Death by spam is now possible with a new device by Microsoft. The device when implanted in the user's skull allows downloading of email directly into the brain.
Niles Bookbinder, 37, an assistant working for Jon Hanson, author of Good Debt, Bad Debt was accidentally spammed to death Tuesday morning using a beta version of a new email device called, "MS Mind." A Microsoft spokesperson said, "We don't have all of the bugs worked out yet, but this is the first death we know of." Mr. Bookbinder had unwittingly "unchecked" the spam filter in the MS Mind control panel. Without the spam filter, apparently Niles unleashed the entire world of spam into his "medulla interface" and was literally spammed to death. It's likely the last words Mr. Bookbinder heard were, "You've got mail!"
Wireless Medulla Interface providers are popping up everywhere. Dr. Jack Kevorkian sees the new Wireless "G" Medulla cards as a real advance for him. With these systems, euthanasia supporters predict quick, painless death by simply bypassing the filters and downloading thousands of spam emails quickly. Kevorkian said, "I have been looking forward to killing patients by email." Kevorkian expects his prices to be competitive with AOL.
While it is not a victimless crime, it would be a crime without a knowable perpetrator. You would have no way of knowing whether your "loved one" was finished off by the breast enlargement, Viagra softabs starting at $2.99, or $ave $$$ now refinance emails.
A PETA spokesperson, Ima Chihuahua, said she found the idea disturbing because it could lead to so-called Spam Collars that would be used to kill pets as they aged, or "convenience" killings, such as when a young couple could not find a kennel on their way to Vegas or they simply change their minds about having a pet.
PETA may be right. It has long been rumored that KFC has been testing the effectiveness of spamming chickens to death versus simply whacking off their heads. In earlier tests, chickens were forced to watch Gili and Ishtar until they simply cut off their own heads, but this experiment was discontinued because of the cruelty to experimenters.
Spamicide, accidental or not, will undoubtedly set off a bitter debate in America as Anti-Spammers and Right-to-Spam groups rally to raise money and jockey for political clout.
George W. Bush seemed bewildered at this morning's briefing. He looked to his press secretary and said, "Are we Right-to-Spam or Anti-Spammers?" Elsewhere, Jesse Jackson, finding it difficult to be Right-to-Spam said, "It should be the choice of the spammee. Spamicide should be legal, available, and rare."
NEXT WEEK: Partial Spam Deletion. Should this barbaric practice be outlawed? Are thousands of viable spams being killed in spam filters, just before being downloaded? The debate continues...
Jon Hanson
www.gooddebt.com
jon[at]gooddebt.com
Jon Hanson, is the author of "Good Debt, Bad Debt: Knowing the Difference Can Save Your Financial Life"
His web site is http://www.gooddebt.com jon [at] gooddebt.com
For a bit of audio comic relief go to: http://gooddebt.com/debtdowns.htm
Available for interviews radio, print, TV, contact Jon through the website http://www.gooddebt.com
Review of Good Debt, Bad Debt: USA Today February 7, 2005 http://www.usatoday.com/money/books/reviews/2005-02-06-debt-usat_x.htm
woensdag 18 juli 2007
CAN-SPAM Basics
I. BACKGROUND
The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) establishes requirements for those who send commercial email, spells out penalties for spammers and companies whose products are advertised in spam if they violate the law, and gives consumers the right to ask emailers to stop spamming them.
The law, which became effective January 1, 2004, covers email whose primary purpose is advertising or promoting a commercial product or service, including content on a Web site.
A "transactional or relationship message" - email that facilitates an agreed-upon transaction or updates a customer in an existing business relationship - may not contain false or misleading routing information, but otherwise is exempt from most provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is authorized to enforce the CAN-SPAM Act. CAN-SPAM also gives the U.S. Department of Justice the authority to enforce its criminal sanctions.
Other federal and state agencies can enforce the law against organizations under their jurisdiction, and companies that provide Internet access may sue violators, as well.
II. WHAT THE LAW REQUIRES
A. It bans false or misleading header information. Your email's "From," "To," and routing information - including the originating domain name and email address - must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email.
B. It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of
The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) establishes requirements for those who send commercial email, spells out penalties for spammers and companies whose products are advertised in spam if they violate the law, and gives consumers the right to ask emailers to stop spamming them.
The law, which became effective January 1, 2004, covers email whose primary purpose is advertising or promoting a commercial product or service, including content on a Web site.
A "transactional or relationship message" - email that facilitates an agreed-upon transaction or updates a customer in an existing business relationship - may not contain false or misleading routing information, but otherwise is exempt from most provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is authorized to enforce the CAN-SPAM Act. CAN-SPAM also gives the U.S. Department of Justice the authority to enforce its criminal sanctions.
Other federal and state agencies can enforce the law against organizations under their jurisdiction, and companies that provide Internet access may sue violators, as well.
II. WHAT THE LAW REQUIRES
A. It bans false or misleading header information. Your email's "From," "To," and routing information - including the originating domain name and email address - must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email.
B. It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of
ANTI-S*P^A#M: Protecting Your Web Sites Email Address(es)
Did you know that there are software programs that view web sites and steal email addresses? It's called "harvesting" because they're harvesting your email address from your site. This may be one of the reasons your web site email address is receiving more s*p^a#m than wanted email.
When I first started teaching web design classes, I strongly suggested that students place their email address on each page - it makes your site a bit more "trustable." But it turns out this is just leaving you wide open to harvesting.
So now, what I suggest are links on each page directed to a single contact information page, where your email address is encrypted. If the s*p^a#mmers end up figuring out the encryption, it's still easier for you to change one page worth of information vs. many pages of information. Encrypting your email address makes the gathering process a little more difficult while it provides that legitimate email get through to you.
If you find that one encryption program has stopped working, see if the provider updated the code you were using (many provide regular updates) or change to another service.
Do you have PayPal payment or shopping cart links on your site? Up until about a month ago, the old PayPal coding included your email address. If you haven't upgraded recently, update your PayPal links to include the encrypted code they provide, too. Changing that code stopped quite a bit of unwanted email from reaching me.
Here are some helpful encryption program resources:
http://automaticlabs.com/products/enkoderform/
When I first started teaching web design classes, I strongly suggested that students place their email address on each page - it makes your site a bit more "trustable." But it turns out this is just leaving you wide open to harvesting.
So now, what I suggest are links on each page directed to a single contact information page, where your email address is encrypted. If the s*p^a#mmers end up figuring out the encryption, it's still easier for you to change one page worth of information vs. many pages of information. Encrypting your email address makes the gathering process a little more difficult while it provides that legitimate email get through to you.
If you find that one encryption program has stopped working, see if the provider updated the code you were using (many provide regular updates) or change to another service.
Do you have PayPal payment or shopping cart links on your site? Up until about a month ago, the old PayPal coding included your email address. If you haven't upgraded recently, update your PayPal links to include the encrypted code they provide, too. Changing that code stopped quite a bit of unwanted email from reaching me.
Here are some helpful encryption program resources:
http://automaticlabs.com/products/enkoderform/
Is Your Website Blacklisted?
A blacklist, as the name implies, is a list of people or companies who have met with the disapproval of others. In the online world a blacklist refers to those people who have been marked as responsible for generating spam in a very big way. Blacklists are also known as blocklists.
Blacklists are used to combat spam in a very specific way. When spam is reported to one of the relevant spam fighting organizations the IP address the spam originated from is added to a banned or blacklisted IP addresslist. An IP address is the unique location of you or your website on the internet - think of it as your "home address" online. To put it simply every www.domain.com Internet address has a matching IP address. Any email coming from your website domain also has a corresponding IP address. If your IP address is present on a blacklist then you're potentially wasting your time sending email to customers.
Why are you wasting your time? Modern spam blockers come with the most common blacklists installed and/or allow you to import updated blacklists into your spam blocker. This allows to you block a huge amount of spam but you may also, potentially, block legitimate email. Blacklists are not foolproof.
There are two types of IP address:
Dynamic - changes every time you connect to the Internet. Most commonly used for dialup Internet access. Spammers love these because they're very hard to track and 100% disposable.
Fixed/Static - All websites, most large companies and some individuals use fixed IP addresses. This can cause huge problems if they're reported for spamming.
When an IP address (dynamic or fixed ) is reported for sending spam it's added to a blacklist. There are three different types of blacklists:
Temporary
An IP address placed on a temporary blacklist will have email coming from that IP address blocked for several hours.
After a few hours the offending IP address is removed from the blacklist.
Blacklists are used to combat spam in a very specific way. When spam is reported to one of the relevant spam fighting organizations the IP address the spam originated from is added to a banned or blacklisted IP addresslist. An IP address is the unique location of you or your website on the internet - think of it as your "home address" online. To put it simply every www.domain.com Internet address has a matching IP address. Any email coming from your website domain also has a corresponding IP address. If your IP address is present on a blacklist then you're potentially wasting your time sending email to customers.
Why are you wasting your time? Modern spam blockers come with the most common blacklists installed and/or allow you to import updated blacklists into your spam blocker. This allows to you block a huge amount of spam but you may also, potentially, block legitimate email. Blacklists are not foolproof.
There are two types of IP address:
Dynamic - changes every time you connect to the Internet. Most commonly used for dialup Internet access. Spammers love these because they're very hard to track and 100% disposable.
Fixed/Static - All websites, most large companies and some individuals use fixed IP addresses. This can cause huge problems if they're reported for spamming.
When an IP address (dynamic or fixed ) is reported for sending spam it's added to a blacklist. There are three different types of blacklists:
Temporary
An IP address placed on a temporary blacklist will have email coming from that IP address blocked for several hours.
After a few hours the offending IP address is removed from the blacklist.
