Prior to the days of the internet, SPAM was just a name for canned ham. These days, however, spam has become an everyday word referring to unsolicited emails that fill up our Inboxes with offers to get rich quick or selling anything from Viagra to replica Rolexes.
So why is everyone pulling their hair out over spam and will spam ever be eradicated for good? The short answer is that spam is here to stay and although steps can be taken to reduce the amount that flows into your Inbox, it won’t stop them completely. Spammers find ways to get around anti-spam programs almost as soon as they are released. Also, increasing your spam filters greatly increases the risk of not receiving legitimate emails, which can be detrimental to your business.
Spammers use programs called ‘spiders’ which ‘harvest’ the internet for email addresses and domain names to compile a database for bulk-emailing. This information is often not only used by the spammers, but also sold to others for bulk-emailing as well. Email addresses can also be collected from chat rooms, forums or other web transactions in which people voluntarily give their details. This is why it is important to be wary of who you give your email address to. Check the privacy policy on a website before entering your details to make sure your personal information isn’t being sold to a million other sources of spam.
The problem with spam is the cost to receivers in time as well as money. Alot of viruses are sent through spam which can corrupt your PC or system, even if you have Anti-virus installed. Then there is the cost of getting rid of viruses, installing Anti-virus software and loss of productivity in the time it takes to get all this done, not to mention the cost if a nasty virus actually crashes your whole system. It's no wonder 'spam' has become a dirty word!
As previously mentioned, you cannot totally eliminate spam without also eliminating alot of legitimate emails but there are steps you can take to reduce the amount.
Spam is usually easily identifiable without opening by the title line or name of the sender. If you know it is spam, delete it without opening it. If you are unsure, open the message but never open unknown attachments! Do not respond or click on links, even if it gives you the option to be removed from their mailing list. By responding you are confirming to the spammers, who often send spam to random addresses, that they have a real address.
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This can at least allocate spam mail into a “Junk” folder saving you time sifting through it in your Inbox. It is also wise to look through your Junk folder every now and then to make sure legitimate emails haven’t slipped in there by mistake. Make sure you change the status of those legitimate senders as contacts so that future emails from them won’t be blocked and will make it to your Inbox.
Any email addresses on your website will be harvested by spammers. A contact form hides the email address to which it is submitted to, in the code.
Most hosting accounts come with a "catch all" email folder that literally stores all emails sent to your domain that does not have a mailbox or alias specified. This is where most spam will go so ensure that your "catch all" address is configured to either bounce or "blackhole" emails that it receives.
This way you can free up your primary email account for legitimate emails and you can always dispose of your free account and get another one if the spam gets too much. Hotmail and gmail are just a couple of the many free email providers on the internet.
We are all guilty of not doing this and probably never gave it a second thought. You may have noticed when receiving jokes from friends that they are loaded with email addresses of recipients who have received that same message. You never know who may be getting these email addresses and adding them to a database. For this reason don't enter your recipients' email addresses in the "TO" or "CC" fields when sending bulk email messages. Instead send these messages via 'blind copy' - that is, hide your recipients in 'BC'. They will still get the message but their addresses won't be listed for all to see. Don't forget to also delete previous recipients before forwarding a message.
Am I ‘spamming’ by sending out e-mails to my customers?
Australia has Anti-Spam laws that prohibit the sending of spam by Australian businesses – individually or bulk. It states that:
“Commercial e-mail cannot be sent without the recipient’s express consent or inferred consent based on a business or other relationship with the person and their conduct.”
Your customers are regarded as having a business relationship with you and therefore your emails to them are not considered spam. It is important, though, to become familiar with the requirements of the Australian Anti-Spam Act 2003 before embarking on a bulk-emailing campaign. Not complying can result in heavy fines of up to $1.1million!
For more information on the Australian Anti-Spam Act 2003 visit:
http://www.dcita.gov.au/communications_and_technology/ consultation_and_submissions/spam_act_review
DID YOU KNOW...... The term 'spam' is derived from the Monty Python SPAM sketch, set in a cafe where nearly every item on the menu includes SPAM luncheon meat. As the waiter recites the SPAM-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drowns out all conversations with a song repeating "SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM... lovely SPAM, wonderful SPAM," hence "SPAMming" the dialogue. The excessive amount of SPAM mentioned in the sketch is a reference to British rationing during World War II. SPAM was one of the few foods that was widely available.
source: Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia
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