Spam-Free Email: 9 Tips To Follow (Part Two of Two)

By Ara Rubyan

Unless the message is from someone in your address book, assume it is spam.

Most email software can be set to divert all email NOT from someone in your address book into your "Junk" or "Spam" folder. Do it.

Then here's what you do next:

Periodically go in there and browse the accumulated contents. You might find that someone has changed their address, or you are receiving an email newsletter that you actually signed up for. If you want those emails, add the sender to your address list and delete the rest. By the way, this kind of address list is called a whitelist.

Get a good anti spam program -- and use it.

In other words, don't just delete your spam -- take the time to hit the blacklist button instead. The more patient you are, the better the anti spam software gets. Let it work for you.

Similarly, don't disable the anti spam filter (if you use one). No matter how much spam you are getting, you'll get more if you don't train your spam filter. The filter is your friend. Let it work for you.

Do not buy anything from a spammer.

Nothing. Ever. Just don't. It only encourages them to send you (and me) more spam.

Close the browser window after logging out.

If you are checking your email on the road (say, from a library or coffee shop) you might be using a web-based email service to do so. Be aware that these services will show the name (but not the password) of the last person to log on. This is supposed to be a convenience to you -- but instead it is a significant security problem. Solve that problem by always closing the browser window after you log off.

If you are sending an email to multiple parties, use the BCC option.

Think about it: if you use the CC option, then everyone you are sending the email to is vulnerable to getting spammed -- if the email falls into the hands of a spammer.

Even if you trust everyone all the time, some email software will automatically add all the names on the CC line to the address book.

Think of all the people who are receiving this email. Now realize that if any of their PCs gets infected with a virus, everyone in that address book will get a copy of the infected email. Do you really want that? No. So take a moment and use the BCC option.

Similarly, if you forward an email to someone, first take a minute and remove the email addresses of past recipients from the body of the email.

Don't unsubscribe from an email newsletter that you never subscribed to in the first place.

Sometimes spammers send email to addresses that are made up at random. This is actually easier than getting a list of reliable addresses. The spammer figures that some of the addresses will be undeliverable -- but (by chance) a certain percentage will be valid. They'll know this because the holder of that address will respond to an unwanted newsletter by clicking the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of the email. Pretty soon, that email address will receive a ton of spam. Don't fall for that trick.

Ara Rubyan is experienced in training design and delivery and has been developing web based training for more than 10 years. His background in training coupled with his IT knowledge help him to ensure the seamless development of product user training.

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