Protecting Yourself With A Porn Filter
The harmful affects of pornography use and addiction are well documented by science. As with most things in life, prevention is the most effective way to avoid ever having a problem with pornography.
The internet is a wonderful place to access information, read updated news, and connect with people from all over the globe. Unfortunately, pornography on the internet is everywhere, and it isn't always easy to avoid. Even people taking responsible measures to keep porn off of their computer screens can stumble across it sometimes. The tips found in this article will help you protect yourself and your family online from inappropriate pictures and text.
Take measures to filter spam. Spammers can make money if only one person of the thousands of people they send sexually explicit emails to clicks on their ad and pays for their service. Do everything you can to keep those emails from ever reaching your inbox. If you have allowed your children to have their own email accounts, filtering spam is the best way to ensure inappropriate images never become accessible to them through email. A quick list of things you can do to eliminate spam includes:
Only give your email address out to people you know and trust. Do not put your personal email address down for every mailing list or website that asks for it. Many free email services exist now - set up a free account with one of them and use that to sign up for mailing lists.
Never click on any links in spam and if at all possible, avoid ever opening the email. Both of these actions confirms to spammers that you actively use your email account and you will likely start to receive more spam.
The internet is a wonderful place to access information, read updated news, and connect with people from all over the globe. Unfortunately, pornography on the internet is everywhere, and it isn't always easy to avoid. Even people taking responsible measures to keep porn off of their computer screens can stumble across it sometimes. The tips found in this article will help you protect yourself and your family online from inappropriate pictures and text.
Take measures to filter spam. Spammers can make money if only one person of the thousands of people they send sexually explicit emails to clicks on their ad and pays for their service. Do everything you can to keep those emails from ever reaching your inbox. If you have allowed your children to have their own email accounts, filtering spam is the best way to ensure inappropriate images never become accessible to them through email. A quick list of things you can do to eliminate spam includes:
Only give your email address out to people you know and trust. Do not put your personal email address down for every mailing list or website that asks for it. Many free email services exist now - set up a free account with one of them and use that to sign up for mailing lists.
Never click on any links in spam and if at all possible, avoid ever opening the email. Both of these actions confirms to spammers that you actively use your email account and you will likely start to receive more spam.
How To Stop Spam (Especially If You're Already a Victim)
Spam. Those annoying, time-consuming emails that clog your Inbox and ruin your day. You wonder: How did it ever get so bad? While it's not possible to completely eliminate spam, there are quite a few things you CAN do about the problem to reduce your burden.
Spam is defined as an unsolicited email trying to get you to buy something. In addition, it's email that tries to get you to give up something: your credit card number, social security number, login ID, etc., by pretending to be a legitimate email. Here are some tips for stopping the current spam you're getting, and avoiding getting on new spam lists.
1. Maintain two email addresses: a Personal Email Address (that you give to family, friends and business associates), and a Safe Email Address (one you use whenever you're ordering something online, signing up for an email newsletter, or creating a profile on a website).
For instance, I use a Hotmail account for my Safe Email Address. If a spammer were to get a hold of that address, fine. All the spam will go into my Hotmail account, which I only look at once a week. Hotmail has a great anti-spam filter built in, so it's easy to see what's spam and what's not. This practice leaves my personal email account relatively spam-free (maybe I get two spam emails a day to my personal account). Some free email services include Hotmail, Yahoo and GMail (Google's new email service).
2. Use your Safe Email Address to send emails to companies who might be harvesting email addresses from incoming emails. For example, say you want to write to a company to ask them about their products. Some companies will harvest
Spam is defined as an unsolicited email trying to get you to buy something. In addition, it's email that tries to get you to give up something: your credit card number, social security number, login ID, etc., by pretending to be a legitimate email. Here are some tips for stopping the current spam you're getting, and avoiding getting on new spam lists.
1. Maintain two email addresses: a Personal Email Address (that you give to family, friends and business associates), and a Safe Email Address (one you use whenever you're ordering something online, signing up for an email newsletter, or creating a profile on a website).
For instance, I use a Hotmail account for my Safe Email Address. If a spammer were to get a hold of that address, fine. All the spam will go into my Hotmail account, which I only look at once a week. Hotmail has a great anti-spam filter built in, so it's easy to see what's spam and what's not. This practice leaves my personal email account relatively spam-free (maybe I get two spam emails a day to my personal account). Some free email services include Hotmail, Yahoo and GMail (Google's new email service).
2. Use your Safe Email Address to send emails to companies who might be harvesting email addresses from incoming emails. For example, say you want to write to a company to ask them about their products. Some companies will harvest
Block Spam with An Easy Behavioral Change
E-mails now have a connection back to their servers. I will leave the technical aspects out of this article. Instead, I will walk you through how information from your computer is getting back to them.
You have probably experienced this already, an e-mail lands in your box with many symbols in the subject line created with the Shift Key plus a Number Key. This is the most common one. For example, it may look like this: &*)(*&^%$#! Except the length of the symbols are longer.
When you click on it to delete it, any further action, including the deletion of the e-mail seems to go into la-la land. In other words, you can do anything else. This may last up to a minute or two depending on your computer speed. You have just been pinged and information is going back to their server saying there is a live connection.
In addition, because the symbols change all the time, it's difficult to block them unless you use a program like Spam Arrest.
Here is an easy way and excellent way to protect from this and all you have to do is change the way you dial in and out.
If you have a DSL line or any other type Internet connection that is open all the time. Control how frequently you allow e-mails to upload into your system. If you use Outlook, you go into Tools, Options, select the Mail Delivery tab and change "check messages every" 30, 60 or 90 minutes. This also helps on time management if e-mails are eating up too much of your time.
Next, after all your e-mails are uploaded into your software, whether you set the time management feature above, close off the Internet connection. It will not stop the lost 30 or 60 seconds these e-mail lock up your computer but you have cut off any possible pinging.
You have probably experienced this already, an e-mail lands in your box with many symbols in the subject line created with the Shift Key plus a Number Key. This is the most common one. For example, it may look like this: &*)(*&^%$#! Except the length of the symbols are longer.
When you click on it to delete it, any further action, including the deletion of the e-mail seems to go into la-la land. In other words, you can do anything else. This may last up to a minute or two depending on your computer speed. You have just been pinged and information is going back to their server saying there is a live connection.
In addition, because the symbols change all the time, it's difficult to block them unless you use a program like Spam Arrest.
Here is an easy way and excellent way to protect from this and all you have to do is change the way you dial in and out.
If you have a DSL line or any other type Internet connection that is open all the time. Control how frequently you allow e-mails to upload into your system. If you use Outlook, you go into Tools, Options, select the Mail Delivery tab and change "check messages every" 30, 60 or 90 minutes. This also helps on time management if e-mails are eating up too much of your time.
Next, after all your e-mails are uploaded into your software, whether you set the time management feature above, close off the Internet connection. It will not stop the lost 30 or 60 seconds these e-mail lock up your computer but you have cut off any possible pinging.
Blackhole or Fail - Which One Is Better For Your Mail Server?
Very often SPAMMERS take advantage of catch-all email setup on webservers. Every email no matter what the recipients email address is will be caught by the default email account. It is highly recommended not to use catch-all email accounts and to discard SPAM send to non-existing email addresses. SPAM will clog up your SMTP server and consum resources like bandwidth and disk space in mailboxes. In most mail servers and web control panels (like cPanel) the user or admin can decide what will happen to emails with no existing recipient on the server. Refuse to the let emails onto the server and to let the sender's mail server deal with it (option: ":fail:") or to accept these incoming messages but then to delete them right away (option: ":blackhole:".
Our conclusion:
:fail: is the preferred option over :blackhole:.
The :blackhole: option accepts everything sent to the domain mail server and then throws away the email going to a non-existing email account. This option uses the full amount of bandwidth, and also requires that the server be reading and writing messages to disk before they are deleted... multiply this by 1,000 messages a day or so and you can imagine the impact onto your server resources. Imagine your an email address from your domain (a non-existing one) has been spoofed to send out SPAM messages that even carry a virus. Most natural many of these messages will bounce back and hit your mail server. Your web server would have to deal with thousands of attachments at a time. Performance will go down - no matter what.
:fail: stops emails send to invalid recipients from entering the mail server in the first place..Exim will reject each message during the smtp handshake conversation - therefore the actual email message will never make it to your server. It is being refected from entering your system and the sender's email server has to deal with the stuck message. This option is also the better one for legitimate emails where the sender has actually mis-spelled the recipients email address. He would get a bounce message informing him so that the error can be corrected. Depending on your hardware - a server can handle many more :fails: than it can do :blackholes:.
This article can be published by anyone as long as a live back link to http://www.webhostingresourcekit.com is provided. (this note can be removed as long as a link from the author's resource box is provided)
Christoph Puetz is a successful small business owner (Net Services USA LLC) and international author.
Guides, Tutorials, and Articles for small businesses - http://www.webhostingresourcekit.com
Our conclusion:
:fail: is the preferred option over :blackhole:.
The :blackhole: option accepts everything sent to the domain mail server and then throws away the email going to a non-existing email account. This option uses the full amount of bandwidth, and also requires that the server be reading and writing messages to disk before they are deleted... multiply this by 1,000 messages a day or so and you can imagine the impact onto your server resources. Imagine your an email address from your domain (a non-existing one) has been spoofed to send out SPAM messages that even carry a virus. Most natural many of these messages will bounce back and hit your mail server. Your web server would have to deal with thousands of attachments at a time. Performance will go down - no matter what.
:fail: stops emails send to invalid recipients from entering the mail server in the first place..Exim will reject each message during the smtp handshake conversation - therefore the actual email message will never make it to your server. It is being refected from entering your system and the sender's email server has to deal with the stuck message. This option is also the better one for legitimate emails where the sender has actually mis-spelled the recipients email address. He would get a bounce message informing him so that the error can be corrected. Depending on your hardware - a server can handle many more :fails: than it can do :blackholes:.
