What is E-mail spam?  E-mail spam is when e-mails sent to you are unwanted and unsolicited.

It's a familiar problem: "The e-mail account I've been using for years, the e-mail address that all my personal and business contacts know as mine, is being flooded with spam."

Some of our users have similar help comments, "I did a search and clicked on the wrong site and now receive unwanted e-mails daily." or "I visited a site and pop-up windows just kept coming every time a closed one another came up." or "For no reason I am receiving unwanted e-mails."

HOW DO YOU STOP E-MAIL SPAM?

Although most internet authorities will tell you that the situation is bleak and that it is impossible to stop spam, it is part of the new internet junk mail, webdevelopmentsharks.com has compiled a few tips and tricks to help keep you, your business and family safe from unwanted e-mails.

Don't get spam in the first place by following these rules:

1. Surf Clean - The easiest way to not receive junk mail is not to visit junk sites.
   
   Use your computer and the Internet for what it was meant, such as to share knowledge, find factual and historical information, business related tasks, correspond with friends and loved ones, or to shop at reputable stores.
   Which leads us to:
    
2. Shop at Reputable Stores - While Internet shopping, make sure the web site has a privacy policy stating that your personal information will be kept confidential.
   
   Look for an active Verisign or Thawte secure certificate which states the web site has been thoroughly investigated and found legitimate.  If when ordering the site asks you if you would like to receive future e-mails regarding products, select NO, they may be referring to other third parties, which means that when you order, they may sell your e-mail to a bulk e-mail distributor.
    
3. Don't Give Out Your E-mail - Many new surfers check their e-mail constantly waiting for the first few messages to trickle in.  So as they are surfing they fill out that little form to receive news letters, product updates or be included in the mailing list.
   
   Don't sign up, you may receive your e-mails, but you may also be included on their next fresh e-mail addresses for sale list.

TIP! - Close any or all e-mail distribution programs while surfing the net.  This will make it a little harder to retrieve your personal information from your computer.

You are already getting spam, so how do you stop it?

1. Don't Open Spam E-mails - However curious you may be, do not open any potential spam e-mails. 
   
   If you don't know who the e-mail is from, don't open it.  This will save you from potential virus e-mails as well.  In most cases, the images in the message are linked to the spammers server and not embedded in the message.  This means that when you open the message, your computer pulls the images from their server which lets them know that you have opened the message and that your e-mail is legitimate.  If you just have to know what the message is, disconnect from the Internet before you open it thereby breaking the connection to the server. 
   
   Over time, they may set your e-mail as unknown and spend their time sending to more responsive e-mail addresses.
    
2. Disable the Preview Pane - Most e-mail programs have a preview pane by which you can preview messages before you open them. 
   
   This option should be disabled, as stated above, your computer pulls the images from their server which lets them know that you have opened the message and that your e-mail is legitimate.
    
3. Setup E-mail Filters - Follow these instructions for Microsoft Outlook™
   
   From the Tools menu, choose Rules Wizard, then click the New button.  Select the Check message when they arrive option, then click the Next button.  Scroll down the options and check the boxes for Suspected to be junk e-mail and Containing adult content, then click the next button.  Scroll down the options and check the Permanently delete it box.  Then click the Finished button.
   
   This will delete the message before you even know you have them.
    
4. Keep Your Computer Clean - Make sure to constantly delete your temporary internet files and cookies as often as possible.
   
   Click HERE to learn more about computer housekeeping.
    
5. Setup Parental Controls - Follow these instructions for Internet Explorer
   
   From the Tools menu, choose Internet Options.  Click on the Content Tab, then click the Enable button.  The Content Advisor window will appear.  Click on the Ratings tab and adjust the slider to the levels you are comfortable with.  When you are done setting the ratings, click OK.  This should open a window for you to enter a password so that the ratings cannot be changed.
   
   Make sure you choose a password combines letter and numbers and cannot be guessed by other users of your computer.
    
6. For Extreme Cases - If you have a serious daily spam problem and need immediate action, you should follow all the suggestions above, invest in anti spam software and in a worst case scenario, cancel your existing e-mail account and setup a new one as well as setting up parental surfing controls, e-mail filters and anti spam software so that it doesn't happen again.
   
   Get a new E-mail address HERE!

ANTI SPAM TOOLS & SOFTWARE

• http://spam.abuse.net/ - Actively engaged in fighting spam for years. Since they presented this site to the public in 1996, they have been referenced as one of the best anti-spam sites on the net.
   
• http://www.spamsifter.com/ - SpamSifter software is designed to stop spam before it reaches your inbox. You can set up custom filters and/or use pre-set filters to block unwanted email.
    
• http://www.giantcompany.com/ - Spam Inspector's Postal Inspector software installs directly into the Microsoft’s Office Outlook™ application, running quietly in the background scanning and quarantining away time wasting annoying junk email.

Fact:  A report from a Santa Clara, Calif. company concluded that 10 per cent of Internet e-mail is spam, nine per cent violates communications policies and four per cent is bulk mail. Another four per cent of all Internet e-mail contains profanities, two per cent contains jokes and two per cent contains viruses.

E-mail remains the No. 1 critical application on the Internet and according to the Washington, D.C.-based newsletter Electronic Mail and Messaging Systems, there are more than 195 million corporate users worldwide.

Click HERE for more about what Spam is.