Stop Email Spam

Seven steps you can take to protect your private email address and reduce the number of spam emails you receive

No one likes to get spammed. But what can you do to stop spam and protect yourself from people who want to steal and sell your email address to other spammers?

Here are 7 steps you can take to protect your private email address and reduce the number of spam emails you receive:

1. Protect yourself. Never display your email address on a public website. Spammers use special software tools to "spider" the web and "harvest" email addresses from web pages, online directories and bulletin boards.
2. Create a temporary email address. Create a special email address that you use only for public correspondence -- essentially a throw-away email. Keep your private email address private, only using it to correspond to personal friends.
3. Get good software. Consider using software to filter your incoming emails. Most spam-filtering software can be customized to allow your personal emails through and to block obvious spam emails. A good place to start is by researching what is offered by the leading anti-virus software companies.
4. Read privacy policies. Don't sign up for an email newsletter or submit your email to a website for any reason until you've taken the time to read the web site's privacy policy. If the site doesn't have a privacy policy, don't give them your email address.
5. Opt out. When signing up for a newsletter or other online service, be sure to "opt-out" of other "free services" many sites offer at the time of registration.
6. Don't talk to spammers. Never reply to a spam email. This only verifies to the spammer that your address works and that you're successfully receiving their email. Laws are changing, thankfully, and now, for example, in the US, spammers are required to honor "do-not-send" requests after their first unsolicited spam email.
7. Be aware. Do not send email greeting cards or use "send this page to a friend" type features until you've read a web site's privacy policy. To be safe, don't use your personal email address for email greeting cards. Also be careful of when you're submitting your friend's email address to a website until you feel you can trust the company that runs the website you're using.

At ViralBuzz we value integrity and expect it from our clients, and we do all we can to rid the Internet of spam email.

Do you have questions or comments about this article? We'd like to hear from you.