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A brief guide explaining how to better control your email.

What is spam?
Spam is the laymen term for "unsolicited commercial email" (UCE). Basically, it's junk email you don't want. It falls in the same category as telephone solicitation, junk faxes and junk mail delivered by your local post office. Spam is different because:

It's easy to send - anyone with basic computer skills can send an email.
Cost efficient - with a $15 internet account and $10 for an email list containing a million email addresses you can send hundreds of thousands of emails.

Where did the term "spam" come from?
No one really knows but the prevailing theory is that it is from the song in Monty Python's famous spam-loving Vikings sketch that goes, roughly, "Spam spam spam spam, spam spam spam spam, spam spam spam spam..." The vikings, who were sitting in a restaraunt whose menu only included dishes made with spam, would sing this refrain over and over, rising in volume until it was impossible for the other characters in the sketch to converse (which was, of course, a large part of the joke.)

How much spam is there?
Most of the spam you receive has been sent to thousands of people on the internet. Spam is often sent to thousands of people at the same time or as little as a handful of people. Sometimes it comes in bursts of a few at a time. Spam can often clog or halt all email during a "spam attack".

Where did they get my email address?
Spammers don't always 'get' your email address. Often they make up email addresses and hope it gets to a human being (see item number 4 at the bottom). The most often used method is the use of a mailing list. There are numerous mailing list services that can be purchased. These mailing lists have millions of email addresses that have been collected. Some email addresses like bob@... or smith@... or gerald@... can be easily guessed.

Who are these spammers?
Spammers can be anyone. Spammers can be large corporations that specialize in spam or even your next door neighbor who uses his/her computer at home to try to make a little extra money on the side with an "at home" business.

Aren't there laws to stop spam?
Many states have passed laws governing bulk email, however, many spammers are in other countries where these laws have no legal jurisdiction. Another major source of spam are computers infected with viruses. Believe it or not many computer viruses were designed to help spammers send their junk email. A computer infected with one of these viruses can be used by a spammer to send thousands of emails.

How do I stop spam?
Unfortunately, there isn't any quaranteed way to completely stop spam. However, there are many ways to cut down on the amount of spam you receive. Listed below are many ways to help reduce the amount of spam you receive. These methods are not listed in any particular order.

Keep your email address private. Don't abuse it by giving it out freely.
Try VCI's free SpamWatch service. This service has the ability to cut your spam intake by as much as 95%.
Don't be fooled by an email you received claiming you won a prize. Many of those emails are not endorsed by the company and are really intended to be used to harvest names and email addresses.
Try subscribing to an online email service like Hotmail. Use the Hotmail email address as your junk mailbox. Example: Give your private email address to friends and family but don't use it anywhere else. Use your Hotmail email address for something like entering a sweepstakes. Often sweepstakes on the internet are being held to harvest email addresses for the sole purpose of spam. Be careful about which address you use when purchasing items on the internet. Your email address could be used to spam you by that same company or be sold for use on a spam mailing list.
Don't use an easily guessed email address like "joe@vci.net" or "billy@vci.net". By using simple names like "joe" or "billy" as your email address this guarantees you will receive spam. This is because spammers first send out emails to email addresses like ann@vci.net, anne@vci.net, bill@vci.net, billy@vci.net, billie@vci.net, etc.. Even if those email addresses don't exist the spammers don't care. They try to get an email to anyone.
Don't reply to an email you receive from a spammer. By emailing the spammer back asking to be removed from their mailing list you are 1) wasting your time and 2) confirming your email address. Most email addresses spammers provide that allow you to be removed from their mailing lists are fake. If you reply to a spammer with a valid email address you confirm that you are a human being who received the spammers email. You usually end up with even more spam.
If you'd like to fight spam or report spam you receive try using a popular service like SpamCop.net This is a free service to report spammers. They also have a paid service you can subscribe to.

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