Ask Leo!: Spam

Why Am I Being Labeled a Spammer?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 08:00:00 -08:00

As I write this, over 125,000 people have my email address. Probably more, but that's the number of people subscribed to my newsletter. Right there on the "From:" line is an email address.

Naturally, some of them will forward me jokes, virus warnings and other hoaxes or urban legends. I know that they mean well and do so with the best of intentions.

But, I mark them all as spam. I have to.

Because that's what they are.

Even if I don't, others may, and because of that, there's a very important lesson here in making sure that the rest of your email keeps getting delivered.

Why can't I block this email sender?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:38:15 -08:00

How can I block addresses that come repeatedly to my junk email box? It says I am blocking but it does not work.

]]> Blocking is overrated.

It promises to prevent a sender's email from reaching you. But if that sender is determined enough, the block is easily bypassed.

And spammers are determined ... boy, are they determined! So much so that blocking senders is pretty much useless in the war against spam.

I'll explain why and what I'd do instead.

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

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 12:22:13 -08:00

Due to an error on my end, my newsletter came "From:" the wrong email address.

As a result, in addition to the usual annoying flood of "I'm not in the office right now, but I'll get back to you..." messages (nearly 100 by now), I also continue to receive an equal number of challenge/response email messages.

You know the messages I mean - message that often begin with: "I'm protecting myself from receiving junk mail. Please click the link below to complete the verification process."

Uh ... no. I can't. I'm afraid I just don't have the resources to click through or jump through additional hoops for 100+ messages like this.

But, honestly, it's not really about me - I'm very concerned about you...

... and what else you might be missing.

How do spammers know what sites I visit?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 18:36:43 -08:00

I have noticed that I am getting spams related to websites I access frequently. That is, if I am accessing my bank account online, or pay bills online, spams asking for passwords, security etc., are received. My question is, how do spammers know of the sites I visit. And how do I make my online transactions safe, and hidden from spammers.

]]> My initial reaction is to say: they don't. And in most cases I'm going to stick with that as the most likely answer.

However...

There are a few exceptions where you might get spam related to your visits. Some are benign, but others might be a sign of problems on your computer.

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

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 12:29:33 -08:00

Can I set up an automatic email reply to all the [BULK...] emails I get telling them that such are not being received at my email address? Would it be advisable to do so; I get few if any that inform or provide any useful info. Or perhaps I need to ask "what is the best way to deal with [Bulk...] emails other than one-by-one?"

]]> I'm going to assume that by "BULK" you mean unsolicited email - aka spam. Email that you never signed up for and that you simply don't want.

Yes, you can set up an automated reply, but that's not what I'm going to show you.

Why?

Because you should never, ever reply to spam.

It won't make things any better, and might well make things worse.

Let me explain why...