spam

 

What is it? | Why do I get it? | Where from? | How do they do it? | What to Do

The term 'Spam' actually comes from a Monty Python sketch in which Vikings sang the word 'Spam' repeatedly and monotonously, a good analogy to Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) sent as bulk e-mail, now known the world over as 'Spam'.
Why do I get Spam?
Firstly, because you have an email address.
You know those emails containing the 'world's best joke', chain letters or some other 'I just had to send you this' subject that your friends or workmates forward to you. Take a look at how many email addresses are in the recipient list. Sooner or later these huge lists will end up in the wrong hands. If your email address is printed on your stationery or website then that makes it easy for spammers to find. When you sign-up to any on-line mailing list, news letter or similar you are at risk of being added to another list or spammed by the one you've joined. Some methods of sending Spam are really just guessing at email addresses so anyone is likely at some point to receive Spam.
Where is it coming from?
It can be very difficult and often impossible to determine the true source of spam.
A common trick is to relay spam messages off the mail server of an innocent third party. This can flood both the receiving system and the relay with junk email. Any complaints go to the innocent site as it appears to be the origin of the spam.
Another trick is to forge message headers, making it look like the message originated elsewhere, again providing an easy target for blame.
Dotless IP addresses often hide the location of a spammer’s web site thwarting some anti-spam software.
It isn't actually necessary to have an email account in order to send email. Anyone with a little programming expertise can send emails direct from their computers withour using any email account or software. This can be difficult to track down.
Spammers may use free email accounts like those available at Yahoo or Hotmail to send their messages. When the provider gets wise and closes their account they just open another and carry on again. By signing up with false information they remain anonymous.
It must also be said that most people now use the term 'Spam' for any unsolicited or bulk email even if it's from a friend or colleague. Forwarding every email you get to everyone else can be far more annoying than 'real' spam.
How do they do it?
Spam can be sent by 'brute force' methods. A spammer chooses a domain suffix e.g 'yourhost.com' then tells his spam program to send email to every combination of 2 letters then 3 letters then 4 and so on @yourhost.com. Most of these will be returned marked as having an invalid recipient but many will turn out to be someone's real email address and the spam will be delivered to the unsuspecting mailbox.
Spammers steal, buy and sell email address lists.
Having your email address printed on your website is an open invitation to the 'spider' list builder. In this case a 'spider' or 'mailbot' program searches progressively or randomly across the internet for web pages, it scans the pages for anything that has a '@' sign. It will record this as it is probably an email address adding it to a list.
A spammer may take the time to view guest-books, link pages, forums etc., copying any email addresses found there.
What to do
Don't broadcast your email address to people you don't know.
Don't forward emails to others (unless you are very careful), copy the appropriate part to a new email and send that.
Don't be fooled by 'opt out' information. Sending your email address to be removed from a list often has the reverse effect and instead, adds it to more lists.
Never click on a link within a spam email. This can just prove the validity of your email address, resulting in more spam.
Report it to your email providor who will probably be grateful for the information. Don't expect an instant fix though and remember it's more your responsibility than it is theirs.
There are some anti-spam organisations on the internet that encourage you to report spam to them. Try to ensure their credibility before doing so, if they are not genuine then they could actually be collecting addresses for more spam lists.
Invest in some anti-spam software for your computer.