Spam

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Unsolicited commercial email, or spam, is a plague, a problem and a pain. These questions and answers cover identifying spam, where spam comes from, why it exists and what we can do about it.

A spammer is using my cgiemail, what do I do?

Cgiemail is a program that many websites use to send email. Unfortunately certain versions can be abused by spammers, and you get the blame.

Are celebrities dying at an alarming rate?

I look at a recent rash of spam / malware claiming that your favorite celebrities have died.

Can email providers limit how much email I send?

One of the techniques many mail providers use to reduce the flood of spam is to limit how much email you can send in a certain period of time.

Did I really get a critical update notification for Outlook Express in my email?

Emails that look like a critical update from Microsoft are scams. We'll look at exactly what makes the scam obvious.

Did I really just win an email lottery or sweepstakes?

We all receive emails that indicate we've won several different lotteries. Are any of these winning notifications valid? I'll review what to look for.

Do people really still fall for this stuff?

It seems with all the constant news and awareness about spam it would disappear as people fail to fall for it. Sadly, that's nowhere near the case.

Does blocking junk mail senders help?

Blocking spam based on the email address it comes from is pretty pointless. I'll look at why and what you should do instead.

Does getting porn spam mean that you've been surfing porn sites?

Porn spam doesn't mean anyone did anything illicit. Spam simply is. Lack of spam doesn't imply you've been good, either.

Does reporting spam help?

Services exist which will take your spam and promise to do something with it to help reduce spam. We'll look at whether they're worth using.

Does spam blocking prevent spam from reaching my machine?

How can I automatically reply to spammers telling them to stop and that I'm not reading their junk?

It's tempting to want to reply to spam and tell the sender to stop it (or worse). Not only is that ineffective, it could result in more spam.

How can I reject email from unwanted senders?

Rejecting email from specific unwanted senders turns out to be surprisingly difficult unless your mail provider or email program supports it directly.

How do I get rid of all this spam?!?!

Spam is getting worse; there's no question. What can you do about it? There's no magic answer, but there are various thing you can do to help.

How do I prevent spam and scam emails from being sent to me?

Stopping spam is essentially an impossible task. We'll look at the steps you should be taking to stem the tide and stay sane.

How do I stop legitimate email from going to my spam folder?

Legitimate mail ends up in the spam folder because somewhere, somehow, some spam filter thought it was spam. I'll look at why, and what to do.

How do I unblock email to me that my ISP is blocking without asking?

Email providers use many techniques to attempt to stem the flow of spam. Occasionally, those techniques can cause legitimate mail to be blocked as well.

How do I unsubscribe from all these unwanted emails?

Spam often includes an unsubscribe link, yet you were never subscribed in the first place. "Unsubscribing" will likely only make matters worse.

How do spammers know what sites I visit?

It can be disconcerting to get spam that seems related to the sites you visit. It's probably not related, but there are a couple of ways it might be.

How do spammers send email that looks like it comes from me?

An email address isn't the same as an email account. It's trivial to send email "From:" an email address without access to the account.

I keep getting bounce emails for addresses on my domain that don't exist. How can I stop this?

As a result of techniques used by spammers you may get bounces for email you never sent. There's little you can do.

I've been accused of sending random emails - could I have a virus?

Infected machines are thought to be a leading cause of spam today. What you should do if you're infected, and how to keep from being a spammer.

Is this receipt for software I didn't order valid?

One popular Internet scam is to make something look like an honest mistake that would let you download something expensive for free. Don't fall for it.

Please don't spam me!

Asking someone not to spam you when handing over your email address is probably ineffectual. Consider carefully before you give out your information.

Should I unsubscribe from things I've signed up for to avoid spam?

Whether or not an unsubscribe link is safe to use can be incredibly difficult to determine. Here are some rules of thumb.

Someone's sending from my email address! How do I stop them?!

Email spoofing is rampant. Spammers often send email that looks like it came from you. And there's little that you can do about it.

