How To Avoid Spam

[Guest]

[Chiron]

If you would like to know how to avoid spam, then please read my article:
How to Avoid Spam.

If anyone has any comments they can leave them either on that site or below. Either way I'll respond to any comments and consider your suggestions for future changes.

Thanks.

[brucine]

Don't forget the distinguo between pure spam and, speaking of malware, the one coming from attachments.

An attachment is nothing but a normal file but in a specific folder, and real-time av scanning is from my point of view totally useless.

But one definitely needs against this threat to use a mail client loading attachments in a separate folder, able to read the mail directly on the server before actually downloading anything, and able to protect you from malicious actions (default reception in plain text format so as to avoid, e.g., Active X).

Not true that the spamming capacity systematically comes from mails you downloaded once, and stops after some time not doing so.

My junk mail adresses have been spammed for years, including from commercial sites i never visited nor subscribed to: i believe it is enough to have been spammed by one of these sites to make some epidemic behavior, either from the culprit site selling its files to everyone, either from robots hacking these same files.

General sites (e.g. Google) asking you to set your preferences and tastes, if you allow it, are of course in the first line of attack.

Last, note that an effective protection, coming from the newsgroup world, is to write your mail adress as mymail.at.mailserver.fr or mymail..mailserver.fr: no robot is then able to hit you, as it doesn't know automatically to delete the "at" or period in order to reach you.

[Chiron]

An attachment is nothing but a normal file but in a specific folder, and real-time av scanning is from my point of view totally useless.

Do you meant it's useless if you're running default-deny technology. I disagree with you still, but I would see your point if that's what you mean.

Not true that the spamming capacity systematically comes from mails you downloaded once, and stops after some time not doing so.

Can you please point out the part where I make this argument? I thought my conclusion made it obvious that the opposite is usually true. I don't want to impart the impression that it's easy to stop spam once you're on their list. The point of this was to show people how to stay off of said lists.

Last, note that an effective protection, coming from the newsgroup world, is to write your mail adress as mymail.at.mailserver.fr or mymail..mailserver.fr: no robot is then able to hit you, as it doesn't know automatically to delete the "at" or period in order to reach you.

Good point. This will almost always protect your email address from being harvested. I suppose I should mention this as an alternative in case there is a situation in which you have no choice but to post your email address.

I appreciate your feedback. Thanks.

[brucine]

What i think to be the right procedure with mail is:
-use a real mail client: its function is to use mail, not to play spam/get spammed and spyware games with pictures, sounds... : Incredimail, some webmails).
However, using a webmail (or a trashable mail software) for subscriptions is a good idea, since you can dump them whenever you want.
Secured mail clients usually include their own engine, and not your browser's one: The Bat, Eudora, Pegasus, maybe Foxmail.
-always monitor mail on the mailserver itself (my mail client has this integrated feature, if not, mailwasher or similar is fine).
-set your mail client so it only reads mail in plain text by default and "quarantines" not only the attachments, but also the mail body itself in a separate folder (you are still able, if you want to, to open a mail in a second time in html format, but it's then a deliberate choice)
-never accept any mail with whatever attachment, even if the sender is said to be your grand-mother: any mail with unsollicited attachment is directly deleted on the server, and when i send myself an attachement, i always report in the mail body its existence, format, name and size.
-of course, set your os to show full extensions.

Concerning spam, and in these conditions, no one shall ever reach your mailboxes, as they are deleted on the mail server.
But it of course does not keep your maiil server to be spammed, and the only efficient way i know for stopping spam is to delete the target mail adress.
I am not sure of what you said about spam: of course, answering, unsubscribing, following a link, downloading the spam and opening it in html format (but, as i said, i never do any of these things including the last) shall have as only effect to raise the spam level.
But "playing the dead" shall have no effect whatsoever and won't stop the spam to continue for years.
Not even speaking of websites, leaving your mail on a legit internet purchase site (and you have no choice but to do so) is enough in most circumstances, as not only then the said site spams you but, notably with large companies (including cell phone operators and isp) sells its files to anyone on earth.
The only "remedy" is then  a "junk mail adress" you won't even bother to check.

Speaking of virus and in the conditions i stated, the presence of attachments should not be so frequent.
But monitoring them in real time with an AV suffers from multiple inconvenients:
-it might notably slow down your mail client
-it only relies, like with any non-mail file, upon your AV database: it might be not enough, or on the opposite excessive (and, e.g., throwing you out of whatever Word/Excel macro you might need).
-in the event of a false or real positive, it shall quarantine the culprit, making (like for any other file) a real hassle of accessing and cleaning the said quarantine folder.
These reasons lead me to think that, if you want to check whatever attachment not directly deleted on the mail server, but about which you remain however dubious, you should treat it exactly like any other non-mail file: save it to a specific folder outside  of your mail client, and then scan this dubious file before opening it.

[captainsticks]

Hi Guys, Just wondering a while ago my wifes e-mail was getting quite a lot of spam, and after a reformat reinstall for a different reason of course the spam seemed to cease with the same e-mail address. Could their have been something on the system, or a total coincidence that this would happen? Thanks Kind regards.
P.s Still using OE

[Chiron]

I can understand malware harvesting your wife's email address, but I don't know why it would stop once the computer is reformatted.

This sounds like a coincidence to me, but if someone does know of a connection then please let me know so that I can add it to the article. Thanks.

[captainsticks]

I can understand malware harvesting your wife's email address, but I don't know why it would stop once the computer is reformatted.

This sounds like a coincidence to me, but if someone does know of a connection then please let me know so that I can add it to the article. Thanks.

Thanks Chiron. I thought it had to be just a coincidence, but going from est 2 or 3 spam e-mails every 2nd day to none since just seemed like a far out coincidence. Thanks for rattling your brain over this.
Kind regards.

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