05.14
Most of us get spam every day. Some of us get a little, and some of us get a lot, but if you have an e-mail account it is always there.
Spam is incredibly annoying, time-consuming, especially in large quantities. If you have a e-mail address which is public than you can receive hundreds of spam messages.
To understand where this spam mail comes we have to find out first that Where does all of this spam e-mail come from? Why is there so much of it?
Here are some reasons that how spammers get our e-mail address.
- Main source for e-mail addresses is the Web itself. There are tens of millions of Web sites, and spammers can create search engines that spider the Web specifically looking for “@” sign that indicates an e-mail address. The programs that do the spidering are often called spam bots.
TIP : Never post your full e-mail address where it is publicly displayed. Post it like abc (at-the-rate) yahoo (dot) com. If you own website than try to place image of e-mail address and do not post your email in alt tag of image.
- Other primary sources are newsgroups and chat rooms. People (especially first-time users) often use their screen names, or leave their actual e-mail addresses, in newsgroups. Spammers use pieces of software to extract the screen names and e-mail addresses automatically.
TIP : Try to use different screen name, and if you want to provide your e-mail address to other user please provide it like abc (at-the-rate) yahoo (dot) com.
- Next is sites created specifically to attract e-mail addresses. For example, a spammer creates a site that says, “Win $1 million!!! Just type your e-mail address here!”. Once you enter your detail and your e-mail is stored in spammer list.
TIP : Never post your e-mail address on such a sites. If you still wants to go than first try to enter some invalid e-mail address. If they ask for verification than only post your actual e-mail address.
- In the past, lots of large sites also sold the e-mail addresses of their members. Or the sites created “option” e-mail lists by asking, “Would you like to receive e-mail newsletters from our partners?” If you answered yes, your address was then sold to a spammer.
TIP : If you find such a option in any site while registration. Try to avoid this option.
- Probably the most common source of e-mail addresses, however, is a “dictionary” search of the e-mail servers of large e-mail hosting companies like MSN, AOL or Hotmail.
TIP : Try to make your profile private. Also do not post your e-mail address on such a profile. Most importantly if possible than use different profile name than your e-mail address prefix.
E-mail addresses generally are not private. Once a spammer gets a hold of your e-mail address and starts sharing it with other spammers, you are likely to get a lot of spam.
Try to avoid this basic sorces from where spammer get your e-mail adderss. This tips will surely make difference to minimize your spams.