The 4 Ws of Junk Email

Junk e-mail or spam has become the scourge of the modern computer world. It eats bandwidth. Spam is like a disease. It doesn’t care about age, religion, wealth. It doesn’t discriminate. Junk e-mail affects us all.

There are 4 keys to the junk mail question
– Who, What, Where and Why.

Who they are
The typical profile of a junk mail sender is as follows. Male, 18 – 30 years of age, single, technically competent and with little regard for their status as a public nuisance. There are female junk mailers out there but, unfortunately, this is predominantly a male preserve.

What they use to send spam
There are many tools available to the spam merchant. The main ones are e-mail extractors, newsgroup harvesters and CD lists. E-mail extractors are programs which wander around the Internet gathering e-mail addresses from websites and often from web based forums (unprotected forums). A “good” e-mail extractor can gather 15,000 e-mail addresses per hour. Newsgroup harvesters are programs which search through newsgroups for valid e-mail addresses. Most newsgroups users are aware of this and take measures to counteractthese harvesting programs. Despite these measures a newsgroup harvester application can gather 20,000 – 30,000 e-mail addresses in an hour. CD lists are one of the worst sources. 90 million e-mail addresses available on a single CD for as little as $20. A lot of the addresses on these CDs would be junk (many would no longer exist) but an equally large number of theseaddresses would be valid. A CD like this is a junk mailers dream.

Where they do it from
Those involved in sending out bulk e-mail are “entrepreneurs” or at least they think so. The vast majority of those involved in the spam business are self-employed and work from home. Sending spam is almost the ideal home based business. You name your hours and the business itself is almost automatic. Maximum gain from minimum effort.

Why they do it
Their motivation is money. Considerable amounts of cash actually. Each spammer who sends out 1,000,000 junk e-mails is certain of approximately 100 sales. Many of the products they sell are worth $50 - $100 dollars to them in commission. Yes. Shocking isn’t it? The average bulk mailer earns in excess of $100,000 per year!
Maximum return for minimum effort. Unless of course you get caught and get jail time.

About the author:
Niall Roche
This article was submitted courtesy of Spam-Site.com which reviews spam blockers and also offers advice on stopping spam for free.
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How to Remove Your Name From a Mailing List

We’ve all found our name on a junk mailing list at one time or another. It’s frustrating to continuously receive unsolicited and unwanted mail that only ends up becoming landfill. If you’re not interested in receiving piles of catalogs and solicitations in your daily mail, you’ll be happy to know that this is easily remedied.

One way to remove your name from a mailing list is to go directly to the source. Contact the business or individual and request your name be deleted from their files. You can do this over the phone, but it will probably better to do this in writing since it’s a good idea to have a paper trail.

You might also be able to go to the businesses’ web site and request removal. Request confirmation that this has been done. If a business continues to send you mail after several requests, you might be able to file harassment charges, so it pays to keep good records.

There are also organizations in which you can register to have your name removed from multiple mailing lists. The Direct Marketing Association is one of those organizations. Since it handles mailing lists from hundreds of different companies, you can go to their website and request removal. This will keep your name off of their junk mailing lists for five years at which time you can put in another request. If you submit the form online it will cost $5.00. To submit your request for free, you can send it the old fashioned way to the P.O. Box listed on the DMA’s website. If you’d like to be removed from junk or spam email mailing lists, you can also do this at the DMA’s website.

No one wants their mailbox clogged with unwanted catalogs and solicitations from banks, credit cards companies and others. If this is happening to you, you can take steps to prevent this from happening. Not only will you save your home from clutter; you’ll protect the environment as well.

About the Author:
James Hunt has spent 15 years as a professional writer and researcher covering stories that cover a whole spectrum of interest.
Read more at www.best-mailing-lists.info
Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com

SPAM I AM? Squash the SPAM Monster Invading Your Inbox

Email is the quickest, easiest way to communicate with friends and family, getting to them in a matter of seconds, as opposed to the regular postal service which takes days. Just like regular mail, you are bound to get junk mail, SPAM that you have to sort out and throw away.

What is so bad about SPAM - I am? SPAM is detested because it wastes our time. Who cares about the umpteen mortgage offers, online prescriptions, Viagra, some stock market tip, etc? We have to be relentlessly savvy about our email. We all know that if it didn't come from someone we know or trust, or some cool newsletter we signed up to receive, that it probably isn't worth looking at.

So how do we fix this SPAMMING problem?

1. Take some personal responsibility. Stop subscribing to every popup advertisement that catches your eye. If you did this with QVC or HSN you would go broke, but you think nothing about signing up for a FREE X-BOX 360, FREE COUPON to eat at some local restaurant, if you fill out this survey, etc. We have all seen the flashing lights and colorful advertising and they trigger something deep within our brain to react. SPAM Solution --Click on the "x" in the upper right-hand corner of that window and close it!

2. Another SPAM killer is to create filters for your email that scan EVERY email as it comes in. If email contains certain keywords (you can spell them the same as they appear in the emails) the action deletes them. Or you can create a Junk mail folder, and have them sent there instead, then you only have to scan that folder to decide whether they are legitimate or not. This is already partially done for you in the latest versions of Microsoft's Outlook and Outlook Express.

3. Create a FREE email with Yahoo!, MSN Hotmail, Google's GMAIL or another such type and if you NEED to subscribe to something questionable, use that email address and leave your personal email private.

4. Don't forward a "Forward" from someone else. I DON'T CARE HOW CUTE IT IS or HOW FUNNY or HOW "IMPORTANT" you think it is. If you must forward it on, take the extra moment to copy and paste the text of the message to a new email and send it. Why? Viruses. If your email is included with dozens of others, eventually someone is going to get their hands on that list, usually due to a virus being on the computer that receives the email and the virus reads the email addresses and sends itself back to you or on to someone else and it looks like it came from you. THIS IS NOT GOOD!!!

5. You could invest in SPAM filtering software or check with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and see if they offer SPAM filtering as part of their service. NOTE: Experience has taught me that SPAM filters, although they work relatively well, tend to block legitimate email and can cause you to miss an important meeting, event or offer that would have been worthy of reading or knowing about.

6 Whatever you do, DON'T reply to SPAM email. This entices them to send you more. Up to that moment, they are not sure that your email address is a valid one, but the moment you reply back to them, WHAM!!! live body. Your email address goes into another list that can be sold as HOT email addresses and you get bombarded with MORE!!!!

Bottom line is, be smart, be courteous and be conscientious about how you handle the messages that come in. If you don't want to read it, DELETE it. If it's a Forward and you think it's cute, remember that ALL the people in your address book might not think it is so. Be selective. Follow these Six SPAM Tips and you will be well on your way to squashing the SPAM monster in your inbox.

©2006, Blue Mountain I.T. Solutions. Permission granted to reprint this article as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and that the content, by-line and hyperlinks remain unaltered and functional.

About the Author:
Dave Baughn, owner of Blue Mountain I.T. Solutions, is a computer guru revolutionizing networks in the Tri-Cities area of Northeast Tennessee with Blue Mountain I.T. Solutions. He created How To Use My PC for the "non-techies" at home who want to learn how to use their computer at home. Dave will send you the hottest computer tips, tools and ideas when you sign up at www.ComputerSupportTips.com for his FR*E Ezine.
Submitted: 2006-09-20
Article Source: GoArticles