Comments for Why am I suddenly getting spam?

Comment from colin willsher on 2009-03-18

2009-03-18T14:38:42Z

I understand why I get spam - but why have I suddenly in the past two weeks or so stopped getting any at all? After regularly getting 20/30 pieces a day, now I get none (I am not complaining just curious ). Also over the same period now when I get an onscreen notification that I have new email messages, there are none in my inbox, or else like today it said I have 7 new messages and there were only 3. Could this have any connection with the dissappearence of the spam?

You didn't say what email program you use. I would suspect that email is being filtered into your spam folder. See if email is arriving there.

- Leo
19-Mar-2009

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Comment from vella on 2008-07-20

2008-07-21T05:21:59Z

I have found out through my own experience that your email Inbox can be bombarded with spam if someone enters your email address into a website that says Spam Your Enemies.
I rec'd over 265 spam newsletters / subscriptions with 2 days & had to close my email account.
I suspect somebody I had recently cheesed off had entered my email address ... & yes, the newsletters were from all different weird & wonderful websites, including porn [which really irritated me]
The worse thing is that the Spam Your Enemies websites appear to be legitmate.

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Comment from Leo on 2008-07-09

2008-07-09T20:46:57Z

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Glenn: Believe it. Return reciepts are completely unreliable
and disabled by most email programs by default.

Leo

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Comment from Ziggie on 2008-07-08

2008-07-08T23:13:52Z

Glenn, return receipts, I believe, are an Outlook only thing. And they are hardly reliable. Many email clients/servers refuse to even acknowledge them.

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Comment from Glenn P. on 2008-07-08

2008-07-08T20:02:54Z

In your E-Mail newsletter summary, You wrote:

"...there is no way for the spammer, or anyone else for that matter, to get notified that you have opened an email."

Don't be SILLY! Haven't you ever heard of return receipts!? Gawd, I can't believe you SAID that...!

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Comment from James Nell on 2008-07-04

2008-07-04T21:46:24Z

Hi
I have been using Incredimail with the Junkfilter Plus installed and it works great as when you report a junk e-mail it ads it to a massive online database.
I found that it filters out 90% of junk mail.
And keep auto image display off.
Also use two email accounts , one for general web sighnups etc and another for personal use.

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Comment from Leo on 2008-07-03

2008-07-03T20:44:58Z

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"When you open any spam the sender is automatically notified
that they have a legit email."

That's simply not true. As long as you have "automatically
display images" (or it's equivalent in your email program)
turned OFF, there is no way for the spammer, or anyone else
for that matter, to get notified that you have opened an
email.

Needless to say I strongly recommend having "automatically
display images" turned off.

Leo

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Comment from David on 2008-07-02

2008-07-02T16:51:31Z

Leo,
The biggest way to cut back on spam is to simply not open it! When you open any spam the sender is automatically notified that they have a legit email.Currently I use a free program called Spamihilator and it does a great job. I was using Norton AntiSpam, but it could not hit the broadside of a barn. Also, I have one primary account that is for friends and family only. A 2nd email account for newsletters and such. My 3rd email is to give out. If I want to try a newsletter for awhile I will give them the 3rd email until they have proved themselves to me, and then I will move them to the 2nd email.

Also, be careful of any website that wants your home address. In other words unless you are ordering something a site does not need your home address and telephone, and if they insist give them fake information.

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Comment from Chris on 2008-07-02

2008-07-02T13:32:26Z

4 years and 3 months of no spam until just over a month ago - it really is inevitable (and now its just plain annoying!!). Thanks for an article that helps clarify a few things...keep up the great work!

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Comment from Ravi Agrawal on 2008-07-01

2008-07-02T04:50:42Z

Try to use a crappy email address hard to guess & use 2 email addresses : one for the public sites which you can fill freely anywhere & one personal which you would only want to give to your trusted ones.

