The Eight Step Guide to Get Rid of Spam

"The problem of spam email messages will be gone within two years," this

was the prediction made by none other than Bill Gates way back in January2004. How we wish his words had turned true! Instead, the unsolicited junk email or spam continues to endlessly jam our email, leaving us with a messy inbox.

Having junk email in our inbox does not only us with a continuous mess to clean; it also poses a number of threats that loom large over all our activities related to the Internet usage. For all those who dread the junk they receive almost everyday, here are some handy tips that will help fight spam effectively.

1. Guard your email ID

Making your email address public puts it at the risk of being easily picked up by spammers. This is one of the easiest ways through which spammers get into your email account and is akin to leaving the door of your house open, inviting the criminals.

If you regularly post comments on various polls, forums and blogs, make sure that your email address does not appear on any page on the web. Also, if you host or run your own website, use online forms instead of your address. email address. Avoid writing your real email address on these forms. There are chances that your information may be sold out or misused which may ultimately clog your email account.

2. Separate Accounts

It is preferable to use separate email accounts for personal and professional use. This will help you sort out spam emails. In case you are a frequent online shopper, use a different email account for buying products online as it can trigger spam messages in your inbox.

Also, for subscribing to newsletters or other publications online, never use your professional email address as it can expose your email address.

3. Watch out for Checkboxes

Be wary of those checkboxes that you may find at the end of an online form. You may end up accepting them saying, "YES, I want to be contacted by select third parties concerning products I might be interested in."

Mostly these checkboxes are pre-selected, and once you submit the form your information including your email, address and phone number will be passed over to others. How else do you think your email account overflows with spam messages! So while filling in Web forms, check the site’s privacy policy to ensure it will not be sold or passed on the other companies.

4. Go for a complex email address

Many may find it hard to ppply, considering the ease in using a simpler address, but the reality is that a difficult email address can help you easily stay out of spammers’ list.

Many research reports also suggest that complex email addresses makes it hard for spammers to crack it than the one that is simple. Don’t you think yourname123_654@complex.com is difficult to guess?

5. Enable Spam Filters

One of the easiest ways keeping spammers away is by enabling spam filter. Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) support free spam filtering. Enabling such filters helps reduce how much spam you and other members of the same ISP receive.

Also, most email service providers offer spam filter. Check your settings to enable the filters. Note: Gmail has the best spam filters available for a web based mail system.

6. Anti-spam software

Gone are the days when spam filtering software would cost you a fortune. Today, many free software are available as free downloads and are great at filtering spam messages from entering your inbox. These programs are designed to identify a spam message by hidden tags in the message, use of text and images, and various other things pointing it to be an unwanted message. For instance, PowerPlugs is an anti-spam program for Microsoft Outlook Inbox.

Some others include SpamEater Pro, SPAMfighter, ChoiceMail One, Spam Killer and Spam Buster. Spam Kikker and Spam Buster. Just type free anti-spam software in Google and you will be surprised by the number of websites which offer the same. Also, make sure that you regularly update your antivirus software. Many viruses and Trojans scan the hard disk for email addresses to send spam and viruses.

7. Set rule for all incoming email

Setting rule for an incoming mail can also help users get rid of spam messages. For instance, defining the settings that say, “if my name appears in to To: of CC: field, the move the message to inbox.”

This will help you sort you incoming messages and filter the rest. However, such setting may differ from one e-mail program to another.

8. Never reply to spam messages

Responding to a spam message can be really dangerous. Replying back means a user is confirming that the email addresses valid and the spam has been successfully delivered to the inbox. According to McAfee, the list of confirmed email addresses are more valuable to spammers than unconfirmed lists, and they are frequently bought and sold by spammers, leading to a bigger spiral in volume.®