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What To Do When You Get Spam
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By Lewis Leake
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When you go to your mailbox and find pieces of junk mail mixedin with important correspondence, you throw it out. It is a mildnuisance and you probably don¡¯t even give it a second thought.Unfortunately, most people do the same when spam arrives intheir inbox. They just delete it.
While that does get rid of an individual email, more needs to bedone to control what can become an overwhelming problem. Likenspam to cockroaches; see one in your cabinet and you know thatyou likely have an infestation that needs to be dealt withswiftly.
To begin with, do not respond to the spam ¨C ever. There areusually two ways that spam recipients make this mistake. Firstis the opt-out clause that appears at the bottom of the email.It appears to be a legal statement giving you the right toremove yourself from this mailing list. Unless you legitimatelyauthorized the company to send you mail, in which case this isnot spam, do not follow this link. Most often this link issimply a way for the spammers to identify your email address asvalid. Now they can sell your address to other spammers andthank you for making their work easier by continuing to send youthe spam you didn¡¯t want in the first place.
The second manner in which this error occurs is when, out oftotal frustration, you reply to the sender with a firm statementof your disgust. This usually happens when the spam ispornographic material and despite your best efforts, keepsappearing in your inbox. Sometimes the reply will not workbecause the sender¡¯s email address is a fake one and it willjust bounce back to you as undeliverable. Count yourself luckybecause the alternative means that they now have a confirmationof your address.
Next, read the email header. The header contains the full pathof computers through which the email passed to get to you. Mostpieces of email pass through at least four computers ¨C thespammer¡¯s, their ISP, your ISP, and finally yours. Since thestated from address is usually a fake one, this is the mostreliable way to track down the spammer¡¯s ISP, at the very least.
Each computer that the spam travels through will add lines tothe header stating who they are, who the mail came from, andwhere they are sending it. Headers can seem complicated, but inmost cases you will be able to at least recognize other ISPs. Ifyour mail is through Yahoo and you see ¡°juno.com¡± in the mix,then you know that you can report the spam to Juno.
When reporting spam, you will need to cut and paste the fullheader path into the email to give the experts the opportunityto track down the offender. To read an email header, youtypically just right click on the email and then chooseproperties, options, or header depending on which email programyou are using.
Finally, forward the spam to a number of authorities. The firstwould be the spammer¡¯s ISP. If you cannot tell who that may be,send the spam to your ISP. Additionally, several websites areavailable to help you report spam, like spamcop.net.
Second, forward the spam to the Federal Trade Commission atuce@ftc.gov. While they will not take action on your behalf,they will add the spam to a database compiled on known UCE(unsolicited commercial email).
If the spam is a ¡°419 Scam¡±, or Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud, faxa copy of the email and its headers to the United States SecretService. You will know this spam when you read it ¨C an exiledAfrican leader of some sort needs your help and bank accountinformation. These scams have defrauded many and need to betaken seriously.
Now you may delete the spam.
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