This article can be published by anyone as long as a live back link to http://www.webhostingresourcekit.com is provided. (this note can be removed as long as a link from the author's resource box is provided)
Christoph Puetz is a successful small business owner (Net Services USA LLC) and international author.
Guides, Tutorials, and Articles for small businesses - http://www.webhostingresourcekit.com
Having a Bad e MALE Day? Email, Spam, Spam and More Spam
You just sat at your desk, opened your email account and what do you get? First there is some anonymous donkey from an anonymous and anything but respectable mortgage lender telling you that they can arrange your finance at 3% and all you need to do now that your application is approved is to sign along the dotted line and get in touch with them. This is despite the fact that you have never heard of them or even approached them - ever!.
Next we have luscious Lucy asking you if you remember her from when you last met. Her email tells you that she still loves you and she has sent you her personal photos just for your eyes only. Well, you certainly made the right impression there didn't you. No, don't click on the click on the link or the attachment??..
Just as your thoughts start to wander and you begin to imagine Lucy in her long fur coat and fish net stockings you have another email. This is one you can't afford to miss out on. Viagra. You need viagra for Lucy. She needs you. What luck. After much deliberation you decide to pass on the viagra but no sooner have you passed it by??..whats this? someone else is there at the ready with - sildenafil citrate. Oh but hang on, doesn't the box look the same as the one in the last email? Its viagra again. By now any thoughts of rampant fun with the luscious Lucy are becoming jaded. Just what else could be in the remaining 120 emails you have to sift through.
The next half an hour is spent sifting through emails from important people wanting to show you how to make millions on the internet and others bombarding you with products and ezines about the latest online dating clubs. Someone even wants to sell you some cut price tampax - and your male!
Next we have luscious Lucy asking you if you remember her from when you last met. Her email tells you that she still loves you and she has sent you her personal photos just for your eyes only. Well, you certainly made the right impression there didn't you. No, don't click on the click on the link or the attachment??..
Just as your thoughts start to wander and you begin to imagine Lucy in her long fur coat and fish net stockings you have another email. This is one you can't afford to miss out on. Viagra. You need viagra for Lucy. She needs you. What luck. After much deliberation you decide to pass on the viagra but no sooner have you passed it by??..whats this? someone else is there at the ready with - sildenafil citrate. Oh but hang on, doesn't the box look the same as the one in the last email? Its viagra again. By now any thoughts of rampant fun with the luscious Lucy are becoming jaded. Just what else could be in the remaining 120 emails you have to sift through.
The next half an hour is spent sifting through emails from important people wanting to show you how to make millions on the internet and others bombarding you with products and ezines about the latest online dating clubs. Someone even wants to sell you some cut price tampax - and your male!
Three Faces of SPAM
Like everybody who will ever read this, I get spam in my e-mail. Mine seems to fall into one of three categories. The first is the Nigerian scam about helping some poor, pathetic soul collect megabucks, supposedly from someone who has died and left a fortune. I'm not sure what is worse: that there are people desperate enough to believe those messages, or that there are people despicable enough to prey on the desperate. The net result is the despicable con the desperate into sending money which the desperate will never see again.
The second type comes from people who sound innocent enough. They have a product or a business or a service or something else that is perfectly legitimate. They surf the web, find one of my sites, find the "contact us" link, and send me information about whatever they have to offer. I suppose, in their minds, it isn't any different than walking down the street or going through the telephone book writing down addresses, and then sending out bulk business mail with the same offer. They could get the same information for more money and less time by buying a mailing list. THAT is perfectly legitimate. Harvesting e-mail addresses off of web sites is NOT. Spam is officially defined as "unsolicited commercial electronic mail." The key word is "unsolicited." If I didn't ask for it and you send it anyway, it is unsolicited. When people harvest e-mail addresses off of web sites and then send commercial messages, that, by definition, is spam. I report them to my ISP and you should, too.
The third type isn't so innocent. These people, like the second type of people already discussed, surf the web, find sites, and harvest the e-mail addresses from the "contact us" link. Instead of starting out by sending you what they have to offer, they get devious, sneaky, and just plain under-handed. They send you a message asking for more information about
The second type comes from people who sound innocent enough. They have a product or a business or a service or something else that is perfectly legitimate. They surf the web, find one of my sites, find the "contact us" link, and send me information about whatever they have to offer. I suppose, in their minds, it isn't any different than walking down the street or going through the telephone book writing down addresses, and then sending out bulk business mail with the same offer. They could get the same information for more money and less time by buying a mailing list. THAT is perfectly legitimate. Harvesting e-mail addresses off of web sites is NOT. Spam is officially defined as "unsolicited commercial electronic mail." The key word is "unsolicited." If I didn't ask for it and you send it anyway, it is unsolicited. When people harvest e-mail addresses off of web sites and then send commercial messages, that, by definition, is spam. I report them to my ISP and you should, too.
The third type isn't so innocent. These people, like the second type of people already discussed, surf the web, find sites, and harvest the e-mail addresses from the "contact us" link. Instead of starting out by sending you what they have to offer, they get devious, sneaky, and just plain under-handed. They send you a message asking for more information about
Internet Tip of the Week: Information Overload
We receive so much information on the Internet, especially via email, that many times we have difficulty separating the good "stuff" from the junk. Most of us put unsolicited email (spam) in the junk category. By the time we weed through all that "stuff" however, we are approaching information overload, and may give "short shrift" to the really good information we receive.
One way to overcome this very real problem, is to create email filters for things you may wish to read at a future time. For example, create a generic filter for the ezines or newsletters you subscribe to, or one for each. This will then automatically separate this good "stuff" from the junk. You can then keep your "inbox" clean and read the information at your leisure when you are less harried.
Use your email filters to weed out the junk. It only takes a moment or so to create a filter, and this will keep all the repeat spam out of your inbox. The best way to filter spam, is not to filter on the senders email address. Most of these are forged anyway, and are different every time. Pick out some "key words" contained in the body of the message. "Stop Snoring, Own an offshore retirement fund, $16,000+ with ONE $20 gift" just to name a few. Filter out those emails that match your key words.
Some of the spam is one time only and you don't need to be concerned with that. One way to do it, is to create a folder titled "Spam". Every day, instead of simply deleting them, transfer them to this folder. If you see a pattern developing, you can easily pick out the worst offenders, and create a filter for them.
When you subscribe to an ezine or newsletter, don't make a summary judgment that you don't want it. Most publishers try
One way to overcome this very real problem, is to create email filters for things you may wish to read at a future time. For example, create a generic filter for the ezines or newsletters you subscribe to, or one for each. This will then automatically separate this good "stuff" from the junk. You can then keep your "inbox" clean and read the information at your leisure when you are less harried.
Use your email filters to weed out the junk. It only takes a moment or so to create a filter, and this will keep all the repeat spam out of your inbox. The best way to filter spam, is not to filter on the senders email address. Most of these are forged anyway, and are different every time. Pick out some "key words" contained in the body of the message. "Stop Snoring, Own an offshore retirement fund, $16,000+ with ONE $20 gift" just to name a few. Filter out those emails that match your key words.
Some of the spam is one time only and you don't need to be concerned with that. One way to do it, is to create a folder titled "Spam". Every day, instead of simply deleting them, transfer them to this folder. If you see a pattern developing, you can easily pick out the worst offenders, and create a filter for them.
When you subscribe to an ezine or newsletter, don't make a summary judgment that you don't want it. Most publishers try
Internet Tip of the Week: Outsourcing
It's no secret that the US economy has slowed down, and many jobs have been outsourced overseas. Thousands of companies are still and are being forced to cut costs, decrease benefits, and even lay off employees. Many of those who lost their jobs, wil l try their hand at doing business on the Internet.
It seems however, that lately I've been hearing a great deal about the difficulty of doing business online. Put aside the talk about the hype and the scams. They existed from the first day the Internet was commercialized. They are becoming more sophisticated with their promises of earning millions, but as people become more experienced, they quickly see through them.
Fake email addresses, spam and broken dreams will continue to abound until either legislation forces them to do business ethically, or the well of suckers dries up.
Sounds pretty negative doesn't it. Under other circumstances, it would be enough to put someone off trying to do business on the net. But let's look at the positive side. I don't know about you, but I've met some pretty fine people on the web. They are honest, hard working and a pleasure to do business with. While there are a few "bad apples" (and aren't there offline as well), it's amazing how many friendly, helpful people there are out there.
In the early nineties, before the entrepreneurial invasion of the Internet, the only game in town was the proprietary bulletin boards such as run by Prodigy. Anyone who "dared" become commercial was summarily banned from the boards, and "blacklists of offenders" were actually shared between the board moderators.
But, as commercialism crept in, and the old bulletin boards joined the ranks of the dinosaurs, a whole new strategy started to evolve.
People have learned that you don't have to create something new or re-invent the wheel to make money online. You can join an affiliate program to get started with a minimum of capital outlay, and a decent income can be made. But the old saying "there's no such thing as a free lunch" is even truer today.
Sure, you can advertise online for free, but except for isolated instances, there is a catch. Forget the FFA (Free For All) sites where you can post a free ad for your business. They get thousands of submissions hou
It seems however, that lately I've been hearing a great deal about the difficulty of doing business online. Put aside the talk about the hype and the scams. They existed from the first day the Internet was commercialized. They are becoming more sophisticated with their promises of earning millions, but as people become more experienced, they quickly see through them.
Fake email addresses, spam and broken dreams will continue to abound until either legislation forces them to do business ethically, or the well of suckers dries up.
