Nearly three trillion spam messages are sent each year — 13 times the total snail mail delivered by the U.S. Postal service. The average wired American is hit with nearly 2,200 spam messages annually — this after most ISPs have filtered 80-90 percent of the junk messages. Some reports indicate that these numbers could increase by five times in the near future. Junk email is an issue not only reserved for individuals — it is estimated that spam costs legitimate businesses $9 billion dollars a year.” Washington State Attorney General Spam Report
One Way to Kill Spam and Keep it Away, Sort of…
Create a new email account at one of the online providers (Gmail, Yahoo!, Hot Mail, etc.) Use this address for all your not-so-personal needs. This might include; shopping, signing up for and/or registering for groups, online newsletters and much more.
Slowly, as you reduce the Spam rate on your personal/important account you can give that address to family and friends. (See how to eliminate junk mail with Thunderbird below)
The Brutal Truth About Getting Rid of Spam
To really get rid of Spam, you’ll have to create 2 new accounts. I know this method is tough because you lose the address everyone knows you by. Therefore, you need to decide how crazy spam makes you and pick the method you’re comfortable with. If you are completely inundated with spam (it’s out of control!!!) I suggest you get 2 new addresses, one with your local ISP (Computer Place, Orcas Online, Rock Island) and one with a free online provider. Good Luck!
You can send your new private email address to everyone in your Address Book using BCC.
E Mail Netiquette – Use BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) and Make Your Friends Happy. How to BCC instead of CC Email.
More information than you could ever imagine about Spam EcoFuture
How to Get Rid of Junk Mail, Spam, and Telemarketers
Blocking Spam With Your Email Program
If you use Outlook, Thunderbird or Apple Mail you can manually and automatically delete Junk Mail. Outlook Express Spam removal takes 2 steps, Tools – Block Sender.
In this column I will cover Spam/Junk settings for Thunderbird. In my next column I will cover Apple Mail and finally, Outlook. Maybe we’ll take a look at online email as well.
Let Thunderbird Help you with Spam Deletion
To set up Junk Mail in Thunderbird go to: Tools – Account Settings – Junk Mail.
See box below to set correct Rock Island (ISP) and Local Folders Junk settings. These days Thunderbird defaults the Junk Settings to *Enable adaptive junk mail controls for this account*, you do not want this setting!
Deleting Junk Mail
When Thunderbird Doesn’t Catch It When you receive Spam in your In Box despite the Junk Settings, click on the Spam message then click on the Junk icon on the mail toolbar. Thunderbird will memorize the Junk Email address and it should not come back again. However, spammers will change their addresses willy nilly and you may find that stinky Spam back in your In Box.
Junk Folder
In Thunderbird the flame is the sign for Junk mail. I suggest you check your Junk Mail folder every time you download messages and empty it. To put safe email that has mistakenly ended up in Junk back in your Inbox, click on the flame. After a while you won’t have to be so vigilant because Thunderbird will “know” your safe senders.
To empty Junk Folder, click on Tools – Delete Mail Marked As Junk.
Again, if you use the Junk mail feature in Thunderbird, be sure to check your Junk mail folder often and empty it often. If you don’t you may lose some important messages. Who wants that Junk mail sitting around anyway?
JUST IN!
Lately more junk mail has been showing up in my In Box, yuck! What I’m trying out now is to BLOCK these idiots. Here’s how it works:
Click on the Junk message in your In Box. In the lower view pane (if you don’t have a view pane, double click to open your Junk message). Right click on the Senders name. See below. Click on Create Filter from…
In the Filter Rules box below, click on the box below Perform these actions: Choose Delete Message. Click on Save at bottom of box. Now, pay attention and monitor how much Spam you’re getting in your In Box. This method has greatly reduced my Spam.
Be warned, safe computing like safe sex, does not exist, you must be vigilant to have… Safer Computing.