Slammin': A Primer For (Almost) Spam-Free E-Mail

Like millions and millions of others I work and play in cyberspace, the Internet, the World Wide Web. Like millions and millions of others because I do I have electronic mail, or e-mail.

Like millions and millions of others because I have e-mail I received, daily, unsolicited, unwanted e-mail.

Junk mail.

Spam.

Unlike millions of others who regularly find their in-boxes crammed with fraudulant offers for bigger this and lower that and sigh in apparent resignation I don’t tolerate spam because I don’t like having my connect time and bandwidth wasted.

Until about a year ago I was receiving upwards of 5,000 pieces of spam a day. So I decided to declare war on spam. Today, I receive less than one piece of spam into my in-box per month.

How I did this, how I won the war against spam is easy, surprisingly and relatively simple. Anyone can do it, and if everyone followed the information offered herein spammers might just stop what they are doing.

1. Get a free, throw-away e-mail account.

In order to keep spam from reaching your in-box you need to know that doing so is akin to fighting a war. In war you need a line of defense. Your first line of defense against spam is a filter of sorts: A free, throw-away e-mail account. You can get one from Yahoo, Hotmail, Juno, etc.

Set up this account and get ready. I can almost guarantee that within 72 hours you will have spam in your in-box at your free, throw-away account. But that’s okay. Because once you establish this line of defense you can start fighting spam more readily and effectively.

2. Mung the e-mail address for your free, throw-away account.

Spammers are not only known for being nuisances, corrupt, and immoral, but lazy. If they had to literally surf the World Wide Web and one-by-one harvest e-mail addresses for their spam lists they probably wouldn’t be spammers. Of course, they don’t have to this because they have what are autobots or spambots: Software programs created with a singular purpose in mind: To surf the Web and harvest addresses they can then compile for use in sending out their spam.

How do they find these addresses? Some times these autobots and spambots are programmed to visit guest books located on personal web sites, message boards, web logs (blogs), topic specific lists, etc. There they collect addresses unaware parties have posted and send them home to be used in spamming.

If you decide to post an e-mail address to a guest book on a personal web site, a message board, a blog, or a topic specific list use your free, throw-away e-mail address. And mung it.

I know: Some people don’t know what it is to ‘mung’, so a basic explanation: What you are doing when you mung your e-mail address is making it unusable for a spambot or autobot to collect. And since spammers tend to be lazy it is unlikely they will take the time to unmung addresses they have received.

There are several ways to mung your e-mail address, but two things to keep in mind when doing so: Don’t use the ‘@’ sign when munging or the ‘.’.

This may sound confusing but it really isn’t. Here’s a sample of before and after:

Before: JohnDoe@123.com

After: JohnDoe[at]123[dot]com

See the difference? And when you do this you basically discourage a spambot or autobot from harvesting your e-mail address.

Another example:

JohnDoe@123.com

JohnDoZ@123.com

You replace ‘E’ with ‘Z’ to mung. Replace ‘Z’ with ‘E’ to unmung.

3. Add a spamblock to your e-mail address.

As more and more people fight spam spammers, in turn, become more and more determined in their efforts. But you can slow them down considerably with a spam block.

Basically, a spam block is a sophisticated munging of your free, throw-away e-mail address, but is very simple to achieve.

For example:

YourName@example.com

With a spam block introduced it becomes:

YourName@example--REMOVETHIS--.com

Please note: If you decide to add a spam block to your e-mail address, and you should, always put it to the right of the @ sign. Doing this avoids making your Internet Service Provider (ISP) handle undeliverable mail.

Which, incidentially, is what spam basically is.

It is also important to note in your outgoing e-mail--assuming you use your free, throw-away e-mail address to send out-going mail--how to remove a spam blocker so desired people can respond.

The signature line, or sig line, often added at the end of a message is a good place to include such instructions:

"To reply remove '--REMOVETHIS--' from my e-mail address."

Since we are on the subject of how to use your e-mail address when sending mail a few suggestions, especially when it comes to dealing with spam: First, don’t give out any e-mail addresses beyond your free, throw-away e-mail address until such time you are certain doing so will result in no spam resulting. If you give out a private e-mail address instead of your free, throw-away e-mail address you will ultimately defeat your war on spam. Second, only give out a private e-mail address once you have established it is not to be shared with anyone without your prior consent.

4. Create an alias address for your free, throw-away e-mail address.

An alias, in plain English, is a nickname for your free, throw-away e-mail address, and, again, is a means of slowing down spammers in their intents. Basically, the function of an alias is to route e-mail. For example, you receive a piece of spam offering you the opportunity to apply for an unsecured credit card with a line of credit of $5,000 dollars. Now common sense should tell you this is a fraud. And that should make you angry. But you can temper that anger with the knowledge that if it goes to the alias it will be routed into the trash and will not be a bother to you, when it comes to wanted e-mail.

Setting up an alias can be relatively easy or may require a measure of effort on your part. It all depends on the Terms Of Service (TOS) your ISP follows. If they allow an alias with your first e-mail account set it up there. If they do not allow an alias on your first e-mail account merely set up a second, free, throw-away e-mail account, making that your alias.

Once you have determined how you will create an alias keep certain things in mind as to how you create the alias: Do not simply copy the e-mail address from your free, throw-away address. Change it slightly or characteristically. For example:

JohnDoe@example.com

JonDoe@example.com

Or:

JohnDoe@example.com

JonDoe1@example.com

5. Establish your actual, private e-mail address.

By this point you have effectively created four lines of defense against spam, and it is quite possible you have seen the amount of spam reaching you reduced dramatically. But be advised: You are not yet done in the battle waged. To reduce the spam reaching you even further you now need to establish an actual, private e-mail address. This is an address you will not give out to anyone until such time that it can be determined they will not give it to anyone without your prior consent. This is an e-mail address that will not be posted to personal web sites, message boards, web logs (blogs), topic specific lists, etc. This is an e-mail address that will not be listed in public directories or databases. Of course, to get such an address requires you pay for it. Paying for an e-mail address may sound like a negative, but there is a positive to it: Frequently, when you pay for an e-mail address you can arrange for your ISP to make it an ‘unknown’ or unlisted address. That is, an address that is not posted or advertised anywhere unless you so chose to do so.

It is this address you will use to contact others with. It is this address that should be spam free, thanks to the defenses now in place.

Will all of these defenses work? They should. As noted in the beginning of this article I went from thousands of pieces of spam a day to just one a month. If you follow these steps you should also see the amount of spam you receive in your in-box drop as well. And when that happens spammers lose.

So slam ‘em.