Sounds pretty negative doesn't it. Under other circumstances, it would be enough to put someone off trying to do business on the net. But let's look at the positive side. I don't know about you, but I've met some pretty fine people on the web. They are honest, hard working and a pleasure to do business with. While there are a few "bad apples" (and aren't there offline as well), it's amazing how many friendly, helpful people there are out there.
In the early nineties, before the entrepreneurial invasion of the Internet, the only game in town was the proprietary bulletin boards such as run by Prodigy. Anyone who "dared" become commercial was summarily banned from the boards, and "blacklists of offenders" were actually shared between the board moderators.
But, as commercialism crept in, and the old bulletin boards joined the ranks of the dinosaurs, a whole new strategy started to evolve.
People have learned that you don't have to create something new or re-invent the wheel to make money online. You can join an affiliate program to get started with a minimum of capital outlay, and a decent income can be made. But the old saying "there's no such thing as a free lunch" is even truer today.
Sure, you can advertise online for free, but except for isolated instances, there is a catch. Forget the FFA (Free For All) sites where you can post a free ad for your business. They get thousands of submissions hou
Internet Tip of the Week: Cease and Desist
While we all admit that unsolicited commercial email is a real pain, I sometimes wonder if the anti-spam zealots are going too far. Last week I was in Costa Rica, and the only practical way to communicate home was by email. I maintain an AOL account just for that purpose when traveling, and was amazed to find out when I got home, that I only received about half of the email which was sent - some of which was important.
Many ISP's (Internet Service Providers) including AOL, have installed content filters which automatically relegate anything "they think" is spam to trash, and the message never gets delivered to the intended recipient, nor is the person sending it notified it wasn't delivered.
The problem is that there is no personal judgment at the level of the ISP to determine if a note is spam or not. They have installed content filters that "dump" any email that happens to match the keywords they have installed. How dare they determine what I should receive or not receive. Because a word in the note (or the length of the note) met their reject parameters, they will not deliver it? This is wrong!
Shame on them! I don't know about you, but I don't want my ISP acting like "big brother" on my behalf, and determining what I should read and what I shouldn't.
I do agree that spam is not only a nuisance, but is a daily problem that takes my time to sort through and get rid of the "junk" I didn't ask for, and don't want to get. But let me make that determination. I can set up filters that automatically deletes email I don't wish to get myself. I don't need, nor do I want someone else making that decision on my behalf.
It has been reported to me that some ISPs are blocking newsletters that people have asked to receive. Some investigation
Many ISP's (Internet Service Providers) including AOL, have installed content filters which automatically relegate anything "they think" is spam to trash, and the message never gets delivered to the intended recipient, nor is the person sending it notified it wasn't delivered.
The problem is that there is no personal judgment at the level of the ISP to determine if a note is spam or not. They have installed content filters that "dump" any email that happens to match the keywords they have installed. How dare they determine what I should receive or not receive. Because a word in the note (or the length of the note) met their reject parameters, they will not deliver it? This is wrong!
Shame on them! I don't know about you, but I don't want my ISP acting like "big brother" on my behalf, and determining what I should read and what I shouldn't.
I do agree that spam is not only a nuisance, but is a daily problem that takes my time to sort through and get rid of the "junk" I didn't ask for, and don't want to get. But let me make that determination. I can set up filters that automatically deletes email I don't wish to get myself. I don't need, nor do I want someone else making that decision on my behalf.
It has been reported to me that some ISPs are blocking newsletters that people have asked to receive. Some investigation
Is Email Dying?
2004 was really a year when the whole subject of email and spam has been at the forefront of the minds of internet marketers.
The anti Spam legislation has had more than the desired effect. I think everyone hates spam, even spammers. I guess also that everyone hates spammers, except spammers, though they probably hate other spammers. An attempt by legislators in different countries to prevent the deluge of spam into Inboxes was to be expected. The spam itself had already spawned the spam filter industry, which has "flourished" this year. I put flourished in "" because flourishing gives the impression of health. Their balance sheets and profit and loss figures may be flourishing, I don't know, but the email industry is not.
Spam filters were set up to prevent spam, not to kill perfectly genuine and good emails, from friends, lovers, publishers you have requested a newsletter from, or anybody else who is not "spamming" you. Some recent figures suggest a significant proportion of valid emails are not reaching their destination. Is that good? Is that what the legislation intended? No, it is it not.
People use filters in good faith, without, in most cases, having any idea how they work. They may be blissfully unaware that, in some cases, good email will not reach them. How much does that damage online business? How many business relationships are damaged by failure to respond to an email that was never received? How many personal relationships are damaged in the same way? Nobody knows. But if, for example, a marriage is on the rocks, one such incident could be the straw that broke the camel's back.
Internet marketers in particular have been covering the subject an enormous amount in the past year. Some are even
The anti Spam legislation has had more than the desired effect. I think everyone hates spam, even spammers. I guess also that everyone hates spammers, except spammers, though they probably hate other spammers. An attempt by legislators in different countries to prevent the deluge of spam into Inboxes was to be expected. The spam itself had already spawned the spam filter industry, which has "flourished" this year. I put flourished in "" because flourishing gives the impression of health. Their balance sheets and profit and loss figures may be flourishing, I don't know, but the email industry is not.
Spam filters were set up to prevent spam, not to kill perfectly genuine and good emails, from friends, lovers, publishers you have requested a newsletter from, or anybody else who is not "spamming" you. Some recent figures suggest a significant proportion of valid emails are not reaching their destination. Is that good? Is that what the legislation intended? No, it is it not.
People use filters in good faith, without, in most cases, having any idea how they work. They may be blissfully unaware that, in some cases, good email will not reach them. How much does that damage online business? How many business relationships are damaged by failure to respond to an email that was never received? How many personal relationships are damaged in the same way? Nobody knows. But if, for example, a marriage is on the rocks, one such incident could be the straw that broke the camel's back.
Internet marketers in particular have been covering the subject an enormous amount in the past year. Some are even
Dont Give the Spammers Your Address From Your Page
Spammers get email addresses from web pages using programs called spiders which tour the internet capturing letter strings with the "@" character in it.
Signing up for extra information at some sites and giving your email address can also get you a flood of unwanted mail, but although it feels like spam, it is, or started as, "Opt-in" email.
However, recent legislation in some countries can redefine this as spam if it fails to have certain features, like return address and physical address (of course, just what is required depends on country).
Overcoming that kind of spam is a challenge after you have signed up in a weak moment, although there are a number of programs that attempt to solve the problem. Just one is K9 from http://keir.net/k9.html
But consider this situation: you have a web page and you expect a flood of visitors, and need to put your email address there.
But how do you keep it clean?
Well remember the spiders look for an @ in the string.
We can put an alternate symbol in its place. So meandherATthere.com sits on my web page. With that particular one, we assume that the visitor has the nouse to preplace the AT with an @ and not think it is a new way to write email addresses, and the program would take care of it, and they needent do anything!
Rather than go through all the alternatives here, you will find a list of different methods and some comments about each
Signing up for extra information at some sites and giving your email address can also get you a flood of unwanted mail, but although it feels like spam, it is, or started as, "Opt-in" email.
However, recent legislation in some countries can redefine this as spam if it fails to have certain features, like return address and physical address (of course, just what is required depends on country).
Overcoming that kind of spam is a challenge after you have signed up in a weak moment, although there are a number of programs that attempt to solve the problem. Just one is K9 from http://keir.net/k9.html
But consider this situation: you have a web page and you expect a flood of visitors, and need to put your email address there.
But how do you keep it clean?
Well remember the spiders look for an @ in the string.
We can put an alternate symbol in its place. So meandherATthere.com sits on my web page. With that particular one, we assume that the visitor has the nouse to preplace the AT with an @ and not think it is a new way to write email addresses, and the program would take care of it, and they needent do anything!
Rather than go through all the alternatives here, you will find a list of different methods and some comments about each
The Vanishing Mail
Am I Just Being Paranoid Or Are The Robots Out To Get Me?
It all started in the early part of the twenty-first century.
In the early days of email we were thrilled with its speed and reliability, far superior to "snail mail" but there's always somebody who has to go and spoil things for everyone else. In the case of email it was the purveyors of the namesake of a certain pork-based substance. They became such a nuisance that large teams of robots had to be employed to keep them under control.
As the porkers got smarter, the robots had to become smarter still. At first, everybody agreed that stringent measures must be taken to defeat the porkers. Ever hear the phrase "throwing the baby out with the bath water" or "the cure is worse than the disease"?
The number of spam merchants multiplied over and over. Eventually, the only way of controlling them was for every email user to have his or her own robot to filter their mail. I did not want a robot filtering my mail but I didn't have much choice: nobody was allowed an email account without a robot to monitor its use.
Every time I log into my email, I pause and listen for the faint metallic scraping and a slight pneumatic wheeze as the robot wakes and prepares to filter my mail. No matter how quiet I am, he always knows and is instantly awake and alert, ready to do his job. I did not request robotic help, don't want it, don't need it but the robot is here to stay.
I think my robot is like the paranoid android in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy: slow moving and depressive, so I call him Marvin (not to his face, of course). I don't suppose my Marvin feels that censoring my mail is a suitable
It all started in the early part of the twenty-first century.
In the early days of email we were thrilled with its speed and reliability, far superior to "snail mail" but there's always somebody who has to go and spoil things for everyone else. In the case of email it was the purveyors of the namesake of a certain pork-based substance. They became such a nuisance that large teams of robots had to be employed to keep them under control.
As the porkers got smarter, the robots had to become smarter still. At first, everybody agreed that stringent measures must be taken to defeat the porkers. Ever hear the phrase "throwing the baby out with the bath water" or "the cure is worse than the disease"?
