It comes when you least expect it. You are innocently browsing Youtube for the latest hit video when you hear a noise. It happens to be the email notification noise. You move your cursor down to your email client and tap the left mouse button. As your client appears you notice something: there are no new emails in your inbox. No, it can't be! You quickly glance at your local folders listing. Sure enough, the little Junk E-Mail folder has a (1) next to it. You have spam. What should you do? Should you delete it? Reply with a very nice message explaining how much you love spam (Yeah, right!) or just let it sit there? All you spam related questions and more will be answered in this article: You Have Received Spam: Cancel or Allow. Read More...
Well before we talk about what to do with the spam, let's talk about the no-no's. One of the most obvious things not to do is leave the spam sitting in your inbox. It will just waste space that you could be using for more important things. "So do I delete it?" you ask. No. Not yet. The first thing you want to do is report it, which we will talk about later. The other big not is reply to the spam. This is the WORST way to handle your spam. If you do so the spammer will know that your address is a real address and he will send you more spam and even add your name to their lists that they might sell to other spammers. Also, the email you see in your email client is probably not even a real address so it will just come back to you with a delivery error (Which is about as good as getting more spam!!).
So now that we have talked about what not to do, what should you do with spam? Well if you have read any other articles they probably go into excruciatingly long detail about how to read the headers of the email, a task that seems impossible to you. Why bother with trying to learn how to do that? There are hundreds of programs that you can use if you have an email client, can filter you emails so you have less spam. If you wish to go that way, you can try free program such as Spamihilator or POPFile. If you are willing to pay a little for your spam protection, you might want to get Spam Catcher 4.0. It is not free, but it's a good solution if you have some cash to spend. Another good, and not to mention free, solution is online. It is called SpamCop and it is a great solution for people who want an easy way to report spam. Please know, SpamCop does NOT block the spam you received it simply reports it to the spammer's email administrator (AOL, Comcast, etc.) and they will probably remove the user. All you have to do is sign-up and start reporting spam.
SpamCop requires the headers from your spam. In most online email clients there should be a Display Full Source link. Email your provider for information. If you use a client such as Windows Mail or Outlook you should find your spam's full source in C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\AppData\Windows\[Mail Client] for XP and C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Local\Windows\[Mail Client]. This should get you well on your way to reporting and preventing spam. If you have any questions ask them in the comments. Happy spam fighting!
