A general primer on Spam
Explanation on using filters in e-mail programs to bar Spam

Question: Is there anything at all I can do about spam?

Answer: Start by refusing to supply an e-mail address online, including to Web sites that ask you for it, unless leaving the address is beneficial to you.

But if you sense that a Web site is gratuitously requiring it, falsify your address. Instead of giving it as janesmith@myisp.com give it as janesmithnofool@myisp.com.

Why? Because programs designed to create mass e-mail lists don’t know the good address from bad ones.

Q: But supplying a false address makes me uneasy.

A: Then open an e-mail account on a free service, such as Hotmail.

Give your personal e-mail to friends. Leave the free account address on Web sites.

Q: How about responding to e-mails to tell off the senders?

A: Never. Do that and you have confirmed for them that the address they have is valid. Don’t even demand your name be taken off their mailing list.

Q: Are programs to stop e-mail helpful?

A: Their effectiveness varies because they look for keywords, phrases and known sources to weed out e-mails. But spammers know this and adjust their tactics accordingly.

And there is always the possibility that they’ll reject an e-mail from someone from whom you do want to hear.

But its always worth a try.

The list of available programs includes MailWasher, IhateSpam, SpamSubtract, ChoiceMail and SpamKiller.

There are several shareware programs available on PCWorld’s Web site. You get to try them for free for a set amount of time, then have to pay for them to keep them working.

On the Web:
www.mailwasher.net
www.sunbelt-software.com
www.spamsubtract.com
www.digiportal.com
www.mcafee.com
www.pcworld.com/downloads/collection/0,collid,804,00.asp

Q: Does complaining do any good?

A: Yes, it keeps the pressure on government officials and Internet service providers to find a solution.

Forward spam to the Federal Trade Commission. Uce@ftc.gov is the e-mail address to use.

It also helps to forward spam to the customer support people at your ISP.

USING FILTERS

Question: Advice articles on spam suggest using rules in e-mail programs to filter it. How does one do that?

Answer: I'll outline the procedure for Outlook Express. With a bit of head-scratching, you can extend the how-to to Outlook, if you have it, and perhaps even to other e-mail programs.

Open Outlook Express, then click on Tools, Message Rules and Mail. You'll get a dialog box with four sections.

In "Select the Conditions for your rule," designate the circumstances under which you want Outlook Express to take over the handling of a suspect message.

The two obvious ones are "Where the Subject line contains specific words" and "Where the message body contains specific words." Meaning: You want the program to look out for e-mails where certain words practically scream "spam."

In "Select the Actions for your rule" select "Move it to the specified folder."

As you make choices in the first two sections, the third section, Rule Description, fills up with new options.

If you have created a rule for "Where the Subject line contains specific words," the third section will contain a copy of that rule definition, but with the last three words underlined.

Click on them. In the Type Specific box that opens, type the words or phrases characteristic of spam you get: mortgage, Viagra, your body parts. Click Add or hit the Enter key after each word or phrase.

Do the same if you want Outlook Express to deal with e-mails with those words in the message body.

Click on the link in "Move it to the specified folder." Click on the plus sign next to Local Folders. Highlight Inbox and click on the New Folder button. Name it "spam."

Why create a spam folder rather than just delete the spam? Because if you get spam about Viagra, you don't want to read it. But if you get an e-mail from a friend bragging about his Viagra successes, you may.

If the message from your buddy were to go to the Delete folder, it may escape your notice, or it may get deleted permanently if you have Outlook Express set to empty the Delete folder when you exit.

But if you move suspected spam to a spam folder, you can review the messages at leisure and rescue the ones you want. To finish, in "Name of the rule," baptize it "spam." You can always change the rule as you think of other keywords.

To do that, click on Tools, Message Rules and Mail. Click on the Modify button when the box with your rule opens.

In section three, click on the appropriate link, then add words.