The number of spam merchants multiplied over and over. Eventually, the only way of controlling them was for every email user to have his or her own robot to filter their mail. I did not want a robot filtering my mail but I didn't have much choice: nobody was allowed an email account without a robot to monitor its use.
Every time I log into my email, I pause and listen for the faint metallic scraping and a slight pneumatic wheeze as the robot wakes and prepares to filter my mail. No matter how quiet I am, he always knows and is instantly awake and alert, ready to do his job. I did not request robotic help, don't want it, don't need it but the robot is here to stay.
I think my robot is like the paranoid android in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy: slow moving and depressive, so I call him Marvin (not to his face, of course). I don't suppose my Marvin feels that censoring my mail is a suitable
Avoid, Shun, Thwart, Prevent, and then Filter Spam
Email is rapidly becoming the standard means of communication among businesses, associates, and even friends. While many people have now been using the internet and email for years, there are thousands of new users on the internet each day. With inexpensive web hosting, free email services, and the blog burst upon us, getting your own slice of the internet pie has never been easier.
Whether you're a seasoned professional looking for a refresher course, or you're new to the internet and email and want to start off right, here are some easy steps to follow to reduce the amount of spam you receive.
Don't choose an obvious email address. Spammers will generate lists of email addresses based on common names. A common list would be something like: nick@yahoo.com, nick1@yahoo.com, nick2@yahoo.com, etc. If you create an email account with less obvious combinations of your name plus some numbers, chances are better that you won't find your way onto one of these lists.
Treat your personal email address with care. Only give out your personal email address to close friends and family who you trust. Give your direct business email only to clients and other contacts you trust to only use your address for legitimate business purposes.
Use different accounts for different functions. Create different aliases with your business's domain name or create a few free accounts from free email servers like Hotmail, Yahoo!, Excite, etc. Use one account that you don't care about for posting to forums or discussion groups. Use another to subscribe to newsletters and newsgroups. When any of these addresses starts to get spammed too heavily, simply delete the account and switch to a different one.
Whether you're a seasoned professional looking for a refresher course, or you're new to the internet and email and want to start off right, here are some easy steps to follow to reduce the amount of spam you receive.
Don't choose an obvious email address. Spammers will generate lists of email addresses based on common names. A common list would be something like: nick@yahoo.com, nick1@yahoo.com, nick2@yahoo.com, etc. If you create an email account with less obvious combinations of your name plus some numbers, chances are better that you won't find your way onto one of these lists.
Treat your personal email address with care. Only give out your personal email address to close friends and family who you trust. Give your direct business email only to clients and other contacts you trust to only use your address for legitimate business purposes.
Use different accounts for different functions. Create different aliases with your business's domain name or create a few free accounts from free email servers like Hotmail, Yahoo!, Excite, etc. Use one account that you don't care about for posting to forums or discussion groups. Use another to subscribe to newsletters and newsgroups. When any of these addresses starts to get spammed too heavily, simply delete the account and switch to a different one.
5 Zero-Cost Spam Prevention Tools For All Situations!
Anyone who uses email knows what Spam is!
It's annoying and time consuming to wade through volumes of fraud, con and obscene emails to filter out the really important ones. And I am sure you are affected by this menace in some form or other.
How do we reduce this intolerable amounts of junk?
Here are 5 Zero-Cost tools to prevent junk cluttering your mail box. (You can access them all from a single source and the info is given at the end of this article.)
--* For the Average Email User *--
1. 0spam.com, - For the POP3 Mail user.
By far this is the easiest and effective solution for anyone with a POP3 email ID. For e.g. you@aol.com.
0Spam.com is a web based service that retrieves all your email for you and sends you only the emails from email ID's that are pre-authenticated by you. This means, no one can send you an email unless you give prior permission.
This service is very effective - let me tell you that.
2. SpamPal, - The Desktop Solution
SpamPal is a program that sits between your email client and your mailbox, checking your email as you retrieve it.
Any email messages that SpamPal considers to be junk will be "tagged" with a special header; you simply configure your email client to filter anything with this header into a separate folder and your Spam won't be mixed up with the rest of your
It's annoying and time consuming to wade through volumes of fraud, con and obscene emails to filter out the really important ones. And I am sure you are affected by this menace in some form or other.
How do we reduce this intolerable amounts of junk?
Here are 5 Zero-Cost tools to prevent junk cluttering your mail box. (You can access them all from a single source and the info is given at the end of this article.)
--* For the Average Email User *--
1. 0spam.com, - For the POP3 Mail user.
By far this is the easiest and effective solution for anyone with a POP3 email ID. For e.g. you@aol.com.
0Spam.com is a web based service that retrieves all your email for you and sends you only the emails from email ID's that are pre-authenticated by you. This means, no one can send you an email unless you give prior permission.
This service is very effective - let me tell you that.
2. SpamPal, - The Desktop Solution
SpamPal is a program that sits between your email client and your mailbox, checking your email as you retrieve it.
Any email messages that SpamPal considers to be junk will be "tagged" with a special header; you simply configure your email client to filter anything with this header into a separate folder and your Spam won't be mixed up with the rest of your
Dont Look Spammy!
We all hate spam and get way too much of it - agreed? Now that we have that out of the way it is important to realize that in everyone's zest to minimize their spam, we are deleting legitimate e-mails - and those e-mail could be YOUR business messages! Two factors are at play - not reviewing your trash before you empty it and sending e-mail with indicators that trip spam filters.
When sending business e-mail, it is critical that you make certain efforts so that your e-mail will not be inadvertently, incorrectly perceived as spam. Several times each day, legitimate e-mail makes its way into my Junk/Trash due to the sender doing or not doing certain things that trigger most spam filters. These are issues you need to be aware of so that your e-mail has its best chance to make it to its intended party.
Your initial contact and making sure your e-mail gives the perception of a serious business entity can make the difference between being read or being trashed. Here is a simple checklist of things you need to put in practice so that your e-mails are not mistakenly identified as spam and deleted before read:
=> Always include an appropriate, short and accurate SUBJECT:. Many times spam does not have a SUBJECT: or it is malformed without appropriate text. Many e-mail programs automatically send subjectless e-mail to Junk/Trash. You also want to avoid using the words: hello, hi, help, new or the recipient's name or e-mail address as doing so can trigger spam filters.
=> Refrain from using common terms abused by spammers in your subject and/or first paragraph of your email. You know what they are - you see them every day. Many spam filters track these terms and may inadvertently send your email
When sending business e-mail, it is critical that you make certain efforts so that your e-mail will not be inadvertently, incorrectly perceived as spam. Several times each day, legitimate e-mail makes its way into my Junk/Trash due to the sender doing or not doing certain things that trigger most spam filters. These are issues you need to be aware of so that your e-mail has its best chance to make it to its intended party.
Your initial contact and making sure your e-mail gives the perception of a serious business entity can make the difference between being read or being trashed. Here is a simple checklist of things you need to put in practice so that your e-mails are not mistakenly identified as spam and deleted before read:
=> Always include an appropriate, short and accurate SUBJECT:. Many times spam does not have a SUBJECT: or it is malformed without appropriate text. Many e-mail programs automatically send subjectless e-mail to Junk/Trash. You also want to avoid using the words: hello, hi, help, new or the recipient's name or e-mail address as doing so can trigger spam filters.
=> Refrain from using common terms abused by spammers in your subject and/or first paragraph of your email. You know what they are - you see them every day. Many spam filters track these terms and may inadvertently send your email
Spam with Typos: Why Do They All Have Spelling Errors?
A friend asked me: I don't get it. Why do spammers have such a hard time spelling things properly? I get mail trying to sell me "viagggra", increase my "brest" size, or save me money accessing "pr0n" sites or buying "seks toys". Even more puzzling, there are plenty of spam messages where it takes me a few minutes to even figure out what the subject actually is, with subjects like "sa vem oneyo n vviiiaaagra" or similar. What's the story? Why can't these people use a spell checking program??
I have often wondered this myself, with spam messages like "YOU JUST WONT A GREENCARD" (don't they mean "won"?), "Morgage ref id last opportunity" (don't they mean "mortgage")? and, my favorite "earn a college degre instantly" (they presumably mean "degree", but if they can't spell the word degree, how can I have confidence in the legitimacy of what they're offering??)
But anyone who has spent more than about five minutes looking at the problem and attempted solutions to spam knows why there are such rampant misspellings: to try and sidestep spam filters. In additional to individual spam filtering systems, there are now many Internet Service Providers who filter your email before it even gets to your mailbox, weeding out the most idiotic and easily recognized of this junk.
Of course, if you are a physician and have patients who are concerned about that Merck Vioxx prescription you wrote for them two years ago, it is theoretically possible that their message won't make it to you. If you're a mortgage broker, well, news of your competitors offerings might be something you do want to receive. But overall, most people don't want this
I have often wondered this myself, with spam messages like "YOU JUST WONT A GREENCARD" (don't they mean "won"?), "Morgage ref id last opportunity" (don't they mean "mortgage")? and, my favorite "earn a college degre instantly" (they presumably mean "degree", but if they can't spell the word degree, how can I have confidence in the legitimacy of what they're offering??)
But anyone who has spent more than about five minutes looking at the problem and attempted solutions to spam knows why there are such rampant misspellings: to try and sidestep spam filters. In additional to individual spam filtering systems, there are now many Internet Service Providers who filter your email before it even gets to your mailbox, weeding out the most idiotic and easily recognized of this junk.