Well as truly said, Spam is inevitable & yes I am a big fan of Gmail, Its been more than a year since I've been using it & I hardly get any spam. Of course that crappy email-id including your safe browsing habits help a lot, believe it or not.

Ravi.

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Comment from Kat on 2008-07-01

2008-07-02T00:13:31Z

Postini does a magnificent job of keeping the junk out of my inbox! (Otherwise I'd be getting about 50 to 75 pieces of crap every day.

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Comment from Adam Fikso on 2008-07-01

2008-07-01T17:02:41Z

This was instructive and might be helpful after I read it again. Query: Doesn't the FCC have something to say about this? AND..Will a new president be able to make a difference?

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Comment from sandra holland on 2008-07-01

2008-07-01T17:00:58Z

while i was trying to read Leo's--there were 3 large ads blocking it in various places and a"subscribe " ad from Leo blocking his own --
is this the pot calling the kettle black?
my stopping spam was to change e m addresses --i went from webtv to my msn. now i do not get spam on either address nor on the one acct i did not know i had--plus the highest filter in use helped.
sandra holland

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Comment from David on 2008-07-01

2008-07-01T16:35:23Z

yeah, spam is the scourge of the internet but getting mad at it doesn't help...lol Easiest thing to do is just delete it and get on with your life. You can't control it. Btw, gmail is very good for filtering spam, I rarely get any in my inbox.

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Comment from Randy on 2008-07-01

2008-07-01T16:21:46Z

Tip: search for your own e-mail address on Google, Yahoo, and any other big search engines you like. Did you find your address there? Yes? Well, so will spammers.

Randy, author of http://www.SpamPrimer.com

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Comment from Ken B on 2008-06-27

2008-06-27T20:30:03Z

Just a note that, as far as challenge/response goes, realize that for every person that swears *by* it, there are probably several that swear *at* it.

And Ronny, it won't stop "all the spam". Remember, virtually every C/R challenge to a spam will be sent to an innocent bystander who happens to have been to owner of the forged "from" address. Many people have gotten fed up with being asked to help you filter your spam, for free, that they will acknowledge the challenge, and you will get the original spam. ("I have no way of knowing if you wanted this. Take it and deal with it yourself.")

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Comment from Ronny on 2008-06-27

2008-06-27T15:41:58Z

I also use Earthlink email. It has three settings:

1. No filtering
2. Moderate filtering
3. Challenge/response

I use option #2 and get very little spam. I suspect this person is not using any filtering and a switch to #2 would help a great deal.

If s/he is like my mother and only emails a few friends and family, option #3 would stop all the spam.

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Comment from Ronny on 2008-06-27

2008-06-27T15:41:20Z

I also use Earthlink email. It has three settings:

1. No filtering
2. Moderate filtering
3. Challenge/response

I use option #2 and get very little spam. I suspect this person is not using any filtering and a switch to #2 would help a great deal.

If s/he is like my mother and only emails a few friends and family, option #3 would stop all the spam.

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Comment from Ethan on 2008-06-26

2008-06-26T22:09:59Z

Sometimes reporting e-mail as spam can be helpful. If the spam is coming from a semi-reputable organization that is not adhering to appropriate rules it will make it more difficult for them to get their e-mail through if you report it as spam. I have been on the receiving end of phone calls from major ISPs giving me a warning because my e-mails were being tagged as spam. In that case they were political e-mails (and I was following orders!).

Be aware though that your choices here make a difference to others. If you report a commercial e-mail as spam just because you are too lazy to go to the website and unsubscribe properly you may cause the company to be blacklisted by your ISP. I find legitimate e-mail in my "spam" box frequently and I'm sure this is the cause.

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Comment from Rahul on 2008-06-26

2008-06-26T20:43:50Z

My experience with Thunderbird's internal filter is that it works for a while and then reaches a plateau. It is a learning filter and is supposed to learn as it goes. However after a while a stead quantity of spam fall through.

My solution - I have my gmail account pick up mails from the pop servers. My Thunderbird picks up from gmail. Works like a charm.

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