On Outloook e-mail some spam site that I block come back. Why & How do I stop them?

Question

I get a lot of credit card offers and stuff from "Premiere Bank" and some Christian singles offers. I block them out but a few days later they come back, maybe spelled a little diffferent. Is there a control that I'm not aware of that will get rid of them forever or should I change my e-mail address/name.

Answer 1

send them an angry letter

Answer 2

Spam is one of the biggest complaints that all internet users have issues with. There is very little you can do. It is the equivalent to someone coming to your mailbox each day and putting circulars in there. You can put up a sign saying NO SOLICITORS, but if they choose to ignore it or somehow get around it, there is presently no law to stop it.



Here are a few things you can do to reduce the amount of spam you get:



1) Install a spam filter to help Outlook filter the junk mails out. Microsoft itself does a pretty poor job in getting rid of spam, but there are companies (like SpamBayes) that have a add-on filter that will toss all the junk out or place it in a separate folder for you to clean up once a month or as desired.



2) Use one email address for your private emails between relatives and friends and make sure no one posts that on the internet anywhere. Use a second email address (like a gmail or yahoo email account) that you use to post things on the internet or when doing internet shopping. That way, it is easy to dismiss any junk mail at the second account as spam, or simply delete the account and open a new one when you start getting loads of viagra, penis enlargement, and credit card offers.



3) When you DO get email that is spam, NEVER respond to it nor send back the request to remove your name from the mailing list. Most of these spammers use that response as a way to show that the email is actually a valid account.



4) If you are irritated enough, take note of the product that is being sold or offered, and send an email to the company that manufactures that product. Let them know that you are part of a coalition that is against spam marketing and that you will refuse to buy from a company that uses that tactic to promote or sell its products. Just remember that "phishing" is not someone trying to advertise that product. They are actually trying to steal your personal information for potential identity theft crimes. You may want to notify the bank or credit card company about the possible scam...



(NOTE: It is usually not the company's fault that this spamming method was used, but perhaps if they receive enough complaints, they will look into the matter and try to prosecute anyone who does cause their product and their company to have a negative image. Also, they may change their advertising agency and put the guy who did the spamming out of business.)

Answer 3

You can change your email address, however you should apply some best practices when using your email.



Here are a few steps you can take.



1. Don't open unsolicited Spam. Often what happens is that when you open up spam, it sends back a trigger to the originating source indicating that a valid email address has been found thus subjecting you to even more spam down the road.



2. Don't use the Preview Pane for the same reasons as #1



3. Set you email options to accept mail from only people in your address book or safe lists.



4. Set some filters to automatically route spam to certain folders for easy deletion later.



5. Use a throwaway account for any online registrations you need such as news sites and contests, etc. Often these email addresses are sold to other places, particularly advertising firms. If the throwaway account gets over run, you can simply delete it and create another.



6. Use the BCC when composing emails and encourage your friends to do the same. What this does is protects mailing lists from email harvesters.



7. You can consider using a third party application such as SpamFighter (free version can only be used for 1 account and it is for Outlook and Outlook Express only) http://www.spamfighter.com/



8. Never reply to any spam email that you happen to open and receive for the same reason as #1 above.



You can see more info at the webpage below:



http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-007.html