Of course, if you are a physician and have patients who are concerned about that Merck Vioxx prescription you wrote for them two years ago, it is theoretically possible that their message won't make it to you. If you're a mortgage broker, well, news of your competitors offerings might be something you do want to receive. But overall, most people don't want this
Eight Quick Tips For Stopping SPAM
If you are buried in SPAM then you're not alone. It's been suggested that as much as 50% to 75% of the e-mail traffic on any given day is SPAM. Reading through SPAM is a waste of your time and it subjects you to potential viruses, trojan horses, and sexual material which can be quite offensive. Here are some tips on how to win the SPAM war:
1. Use a throwaway email address when posting to public news groups and chat rooms and for your Yahoo or MS Messenger Chat accounts. You can get free email addresses at Yahoo, HotMail and other places. Use your personal ISP-provided email address only to communicate with trusted sources. If you are an AOL user then set up an additional email account to use for public posting purposes. When your free or spare email account starts getting abused just close it and open another.
2. Take the time to set up different email addresses for different purposes. Have one for business communications, another for personal and another one for shopping online. That way you can avoid the risk of exposing one e-mail address to all of your contacts.
3. If you own your own web site then the chances are that your hosting account comes with the ability to create new e-mail addresses on the fly. These are addresses that will automatically forward to your main address. If you have that capability then use a unique address for each web site or mailing list that you choose to join. For example, if your site name is abc.com and you decide to join the mailing list located at xyz.com, you would join using the address xyz@abc.com. If you start getting SPAM to this address then you know that the people who run xyz.com are responsible. You can complain to them and their ISP and you can easily delete that email address.
1. Use a throwaway email address when posting to public news groups and chat rooms and for your Yahoo or MS Messenger Chat accounts. You can get free email addresses at Yahoo, HotMail and other places. Use your personal ISP-provided email address only to communicate with trusted sources. If you are an AOL user then set up an additional email account to use for public posting purposes. When your free or spare email account starts getting abused just close it and open another.
2. Take the time to set up different email addresses for different purposes. Have one for business communications, another for personal and another one for shopping online. That way you can avoid the risk of exposing one e-mail address to all of your contacts.
3. If you own your own web site then the chances are that your hosting account comes with the ability to create new e-mail addresses on the fly. These are addresses that will automatically forward to your main address. If you have that capability then use a unique address for each web site or mailing list that you choose to join. For example, if your site name is abc.com and you decide to join the mailing list located at xyz.com, you would join using the address xyz@abc.com. If you start getting SPAM to this address then you know that the people who run xyz.com are responsible. You can complain to them and their ISP and you can easily delete that email address.
Internet Theft and Fraud
My friends in the web hosting business have recently informed me that the big problem this year (2004) is security and fraud. I have read that currently the F.B.I. receives over 9,000 complaints per month pertaining to bogus email and websites. Why is this happening? Are just a few 'bad apples' doing it, or is it the result of a lopsided world economy where the underprivileged are finally striking back like the infamous Robin Hood? Whatever your moral view, I've got the strange feeling it stems from a growing unconscious greed in the social consciousness of modern society. People worship money, not spirituality or love. Am I wrong?
Technically, the main problems at the moment are 'phishing' or 'spoofing' scams. This is where the use of Spam or junk-email is used to lure computer users to look-alike websites where they are deceived into giving out personal information and financial data. Often these emails are coming from trusted sources where hackers have altered links to send you straight into their 'pockets'. The Internet user is duped into thinking that they are visiting a trusted website page, when actually it is an excellent copy of the original. There might be only one tiny change in the web address that is often not easily recognizable.
Identity theft is where multiple tricks are employed to make you fill out fake forms on fake sites to get all sorts of information that can then be used by thieves to steal money or get free Internet access. Anything from credit card numbers to account information, passwords, billing data and personal phone numbers and addresses have been stolen and used for criminal purposes.
These tricksters, few or many, are wizards at finding loopholes in mail systems of legitimate sites. Just go to the site entitled
Technically, the main problems at the moment are 'phishing' or 'spoofing' scams. This is where the use of Spam or junk-email is used to lure computer users to look-alike websites where they are deceived into giving out personal information and financial data. Often these emails are coming from trusted sources where hackers have altered links to send you straight into their 'pockets'. The Internet user is duped into thinking that they are visiting a trusted website page, when actually it is an excellent copy of the original. There might be only one tiny change in the web address that is often not easily recognizable.
Identity theft is where multiple tricks are employed to make you fill out fake forms on fake sites to get all sorts of information that can then be used by thieves to steal money or get free Internet access. Anything from credit card numbers to account information, passwords, billing data and personal phone numbers and addresses have been stolen and used for criminal purposes.
These tricksters, few or many, are wizards at finding loopholes in mail systems of legitimate sites. Just go to the site entitled
Ignoring These Tips Could Result in an Inbox Full of Spam
Although there still seem to be some differences among the US Government, the lawmakers, the anti-spam organizations and the spammers regarding what is spam and what is not, identifying it is actually pretty easy: if you did not ask for it, you did not sign up on a mailing list related to it, and did not leave your e-mail address on a web form asking for more information on it?it's spam! The spam issue is not about content, but solely about delivery method. The content of spam is and has always been irrelevant.
Again, if it is sent unsolicited and in bulk, it is spam plain and simple. Sure we want spam to stop. Nobody wants their e-mail address cycling around from spammer to spammer. We can delete it, but have you ever stopped to consider how much time we actually spend each day hitting the 'Delete' button? We should not have to beg to be removed from something we did not ask to be put on in the first place! So where do we draw the line? When do we start thinking it is not worth logging into our email account to read our messages? Despite the effort of thousands of angry spam victims pushing for stronger laws against spammers over the last few years, not much progress has been done in this respect. Moreover, in January 2004 the U.S. Government has passed the CAN-SPAM Act, a law backed overwhelmingly by spammers and large corporations, because it legalized spamming instead of banning it. With the passage of CAN-SPAM, spamming has become legal throughout the United States. Now 23 million U.S. businesses can all begin spamming email addresses as long as they give users a way to opt-out. What CAN-SPAM makes illegal is the use of open proxies or any form of resource misappropriation as well as use of false headers, which for the top spammers to avoid is business as usual.
Again, if it is sent unsolicited and in bulk, it is spam plain and simple. Sure we want spam to stop. Nobody wants their e-mail address cycling around from spammer to spammer. We can delete it, but have you ever stopped to consider how much time we actually spend each day hitting the 'Delete' button? We should not have to beg to be removed from something we did not ask to be put on in the first place! So where do we draw the line? When do we start thinking it is not worth logging into our email account to read our messages? Despite the effort of thousands of angry spam victims pushing for stronger laws against spammers over the last few years, not much progress has been done in this respect. Moreover, in January 2004 the U.S. Government has passed the CAN-SPAM Act, a law backed overwhelmingly by spammers and large corporations, because it legalized spamming instead of banning it. With the passage of CAN-SPAM, spamming has become legal throughout the United States. Now 23 million U.S. businesses can all begin spamming email addresses as long as they give users a way to opt-out. What CAN-SPAM makes illegal is the use of open proxies or any form of resource misappropriation as well as use of false headers, which for the top spammers to avoid is business as usual.
Spam Filters Explained
What do they do? How do they work? Which one is right for me? By Alan Hearnshaw
Spam is a very real problem that many people have to deal with on a daily basis. For those that have decided to do something about it and start to investigate the options available in spam filtering, this article provides a brief introduction to your options and the types of spam filters available.
Despite the bewildering array of spam filters available today, all claiming to the best one "of its kind" there are really just five filtering methodologies in general use today and all products rely on one, or a combination of these:
Content-Based Filters
"In the beginning, there were content-based filters."
These filters scan the contents of the and look for tell-tale signs that the message is spam. In the early days of spamming it was quite simple to look out for "Kill Words" such as "Lose Weight" and mark a message as spam if it was found.
Very soon though, spammers got wise to this and started resorting to all kinds of tricks to get their message past the filters. The days of "obfuscation" had begun. We started getting messages containing the phrase "L0se Welght" (Notice the zero for "o" and "l" for "i") and even more bizarre - and sometimes quite ingenious - variations.
This rendered basic content-based filters somewhat ineffective, although there are one or two on the market now that are clever enough to "see through" theses attempts and still provide good results.
Bayesian Based Filters
"The Reverend Bayes comes to the rescue"
Spam is a very real problem that many people have to deal with on a daily basis. For those that have decided to do something about it and start to investigate the options available in spam filtering, this article provides a brief introduction to your options and the types of spam filters available.
Despite the bewildering array of spam filters available today, all claiming to the best one "of its kind" there are really just five filtering methodologies in general use today and all products rely on one, or a combination of these:
Content-Based Filters
"In the beginning, there were content-based filters."
These filters scan the contents of the and look for tell-tale signs that the message is spam. In the early days of spamming it was quite simple to look out for "Kill Words" such as "Lose Weight" and mark a message as spam if it was found.
Very soon though, spammers got wise to this and started resorting to all kinds of tricks to get their message past the filters. The days of "obfuscation" had begun. We started getting messages containing the phrase "L0se Welght" (Notice the zero for "o" and "l" for "i") and even more bizarre - and sometimes quite ingenious - variations.
This rendered basic content-based filters somewhat ineffective, although there are one or two on the market now that are clever enough to "see through" theses attempts and still provide good results.
Bayesian Based Filters
"The Reverend Bayes comes to the rescue"
Beware of the Newest Activity Online: Phishing
No. I'm not talking here about the outdoor activity enjoyed by many. And no again; I did not misspell it. Phishing is the name given to the latest online scam where millions of unwary Americans are getting their identities stolen.
This fraudulent activity is considered the fastest growing crime of modern times. The favorite target groups of phishers seem to be very young children and senior citizens, as they do not often ask for credit reports, fill out credit card applications or solicit loans. This allows the thieves to go undetected for longer periods of time; but still, be careful. We all are potential targets.
