| What is spam?
Taken from http://spam.abuse.net
with the help of my kind hosts http://www.easyspace.com
I must say that I do not or ever will
send spam but it is a sad thing that my site email domain has been
used as a ghost to send out SPAM.
Spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message,
in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise
choose to receive it. Most spam is commercial advertising, often
for dubious products, get-rich-quick schemes, or quasi-legal services.
Spam costs the sender very little to send-most of the costs are
paid for by the recipient or the carriers rather than by the sender.
There are two main types of spam, and they have different effects
on Internet users. Cancelable Usenet spam is a single message sent
to 20 or more Usenet newsgroups. (Through long experience, Usenet
users have found that any message posted to so many newsgroups is
often not relevant to most or all of them.) Usenet spam is aimed
at "lurkers," people who read newsgroups but rarely or
never post and give their address away. Usenet spam robs users of
the utility of the newsgroups by overwhelming them with a barrage
of advertising or other irrelevant posts. Furthermore, Usenet spam
subverts the ability of system administrators and owners to manage
the topics they accept on their systems.
Email spam targets individual users with direct mail messages.
Email spam lists are often created by scanning Usenet postings,
stealing Internet mailing lists, or searching the Web for addresses.
Email spams typically cost users money out-of-pocket to receive.
Many people-those with measured phone service-read or receive their
mail while the meter is running, so to speak. Spam costs them additional
money. On top of that, it costs money for ISPs and online services
to transmit spam, and these costs are transmitted directly to subscribers.
In essence, spam is the transmission of unsolicited bulk email
(UBE), unsolicited commercial email (UCE), or commercial postings
to inappropriate newsgroups.
For a spam glossary, please see
http://www.turnstep.com/Spambot/glossary.html
Top
Why do spammers send spam and why is spam bad?
Spammers send spam as a form of free advertising, which is illegal
in most cases. It is similar to a telemarketer calling you collect.
No other kind of advertising costs the advertiser so little and
the recipient so much. It can cost the recipient additional time
and money spent on the Internet to view and/or delete spam. The
recipients are not the only victims-ISPs are also taken advantage
of. Many ISPs promote their free trial offers to the public, which
prompts spammers to 'sign-up' and give the free service a try. The
spammer then uses this opportunity to send spam to numerous email
addresses, both valid and invalid ones. Then they abandon the trial
account, forcing the provider to rectify spam complaints and monitor
spam/abuse issues.
How did you get on their email list?
If you do any of the following, there is a good chance you can
end up on a spammer's email list:
Post on an online bulletin board
Post in a Usenet newsgroup
Participate in chat rooms
Include your email address in an online service's member directory
Large email providers such as Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail hold user
accounts that have common usernames, such as 'Smith,' 'Dave,' 'webmaster,'
'info,' etc.
Related Links:
http://www.cauce.org
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/227.html
http://techlawjournal.com/cong106/spam/Default.htm
Top
What can you do about spam?
What you can do:
If you can identify the source of the spam, contact the spammer's
ISP or email service provider
Send us a copy of the full email and include all headers (see item
#7 for an examples). Please send one email only to abuse@easyspace.com
What not to do:
Do not respond to removal instructions. Responding to any REMOVAL
instructions pose more problems than resolutions
Threaten the spammer with violence or vandalism
Mailbomb the site where the spammer is from
Mailbomb the alleged spammer, who may be an innocent third party
Ping-storm or SYN-flood the site
Hack into their site
Do not use spam to fight spam
How to minimize spam:
Upgrade your service to a package that include Easymail Secure or
SpamShield Pro
Filter out unwanted emails (see How to set your Easypost email filter,
Suggested keywords to enter when setting up the email filter, and
How to set your non-Easyspace email account filter)
Simply delete unwanted emails
Use one email account for personal use and another one for commercial
use
How to block spam with your Easyspace email account:
Easymail offers Easymail Secure and Easypost Elevate and Elite include
SpamShield to control spam. For more detailed information check
our FAQs on SpamShield Pro or check our FAQs on Easymail Secure
Use Easymail Secure or SpamShield Pro to direct mail that is spam
to your Trash or Spam folders.
Top
How to set your Easypost email filter:
Users of SpamShield Lite may want to add additional rules:
Again, you must first log in to your account before proceeding.