What do terms like "opt-in", "opt-out" and "double opt-in" mean?

Particularly when dealing with email, terms like opt-in and opt-out have specific meanings that often clarify what is, and is not, spam.

What do the "Report and Delete" or "This is Spam" buttons do?

Reporting spam can help you get less spam, but you need to use it properly, and realize just who you're reporting spam to.

What is "greylisting"?

What is 'denied by gorbs' in bounced email?

Gorbs is a black-listing email service and it could black-list your email accidentally.

What's a botnet? Or zombie? And how do I protect myself from whatever it is?

Botnets are implicated in the increase in spam in recent months. Bad news: many are infected and part of the problem. Good news: it's easy to avoid.

What's this confirmation request I got when I emailed someone?

Challenge/Response is a spam fighting technique that forces you to prove you're human before your message will be delivered. It's controversial, to say the least.

What's this spam-fighting technique called?

Challenge/Response is a controversial spam fighting technique that forces senders to validate themselves before their email will be accepted.

When will Hotmail return an undeliverable message?

Email services are now very inconsistent in how they approach undeliverable or "bounce" messages. We'll look at why, and what you can count on.

Why Am I Being Labeled a Spammer?

Possibly being labeled a spammer is another reason not to forward jokes and urban legends. Do it enough and your normal email may not get delivered.

Why I (still) don't like challenge/response spam blockers

An error caused my newsletter to come "From" the wrong address. Flooded with challenge/response mails I wonder: what other messages are you missing?

Why am I getting email addressed to someone else?

Not a day goes by I don't get email addressed to someone else with my address nowhere to be found. The reason? Spam.

Why am I getting spam from myself?

Among the spam we all get are messages that we appear to have sent ourselves. From-spoofing is just a way spammers try to get their email delivered.

Why am I getting spam on this email address I use only for one newsletter?

There are many ways spammers harvest email addresses. While unlikely, simply sending and receiving email might well be enough.

Why am I getting spam with my email address but with a different name?

Spammers use many techniques to fool you into opening and acting on their messages. I'll look at what they do to your email address.

Why am I not getting some emails in my MSN Live Hotmail account?

One of the casualties of the war against spam is reliable email deliverability. Sometimes mail simply never shows up. We'll look at what can be done.

Why am I not getting the email I signed up for?

Over-aggressive spam filtering may be the reason why you're not getting the email that you signed up for.

Why am I suddenly getting spam?

Getting spam is the norm these days. If you suddenly start getting spam when before you had not, the question isn't "why?" - it's "what took so long?"

Why are people claiming I'm spamming them?

There are a couple reasons why people might claim you're spamming them when in fact you are not.

Why can't I block this email sender?

Most email programs have the ability to block email from a specific address. Unfortunately blocking a sender it an ineffective way to block most spam.

Why can't we catch spammers and phishers?

It seems like it should be easy to trace spam and phishing attempts to their origin. Sometimes it is, but it's often a very complex and costly process.

Why do I get spam that's not addressed to me?

Spammers use many techniques to try and slide their garbage into your inbox. BCC'ing you on messages is one such way.

Why does blocking a spam email end up blocking my own address?

Spammers use various techniques to try and force their way into your inbox. One of the most frustrating is spoofing where the message is coming from.

Why does so much spam have a part of some other email or document in it?

A recently common technique in the war to send you spam is to include a lot of unrelated text in the message. We'll look at why this often works.

Why is my mail to this person not getting through?

Spam prevention measures have made getting email delivered more difficult. We'll look at ways to maximize the chances that email will make it through.

Why is there an email block against my IP address?

One approach to prevent spam is blocking email from the IP address of known spammers. Like any spam fighting technique, there are false positives.

Why is there so much spam?

Even though most of us might never fall for it the reason there's so much spam is quite simple: spam works.

Why shouldn't I use the "Report Spam" or "Junk" button?

The "Report Spam" and "Junk" link serve an important function in the war against spam. However, used improperly they can do much more harm than good.