Welcome! If you hate spam - unsolicited advertising e-mail - you've come to the right place. I hate it
as well, and in this independent site I've set out some strategies you can use to fight it, and some
helpful tools you might like to consider obtaining (most free, a few paid for). But first,
some facts and figures...
- 10 billion spam e-mails are sent every day, a figure expected to rise to 30
billion a day by the end of 2005.
- In the USA spam now constitutes around 37% of all e-mail traffic.
- 80% of the two billion e-mails received by Hotmail accounts every year is
estimated to be spam.
- 540 seconds is how long it took for a new e-mail account to receive its
first spam in a recent experiment.
- 95% of all viruses are sent through e-mail.
- The love bug virus, largely spread via spam, cost the US economy an
estimated $8.7 billion.
- 10 billion euros are spent every year by businesses in the EU to deal with
spam.
- A 1,000 user network can expect to receive over two million spam e-mails each year at an
estimated cost of $6.5 million to the business concerned. (source: CAUBE)
The massive growth in spam has occurred largely because e-mail is so cheap
and easy to send. It costs almost as little to e-mail a million people as a
single one. The usual checks and balances which deter people from sending out
poorly written and targeted junk mail do not apply, therefore. Even if only one
person in a million receiving an e-mail responds (a success rate no postal
campaign could sustain), the spammer will still be laughing all the way to the
bank.
Whether you're the head of a large corporation or an individual home user,
therefore, it follows that you must take spam seriously. If you click on the links in the left-hand menu, you will see my advice and recommendations. The
main categories are as follows:
One solution to the problem of spam is to subscribe to an Internet Service Provider who will pre-screen your e-mail, and hopefully remove the spam and viruses from it, on your behalf. In this section I examine the pros and cons of this approach, and list some ISPs who offer this service
This section lists dedicated services who will pre-screen all your
e-mail for you and only forward it if it meets your pre-set rules. In
general, if an e-mail arrives from someone unknown to you, the service
will automatically reply with a request that they confirm the nature of
their message. Only if they do this will the message be forwarded.
Another approach is to get dedicated software you
install onto your own computer. Several programs can check your e-mail
before you download it. You can see the message heading and, if you wish,
read the text of any message before deciding whether or not you want to
download it. You can also set such programs to delete mail from specified
sources automatically.
In this section I reveal my own tips for reducing spam. There is a lot
you can do yourself to reduce the risk of your e-mail address falling into
the hands of spammers, and to fight back if this does happen. See this
section for essential information every e-mail user should know.
In this section I have listed a few other resources I have found
helpful, directly or indirectly, in fighting spam and encouraging others
to do the same. All of the sites and services listed in this section carry
my personal seal of approval!
Finally, you may be wondering who I am. My name is Nick Daws and I'm a
UK-based freelance writer (you can visit my writing homepage by
clicking here). I'm a big fan of the
Internet and use it every day in my work. I have no objection to the
legitimate use of e-mail in marketing (via genuine opt-in mailing lists), but
regard unsolicited spam as objectionable and totally unacceptable.
This site is provided as a resource for my students, colleagues and the
wider Internet community. I will aim to update it regularly, while trying
to keep it reasonably concise. I have no plans to charge for any of the
information provided here. I do, however, have affiliate arrangements with
some of the suppliers listed, meaning I receive a small
commission from anyone who clicks through and makes a purchase. I don't
expect to get rich from this, simply (I hope) cover my
expenses.
Last Updated:
23/09/2005 13:02
Linking Policy - Linking to this site is positively
encouraged; notifying me is appreciated. I am happy to reciprocate by
listing any other sites which I think will also be of benefit in the fight
against spam. Please e-mail me with your details using the link in the
left-hand menu.