Remember when throwing away unshredded documents with personal information in the trash bin was considered a big risk for identity theft? While this still happens, identity thieves have become more sophisticated in recent times, and this is how they do it?
Phishers create bogus e-mails that look as if they came from large, well-known institutions and banks, such as eBay, Paypal, Citibank, EarthLink, and Wells Fargo among others. These e-mails claim that you are due for an account update, or that the account number, password, social security number or other confidential information needs to be verified. Then they warn you, stating that if you do not do it within a certain period of time, that your account will be closed, terminated, the service discontinued, or something to that effect.
They even provide you with links to websites that look legitimate, because they hijack the real logos of these well known banks, and trusted institutions and companies. And that is the scary part? these e-mails look 100% legitimate, but they are not.
This fraudulent activity is considered the fastest growing crime of modern times. The favorite target groups of phishers seem to be very young children and senior citizens, as they do not often ask for credit reports, fill out credit card applications or solicit loans. This allows the thieves to go undetected for longer periods of time; but still, be careful. We all are potential targets.
Remember when throwing away unshredded documents with personal information in the trash bin was considered a big risk for identity theft? While this still happens, identity thieves have become more sophisticated in recent times, and this is how they do it?
Phishers create bogus e-mails that look as if they came from large, well-known institutions and banks, such as eBay, Paypal, Citibank, EarthLink, and Wells Fargo among others. These e-mails claim that you are due for an account update, or that the account number, password, social security number or other confidential information needs to be verified. Then they warn you, stating that if you do not do it within a certain period of time, that your account will be closed, terminated, the service discontinued, or something to that effect.
They even provide you with links to websites that look legitimate, because they hijack the real logos of these well known banks, and trusted institutions and companies. And that is the scary part? these e-mails look 100% legitimate, but they are not.
Trackback
What is spam ?
Spam is text or URL, in one or several exemplars, neither being waited nor wished, not having, neither directly nor from its shipper, no relationship neither with the recipient nor with a possible
resource related to the recipient.
How does spam appears in blogs ?
Through the comments' body and commentator's URL.
Through trackbacks' excerpt and permalink's URL
What are the anti-spam methods?
Authentication by connection
CAPTCHA
Black List
Bayesian Filter
Other methods to minimize spam :
Time Interval between submissions / Number of submissions per hour.
Spam is text or URL, in one or several exemplars, neither being waited nor wished, not having, neither directly nor from its shipper, no relationship neither with the recipient nor with a possible
resource related to the recipient.
How does spam appears in blogs ?
Through the comments' body and commentator's URL.
Through trackbacks' excerpt and permalink's URL
What are the anti-spam methods?
Authentication by connection
CAPTCHA
Black List
Bayesian Filter
Other methods to minimize spam :
Time Interval between submissions / Number of submissions per hour.
How To Analyze A Rip-Off Scheme
This review is taken DIRECTLY from a piece of "junk mail." It is or the program that starts out with the heading: "Before You Decide To Throw This Away, Please Read The Enclosed At Least Once - Then Decide. This is Not a Chain Letter! I Threw The Program in The Trash."
The first paragraph reads: "I had received this program before and threw it away, but later I wondered if I shouldn't have given it a try. Of course, I had no idea who to contact to get a copy, so I had to wait until I was mailed another copy of the program - eleven months passed, then it came. I DIDN'T throw this one away. I made $41,000 on the first try!!" Signed by D. Wilburn, Muncie IN.
In order to get your attention quick, Mr. or Ms Wilburn shares their experience of making the mistake of throwing the letter away. A normal person will say to themselves: "I don't want to make the same mistake Wilburn did. He had to wait another 11 months before he had the chance, so I better really read this thing." But in reality you'll find out that this piece of garbage has been floating around for years and if you miss this copy, you'll get another one tomorrow or the day after.
The next thing you see is a bold headline reading: "You are about to make at least $50,000 in less than 90 days - in the comfort of your own home. Read the enclosed program, then read it again." The average person is skeptical but the idea of money has been planted in your mind right up front. This will cause you to read a little while longer.
The rest of the page is completely filled with hype - informing you everything is LEGITIMATE and LEGAL. (We all want to be legitimate and legal don't we?) Claims are made that the program works 100% every time and how thousands have used the program to raise capital to start their own business, pay off debts, homes, cars, etc., an
The first paragraph reads: "I had received this program before and threw it away, but later I wondered if I shouldn't have given it a try. Of course, I had no idea who to contact to get a copy, so I had to wait until I was mailed another copy of the program - eleven months passed, then it came. I DIDN'T throw this one away. I made $41,000 on the first try!!" Signed by D. Wilburn, Muncie IN.
In order to get your attention quick, Mr. or Ms Wilburn shares their experience of making the mistake of throwing the letter away. A normal person will say to themselves: "I don't want to make the same mistake Wilburn did. He had to wait another 11 months before he had the chance, so I better really read this thing." But in reality you'll find out that this piece of garbage has been floating around for years and if you miss this copy, you'll get another one tomorrow or the day after.
The next thing you see is a bold headline reading: "You are about to make at least $50,000 in less than 90 days - in the comfort of your own home. Read the enclosed program, then read it again." The average person is skeptical but the idea of money has been planted in your mind right up front. This will cause you to read a little while longer.
The rest of the page is completely filled with hype - informing you everything is LEGITIMATE and LEGAL. (We all want to be legitimate and legal don't we?) Claims are made that the program works 100% every time and how thousands have used the program to raise capital to start their own business, pay off debts, homes, cars, etc., an
Winning the War On Spam
For years I didn't worry much about spam.
But lately it's got out of control. Over half of my email is now spam, and it was growing by the week - until I took action.
This article shows you some strategies for winning the war on spam.
------------------------------------------------
How Do They Get Your Address?
------------------------------------------------
In the old days, spammers got their addresses mainly from Newsgroups - if you didn't post to Newsgroups, you were reasonably safe. But they're now using a much more efficient method to build their lists - email harvesters.
Email harvesters are robots that roam the Internet collecting email addresses from web pages. Examples are EmailSiphon, Cherry Picker, Web Weasel, Web Bandit and Email Wolf, to name just a few.
How can you protect yourself from email harvesters?
By 'munging' (mung = 'mash until no good') or cloaking your email address.
There are many ways of munging your address - the easiest technique is to use ASCII code for the punctuation in your email address (instead of symbols).
For the colon after mailto use : and for the @ symbol use @ and for the period use . . With this method, your email address would become:
mailto:yourname@yourdomain.com
But lately it's got out of control. Over half of my email is now spam, and it was growing by the week - until I took action.
This article shows you some strategies for winning the war on spam.
------------------------------------------------
How Do They Get Your Address?
------------------------------------------------
In the old days, spammers got their addresses mainly from Newsgroups - if you didn't post to Newsgroups, you were reasonably safe. But they're now using a much more efficient method to build their lists - email harvesters.
Email harvesters are robots that roam the Internet collecting email addresses from web pages. Examples are EmailSiphon, Cherry Picker, Web Weasel, Web Bandit and Email Wolf, to name just a few.
How can you protect yourself from email harvesters?
By 'munging' (mung = 'mash until no good') or cloaking your email address.
There are many ways of munging your address - the easiest technique is to use ASCII code for the punctuation in your email address (instead of symbols).
For the colon after mailto use : and for the @ symbol use @ and for the period use . . With this method, your email address would become:
mailto:yourname@yourdomain.com
20 Words That Kill - At Least When It Comes to Spam Filters
Spam, spam, spam. It's terrible not only for those of us on the receiving end, but for those of us who SEND e-mail.
This deluge of irritating junk has unfortunately interfered with legitimate e-zine publishers, because we're caught in the anti-spam crossfire. If you publish any type of e-mail publication, there's a likely chance that your e-zine is NOT reaching a portion of your readers. Why? Their Internet service provider (ISP) or e-mail program uses a spam filter.
These software programs search for words and phrases that are typical of spam and assign each incoming e-mail a "score." If your e-mail has too many of these words and phrases, you receive a high score, and you may be blocked.
TOP 20 "KILLER" WORDS/PHRASES YOU MAY BE USING
While there are other words that will cost you more "points" than these do (e.g. sexual phrases), here are the most common "trigger" words and phrases that you may be using in your e-zine:
amazing
cancel at any time
check or money order
click here
congratulations
dear friend
e-mail marketing
This deluge of irritating junk has unfortunately interfered with legitimate e-zine publishers, because we're caught in the anti-spam crossfire. If you publish any type of e-mail publication, there's a likely chance that your e-zine is NOT reaching a portion of your readers. Why? Their Internet service provider (ISP) or e-mail program uses a spam filter.
These software programs search for words and phrases that are typical of spam and assign each incoming e-mail a "score." If your e-mail has too many of these words and phrases, you receive a high score, and you may be blocked.
TOP 20 "KILLER" WORDS/PHRASES YOU MAY BE USING
While there are other words that will cost you more "points" than these do (e.g. sexual phrases), here are the most common "trigger" words and phrases that you may be using in your e-zine:
amazing
cancel at any time
check or money order
click here
congratulations
dear friend
e-mail marketing
Getting Back To Basics.
While we all agree that there`s way too much spamming/junk-mailing going on in our email boxes, there are a couple of things we can do to reduce the amount of mails we actually have to sift through, without having to resort to paying for expensive software that can be a real pain to set up properly.
Firstly, and this is a great, little known tip. You can get yourself a free email account, (the bigger the better) which is a great thing to have if you use a lot of FFA`s, Classified sites, Search Engine Submittals etc. When you create the junkmail account, be sure to save the information you`ve used to create it with into a Wordpad/Notepad file.
