A little off topic--how to stop spam

[kilomike]

Help!!

Sorry about getting off topic here but I need to try to do something with this spam stuff.

I've been spammed so much lately with stupid junk email and I am looking for advice. I use the hotmail system and have tried using block sender and the keyword blocking options to no avail. Anyone have any suggestions for me? I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you,

kilomike

 

[FlyingSig]

I've used the program Spam Punisher with some success...

you can download it (free) here:

http://download.cnet.com/downloads/0-3356723-100-7935614.html?tag=st.dl.10001-103-1.lst-7-1.7935614



p.s. I like your Avatar...I grew up in NH and am a die hard Pats fan

 

[ShawnC]

Well you could do like that man in OR that started charging $25 a message, they stopped sending him the messages after he sued them in small claims court.

 

[FL000]

I also use Hotmail and had the same problem until last year. I had given out my email to anyone and everyone who asked for it, including catalogs, offers, website registrations, etc. Even though I'd ask not to be on mailing lists, my spam grew and grew to the point it was unbearable. Also, some spammers use randomizers which generate and hurl out spam using combinations of initials and numbers representing user names and birthdates, or lucky numbers, word combinations, etc. That was a large part of why I was getting hit so much.

So here's what I did. I kept the email address, but gave it ONLY to commercial entities. Credit card company wants my email, I give 'em the old one. Flightinfo.com wants my email, I give 'em the old one. Porn sites? You guessed it...the old one. I'm not implying that I got spam from flightinfo.com, but like I said, there can be no exceptions.

Then I made up a new email address in a foreign language (for example, vuelobueno @hotmail.com) and gave it ONLY to friends whom I wanted to hear from. NO EXCEPTIONS. DO NOT give the new email address to any entity other than personal contacts, ever.

The only disadvantage is that you have to rebuild your address book, but the process has restored my e-sanity.

Now my old email is my spamcatcher and I clean it out every couple of weeks.

I have not received one single spam to the new email in the year since I did this.

 

[surfnole]

I have a system similar to a previous poster. I use two email accounts. One is for friends only. The other is for correspondance with companies etc. I get much more spam at the official one.

Yahoo does a pretty good job of directing spam to your bulk mailbox. I usually never see the stuff.

 

[flydog]

dont use hotmail. the sole purpose of the free e-mail accounts is to build a marketing database

 

[kilomike]

Thank you for all your suggestions.

I'll be sure to try the spam punisher and see what I can do!!

kilomike