Got Junk? Mail that is!
Insights on the Journey... February 2009
Greetings, in this issue
February Survey
Do you have to filter through junk email just to find the ones Feature Article: Got
you are looking for? Junk? Mail, that is!
Quote
Well, Jerome, our IT guy, is here to help us. Ask the Coach
About Insights on the
Thanks, Jerome!!! Journey
Make it a great day!
Evelyn
P.S. Make sure you check our new survey section!
February Survey
Here is our January Survey Results:
What is the number one area of your life you hope to improve in the New Year?
Number One answer at 50%:
Health
Other top answers were:
Career
Finances
Spouse/Significant Other Relationship
February Survey Question
Question: What book have you read in the last year that you wish everyone would read?
[Click here to complete our survey]
Feature Article: Got Junk? Mail, that is!
If you are like me, you hate Junk Email and are always looking for ways to get rid of it.
Before I give you the prevention tips, here are two things you need to know:.
1. The reason behind all that junk email.
As you give your e-mail address out, over time your address gets stored on an increasing amount of
other computers and address books. If one of those computers gets an email virus or spambot,
you're going to get spam. Also if you post your e-mail address on a website, forum or newsgroup,
computers that frequently crawl the web in search for e-mail addresses will add your address to its
database of active e-mail addresses and you'll get spam.
You ask, what is a spambot and spam? A spambot is a program designed to collect--or harvest-- e-
mail addresses from the Internet in order to build mailing lists for sending unsolicited e-mail, also
known as spam. A spambot can gather e-mail addresses from web sites, newsgroups, special-
interest group (SIG) postings, and chat-room conversations. Because e-mail addresses have a
distinctive format, spambots are easy to write.
2. Do I have to change my email address to stop junk email?
No, but most of it can be blocked from reaching your "Inbox" e-mail folder. Most major e-mail
providers do a good job of detecting messages that are spam and filtering those messages to a
"spam" folder. You may have to go to your provider's website and configure the spam or junk email
filtering tool on the site. There are other paid services and programs that allow you to create
whitelists and blacklists that will allow or block e-mail addresses which you define. You can find a lot
of tools online by doing a search and some are even free. There is lot of them that you can try
before buying; so if it works out for you, then buy it. There are other services which have more
thorough filtering techniques, but unfortunately no service is 100% perfect.
What are whitelists and blacklists? Whitelists are where you can add e-mail addresses to a list of
people you always want to pass the spam filter. Blacklists are the opposite of whitelists. It is where
you can add e-mail addresses to a list where you don't want the email address to pass the spam
filter.
Now that we have addressed the how of receiving junk email, let's move into some prevention tips.
Here are three things you can do to prevent some of the spam or junk email that you may receive:
1. Don't respond to any spam messages -- just delete them.
If you respond to junk e-mail, that lets the spamming computer know that they have sent their
message to an operative, working e-mail address. Spammers can then sell your e-mail address to
other spammers as part of a list of active e-mail addresses. This definitely makes you a vulnerable
target for more spam or junk e-mail. Blocking the sender is ineffective since most spam comes from
random, one-time e-mail addresses. If enough people don't read, respond or purchase from
spammers, after a while spamming will no longer be a profitable business.
2. Use BCC when sending to mass email groups.
Some spam is spread when a computer gets infected by a virus or spyware that also installs a
spambot on the infected computer. The spambot collects all the e-mail addresses on the computer
and then sends spam to all the e-mail addresses it finds or sends a list of the valid e-mail addresses
to businesses that sell valid e-mail addresses to third parties for the purpose of advertising.
So, what is spyware? Spyware is computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal
computer to intercept or take partial control over the user's interaction with the computer, without the
user's informed consent.
My wife and I use a program called SpyBot to help get rid of Spyware. You can download a free
copy from here: http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html
To avoid the spread of spam it is good e-mail safety and etiquette to use "BCC" (Blind Carbon
Copy) when sending e-mail out to more than one person. That way the person receiving your e-mail
can't see the e-mail addresses of everyone else you've sent your e-mail to. More importantly,
spambots can't see the other e-mail addresses either.
For example, if you use BCC and one of your friends got a spambot, the spambot could only see
your e-mail address in a message on their computer, and only send spam to you, but if you didn't
use BCC, and put all of your contacts in the "To:" or "Cc:" column, then the spambot could send it
out to you and everyone ELSE!
Other e-mail programs, as well as AOL, Yahoo, GMail and other webmail services have a way to
disguise all of the e-mail addresses you send a message to via "BCC". Please check how to use
BCC with your e-mail, and start practicing safe e-mailing today.
3. Use very descriptive subjects in your emails.
When you send an e-mail, it is very helpful to the person receiving the e-mail if you give a very
specific subject so that they know the e-mail is legitimately from you and not a spambot. A subject of
"Had fun at the party at Laguna Beach" is an example of a good, very specific subject line. Try to
include names or specific information so that the receiver would know that it's safe to open your e-
mail. A subject of "Remember me?" is too vague - some spammers use vague subject lines to get
you to open their message.
I hope these tips will help you cut down on the amount of spam and junk email you receive.
BONUS TIP:
I also want to share a bonus tip to Website Owners and Web Designers on how to scramble email
addresses on websites. I have already used this and it works!!! The tool is called "Instant Email
Scramble" If you want to know more about it, go here:
http://www.virtualvacoach.com/resources/emailscramble.htm
Jerome Benton is the owner of JERPAT Web Designs, http://www.jerpat.org. He specializes in web
design and has partnered with his wife's virtual assistance business to give every company the
quality services they need at an affordable price. You can read Jerome's weekly tips at
http://blog.virtualvacoach.com.
Quote
If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into committees. That'll do them in.
~Author Unknown
Never let a computer know you're in a hurry.
~Author Unknown
Ask the Coach
Do you have a career or life coaching question?
Email your question to coach@journey2fullness.com and Evelyn will answer it!
About Insights on the Journey
Insights on the Journey is a publication of Journey to Fullness, Inc.
Journey to Fullness offers Career Coaching, Life Coaching and Employee Development.
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Evelyn Windley Kaufman
The GPS Coach™
Getting you Positioned for Success!
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