When the account is full, flit through it quickly, just to make sure there`s nothing of real importance there. If there is, copy and paste it to your favourite text document. Then just go ahead and delete the whole junkmail account. You`ve saved the info you used to create it with in the first place, so it`ll only take a couple of minutes to re-create it.
Next, whenever you join a program or a site, have your email client open at the same time, so you get the welcome mails immediately. Confirm the welcome immediately, then put the mail into a special folder, created for all emails from that particular address.
That way, different emails go to different folders, without getting too mixed up. If and when you decide to leave that program, delete all the mail you`ve saved from them, but please make sure that you DO actually opt-out before doing this.
Another thing to remember is if you`re getting mails from someplace and you`re pretty darned sure you have absolutely no reason to be getting them, DON`T click on the remove me link! What you`re really doing, is letting the spammers know that they`ve mailed to a real, used address, and they`ll mail more and more, and never stop. Some of the more unscrupulous ones will even sell your address to be used as part of a mailing list, which in turn with result in even MORE spam.
A lot of people seem to have forgotten where the delete button is, and scream the dreaded word "SPAM!!" as soon as an unfamiliar looking email drops into their inbox. This can be very damaging to legitimate business owners, so please, don`t
Firstly, and this is a great, little known tip. You can get yourself a free email account, (the bigger the better) which is a great thing to have if you use a lot of FFA`s, Classified sites, Search Engine Submittals etc. When you create the junkmail account, be sure to save the information you`ve used to create it with into a Wordpad/Notepad file.
When the account is full, flit through it quickly, just to make sure there`s nothing of real importance there. If there is, copy and paste it to your favourite text document. Then just go ahead and delete the whole junkmail account. You`ve saved the info you used to create it with in the first place, so it`ll only take a couple of minutes to re-create it.
Next, whenever you join a program or a site, have your email client open at the same time, so you get the welcome mails immediately. Confirm the welcome immediately, then put the mail into a special folder, created for all emails from that particular address.
That way, different emails go to different folders, without getting too mixed up. If and when you decide to leave that program, delete all the mail you`ve saved from them, but please make sure that you DO actually opt-out before doing this.
Another thing to remember is if you`re getting mails from someplace and you`re pretty darned sure you have absolutely no reason to be getting them, DON`T click on the remove me link! What you`re really doing, is letting the spammers know that they`ve mailed to a real, used address, and they`ll mail more and more, and never stop. Some of the more unscrupulous ones will even sell your address to be used as part of a mailing list, which in turn with result in even MORE spam.
A lot of people seem to have forgotten where the delete button is, and scream the dreaded word "SPAM!!" as soon as an unfamiliar looking email drops into their inbox. This can be very damaging to legitimate business owners, so please, don`t
Lockspam Free 3.0 Released!
6 August, 2004: Polesoft Inc., home of Professional anti spam software, announced today that Lockspam Free 3.0 (see also Lockspam Pro 3.0 in the end) is now available.
Some features of Lockspam Free 3.0 antispam software:
1. Function with Most POP3 Mail Clients Lockspam Free 3.0 can work with mail clients like Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Incredimail, Mozilla, Pegasus Mail, The Bat!, Foxmail, i.Scribe and many other mail clients.
2. Support Multi-User Mode Lockspam also support multi-user OS, like Windows XP, install once, works for all.
3. Apply Advanced Filtering Rules Lockspam Free 3.0 has a 6-step filtering process for probable spam messages. Allowed List > Allowed Keywords > Blocked List > Blocked Keywords > Polesoft Security Pack > heuristic Polesoft Anti-spam Engine.
a) User definable Allowed/Blocked Keywords In addition to the sophisticated lists contained in Lockspam Free 3.0 and updated daily.
b) Polesoft Security Pack More and more emails contain viruses. To combat this growing problem Polesoft have made available the Security Pack. The Security Pack contains pattern files of recent virus attachments and those scanned by Anti-Virus products. If any attachment matches the pattern files the message is regarded as spam and sent to the Polesoft Antispam folder.
c) Polesoft Antispam Engine Polesoft Antispam Engine is based on Bayesian filtering and heuristically learns users' preferences and follows their logic in differentiating spam and normal mails.
Some features of Lockspam Free 3.0 antispam software:
1. Function with Most POP3 Mail Clients Lockspam Free 3.0 can work with mail clients like Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Incredimail, Mozilla, Pegasus Mail, The Bat!, Foxmail, i.Scribe and many other mail clients.
2. Support Multi-User Mode Lockspam also support multi-user OS, like Windows XP, install once, works for all.
3. Apply Advanced Filtering Rules Lockspam Free 3.0 has a 6-step filtering process for probable spam messages. Allowed List > Allowed Keywords > Blocked List > Blocked Keywords > Polesoft Security Pack > heuristic Polesoft Anti-spam Engine.
a) User definable Allowed/Blocked Keywords In addition to the sophisticated lists contained in Lockspam Free 3.0 and updated daily.
b) Polesoft Security Pack More and more emails contain viruses. To combat this growing problem Polesoft have made available the Security Pack. The Security Pack contains pattern files of recent virus attachments and those scanned by Anti-Virus products. If any attachment matches the pattern files the message is regarded as spam and sent to the Polesoft Antispam folder.
c) Polesoft Antispam Engine Polesoft Antispam Engine is based on Bayesian filtering and heuristically learns users' preferences and follows their logic in differentiating spam and normal mails.
The Great Spam Scam: Five Strategies To Stop Brand and Revenue Robbery
Marketers usually think of anti-spam tactics as 'how to prevent' readers from perceiving their e-communications as spam. There is another, more sinister, consequence that may affect you. Spam is not just an inconvenience. For legitimate businesses, it steals productivity, erode your brand, and rob you of revenue.
Many companies have no idea their products are being sold on the black market or their customers are tangled in credit card frauds thinking they ordered something from your organization and are about to receive zip. These shifty sales schemes cost companies billions of dollars each year in lost customers and sales of products and services.
While Aunt Margaret may have served Hormel canned pork (SPiced hAM referred to as Spam), like it or not, you knew what was in it. With Internet spam (unsolicited bulk email or unsolicited multiple postings to one or more Usenet newsgroups), you don't always know what you're getting. Some spam messages are convincing. Some are plain annoying. Whether spicy or not, many of them result in criminal offenses on a worldwide level.
Producers of a popular product, a drug like Retin-A, a best-selling software program, or a service such as a vacation package, are all economically affected by spammers. When people buy these knock-offs, legitimate companies lose money. When people order something and don't receive it, your company gets a bad name.
Five strategies for protecting assets
Whether your company sells pharmaceuticals, software, or other products, these five plans of action will help stop brand and revenue robbery:
Many companies have no idea their products are being sold on the black market or their customers are tangled in credit card frauds thinking they ordered something from your organization and are about to receive zip. These shifty sales schemes cost companies billions of dollars each year in lost customers and sales of products and services.
While Aunt Margaret may have served Hormel canned pork (SPiced hAM referred to as Spam), like it or not, you knew what was in it. With Internet spam (unsolicited bulk email or unsolicited multiple postings to one or more Usenet newsgroups), you don't always know what you're getting. Some spam messages are convincing. Some are plain annoying. Whether spicy or not, many of them result in criminal offenses on a worldwide level.
Producers of a popular product, a drug like Retin-A, a best-selling software program, or a service such as a vacation package, are all economically affected by spammers. When people buy these knock-offs, legitimate companies lose money. When people order something and don't receive it, your company gets a bad name.
Five strategies for protecting assets
Whether your company sells pharmaceuticals, software, or other products, these five plans of action will help stop brand and revenue robbery:
Phishing for an Identity
Phishing is rapidly becoming on the largest threats to your personal, financial, and emotional wellbeing. No I am not talking about Saturday afternoons out on the boat with your grandfather, listening to stories that being with "When I was your age?"-now while these probably conjure up horrific childhood memories of such stores, they in no way come close to the horror felt by victims of Phishing.
Phishing (fish'ing - to trick people into providing their personal and financial information by pretending to be from a legitimate company, agency or organization) is a fairly new scam propagating itself on the internet in many different forms. Each has the same sole purpose of convincing you to volunteer your personal and financial information and hand if over to these crooks.
One such attack was targeting PayPal (www.PayPal.com) customers, by sending out mass email (spam) stating that there had been a security breach and the account has been suspended until you verify some information. Well this may sound reasonable, but the truth behind this was it was not from PayPal; rather a carefully orchestrated scam to capture your PayPal username and password, credit card information, debt card pin number, mailing address, and social security number among others. What made these even scarier was the fact that the message was designed so well-using PayPal's logo and website layout perfectly-that even I had to take a second look. This convinced people of the legitimacy of the message and prompted individuals-estimated in the thousands-to happily provide their information over to the scammer.
There were a few items that made this email message stand out as a fraudulent spam message rather than legit communication:
Phishing (fish'ing - to trick people into providing their personal and financial information by pretending to be from a legitimate company, agency or organization) is a fairly new scam propagating itself on the internet in many different forms. Each has the same sole purpose of convincing you to volunteer your personal and financial information and hand if over to these crooks.
One such attack was targeting PayPal (www.PayPal.com) customers, by sending out mass email (spam) stating that there had been a security breach and the account has been suspended until you verify some information. Well this may sound reasonable, but the truth behind this was it was not from PayPal; rather a carefully orchestrated scam to capture your PayPal username and password, credit card information, debt card pin number, mailing address, and social security number among others. What made these even scarier was the fact that the message was designed so well-using PayPal's logo and website layout perfectly-that even I had to take a second look. This convinced people of the legitimacy of the message and prompted individuals-estimated in the thousands-to happily provide their information over to the scammer.
There were a few items that made this email message stand out as a fraudulent spam message rather than legit communication:
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