Protect Your Email Inbox

Stopping junk e-mail before it happens

t's called Unsolicited Commecial e-mail (UCE) or spam^TM ;any unauthoried e-mail that lands in your electronic mailbox. Unappetizing and irritating when you get them by the dozens: "Earn $10,000 a week!" or "These Pills Will Work Wonders..."

^{According to The Globe and Mail , 75 per cent of the spam you receive, you've signed up for.}

^{Here are some steps you can take to keep the junk e-mail at bay:}

Request Net directories remove your e-mail from their listings

• ^{Never respond to e-mail inviting you to be taken off their list. This only confirms your address is active and makes your e-mail address even more valuable}
• ^{Request that Net directories such as 411 or Bigfoot remove your e-mail from their listings}
• ^{If you participate in a newsgroup, alter your e-mail by adding words or asterisks to it: instead of jsmith@hotmail.com, jsmith@hotmail***.com or jsmith@NOSPAM.hotmail.com}
• ^{If you have your own website, never put a link to your e-mail address on it unless you cloak it}
• ^{Block the sender(s) in your e-mail program. To do this in Outlook Express, for instance, click on the message in your inbox and Click "Message: Block Sender", this is somewhat effective, you don't have to look at the SPAM}
• ^{Contact your Internet service provider. Call your ISP and tell them the messages won't stop. Your ISP should be able to block the sender from your e-mail server}
• ^{Sign up for a free Web-based e-mail address such as Hotmail or Excite when you fill out forms for contests or for subscriptions or participate in chat groups. Give them this e-mail}
• ^{Before supplying any company with your e-mail address, check its privacy policy: does the firm promise not to share your e-mail address with other companies?}

^{You can also get anti-spam filters, but these don't completely block out unwanted mail. They can, however, manage the volume for you. Check out the ones offered by spam recycle or Junkbusters.}

^{There are also many different ways to block unwanted e-mail. To find out how to configure your computer check out spam.abuse.net or the sites listed on this page.}

^{One more thing you can do:  the Canadian Marketing Association has joined with the U.S. Direct Marketing Association in a program that allows you to join an opt-out list.  Any business that is a member of any of the marketing associations around the world involved in the project, must remove you from their mailing lists.  It is part of their code of ethics.} 

^{That's the good news.  The bad news is that many of the organizations that flood your e-mail box don't belong to any marketing associations.}