by: Kara Glover
Spam is annoying. Period. Why
people would want to send all of us stupid messages about buying
prescription drugs or getting some outrageously good mortgage
rate is beyond me. Well, not really.
You might ignore those emails. But not everyone does. And that's
why they're sent. Emails cost so little (or nothing) to send. So
sending out a million of them could be a cakewalk. Let's say one
out of every 1,000 recipients falls for their ploy. Someone just
got 1,000 new customers!
How in the heck did those spammers get your address in the first
place? Well, they actually use a variety of techniques. They use
programs called spambots to search the web and pick up any email
addresses that could be listed on websites. They use what's
called the "Dictionary" technique, where they take a well-known
email extension (earthlink.net, for instance), and make up all
kinds of possible user names to go with it. For example, with me
they could try the usernames "kara", "kara1", "kara2" and so on,
until they can confirm one of those connected to an
earthlink.net extension is a valid email address. Kinda like
going page by page through the dictionary.
Ever fill out a registration form on a website and find a little
checkbox, probably near the bottom, asking if you want to
receive additional information, newsletters, or something of
that nature? Often the box is checked, and in order NOT to
receive the info, you have to UNCHECK it (or else). Well if you
miss those types of boxes on the wrong kinds of sites, your
email addresses may be handed to spammers on a silver platter.
Well, almost. Often a zillion email addresses are sold for next
to nothing to spammers on CDs. (Couldn't you almost call those
silver platters?)
Many internet service providers (those guys that keep you
connected to the internet so you can send and receive email) use
a variety of methods to block spam before it ever gets to you.
Nevertheless, we all know that some spam inevitably gets through
to our inboxes. That's when we need to take a proactive stance
and install some sort of software to filter it out!
About the author:
For help on installing anti-spam software, check out this
article on Kara Glover’s website:
http://www.karathecomputertutor.com/
You can also find more articles, tips and tutorials on topics
such as Microsoft Word., Excel, and PowerPoint there. Kara is a
Computer Tutor and Troubleshooter.