Click Options on the main navigation bar
Click the Email Rules link; your current list of filters will appear
Click Add Filter
Set the conditions for the filter by completing the If-Then statement
(Optional) Click Match Case to enforce case sensitivity; if the
box is unchecked, the filter will match the phrase regardless of
what case the text is
Click Add Filter when you are finished; your new filter will appear
in the Filter Description list
Suggested keywords to enter when setting up the email filter:
In the 'To' or 'CC' and 'From' lines: Enter any invalid email addresses
(i.e. sdfsgfsa@sdfsdg.com) or email domains (i.e. @whatever.com)
In the 'Subject' line: "Make Money Fast…," "…Guaranteed…,"
etc.
In the 'Text Body' line: "Remove," "Removal,"
"Call Toll Free," etc.
How to set your non-Easyspace email account filter:
Please consult your email service provider for assistance in setting
up the email filters for your non-easyspace.com account.
Top
An example of full email header information:
Date:
Mon, 10 Mar 2003 21:04:51 -0800
From:
"John Doe" <johndoe@easyspace.com>
To:
"JDoe (E-mail)" <JDoe@yahoo.com>, "Bapssa (E-mail)"
<JaneDoe@bapssa.every1.net>
Subject:
Email header info
Received:
from mail.easyspace.com (mail [208.184.100.4]) by imta05.mta.easyspace.com
(Postfix) with ESMTP id E865C4AC0E for <JaneDoe@bapssa.every1.net>;
Wed, 14 Mar 2001 20:42:33 -0800 (PST)
Received:
from support3 (support3.internal [192.168.131.226]) by mail.easyspace.com
(Postfix) with SMTP id AE7D837BED; Mon, 10 Mar 2003 20:42:33 -0800
(PST)
Message-Id:
<000901c0ad0d$789bf240$e283a8c0@internal>
Content-Type:
text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding:
7bit
Mime-Version:
1.0
Importance:
Normal
X-Msmail-Priority:
Normal
X-Priority:
3 (Normal)
X-Mimeole:
Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200
X-Mailer:
Microsoft Outlook CWS, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2911.0)
If you want to learn how to read the full header information in
order to trace the origin of the spam, please visit http://www.stopspam.org/email/headers/headers.html.
Top
How to show full headers:
Using an Easypost Web Mail email account:
Once logged in to the Web Mail Inbox section, click "[ Show
Full Headers ]".
Using a non-Easypost email account:
Most mail readers do not show the full header because it contains
information that is for computer-to-computer routing. The information
you usually see in the header is the subject, date, and "From"
or "Return" address. The only thing in an email header
that can't be faked is the "Received" portion referencing
your computer (last received).
You will need to look at the headers on the message as follows:
Claris E-Mailer-Under 'Mail,' select 'Show Long Headers'
Eudora (before v3)-Select 'Tools,' 'Options,' 'Fonts & Display,'
'Show All Headers'
Eudora (3.x, 4.x IBM, or Macintosh)-Press the 'BLAH' button on the
incoming mail message
Hotmail-Click 'Options' on the Hotmail Navigation Bar on the left
side of the page, on the Options page, click 'Preferences,' scroll
down to 'Message Headers' and select 'Full'
Lotus Notes 4.6.x-From the menu bar, select 'Actions,' then 'Delivery
Information'; copy the information from the bottom box into your
email report at the top of the spam
Lotus Notes R5-From the menu bar, select 'Actions,' Tools,' then
'Delivery Information'; copy the information from the bottom box
into your email report at the top of the spam
MS Outlook-Double click on the email in your inbox to bring the
message into a window; click 'View,' then 'Options.' You can also
open the message then choose 'File,' 'Properties,' 'Details.'
MS Outlook Express-Press 'Alt-Enter' or 'Alt-F,' then 'R'
A more detailed guide to copy and paste headers in Outlook Express:
1 - Press 'CTRL-F3'
2 - Press 'CTRL-A'
3 - Press 'CTRL-C'
4 - Press 'Alt-F4' (At this point, the message has already been
copied)
5 - Open a new message, right click and 'Paste' or select 'Edit'
and 'Paste'
Netscape 3-In the Netscape Mail window, click 'View/Document Source'
Netscape 4.xx - Double click on the email in your inbox. Click on
View - Headers - All.
Yahoo-Select 'Options,' 'Mail Preferences,' then 'Message Headers'
(all)
PINE-Turn on the 'Header' option in set up, then hit 'H'
Programs that do not comply with any Internet standards (like cc-Mail,
Beyond Mail, VAX VMS) throw away the headers. You will not be able
to get headers from these email messages.
If your email program is not mentioned above, please visit http://familyinternet.about.com/parenting/familyinternet/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/19.html
|
