Unwanted mail. Everybody hates it. Sometimes we just delete them without a reaction, while other times we can’t help but feel annoyed when we receive them. Some of the content of spam messages is quite vulgar. They can even be offensive. In any case, they are not wanted.
What is spam?
Spam, in the simplest terms, is defined as junk email. Others may define it as unsolicited email. In other words, it is an email that you have received from an unknown party.
Why do people and / or companies send spam?
Why? That’s a great question. Let’s first analyze the content of most of the spam that you or anyone else receives on a daily basis. More than 90% of all spam can come from someone trying to sell you a product or subscribe to a service. So they are sensationally trying to sell something, tangible or not. Why do they do it? Because it works. The same theory can be applied to steering wheels. Hundreds of millions of unwanted flyers find their way into mailboxes or people across North America. The amount of user interest ranges from 0.1% to 5%. However, for some businesses, an interest so low that it turns into a sale is still worth the time and money they have invested. This is no different from spam.
If a person spamming more than 100,000 people a day receives 1 percent interest resulting in a conversion (sale), then they are essentially making money. That is why they do it. And sadly, that’s why it will never go away.
CAN-SPAM Compliance Act
The Federal Trade Commission or FTC regulates what is known as the CAN-SPAM Act. It describes a series of rules that constitute what is spam and notifies the corresponding legal authorities to deal with any case. You can find more information here: http://www.ftc.gov/spam/.
How to opt out of receiving spam
Generally speaking, if you receive an unsolicited email, it should contain an unsubscribe form. More specifically, a way to send your email so you don’t get any more emails from that organization. Sending to these unsubscribe links should prevent you from receiving any more emails from that specific company. Spam artists have overcome this problem by providing a bogus way of doing it. The opt-out email you are emailing may be fictitious or even appear to be legitimate. In these cases, it is best to file a complaint directly with the FTC. In these cases and where there is no unsubscribe link, you can make a complaint directly to the hosting company for which the spam was received. You can find the hosting company by looking at the information in the email header. It will contain an IP address. This IP address will be linked to a company. Performing a Whois search will reveal the phone numbers and emails of the hosting company responsible for sending the spam. You can also delete messages as they arrive. Depending on the email service you are using, you can choose to automatically delete any email that comes from a specific email address. Some email providers or email clients will also allow you to filter (and automatically remove) messages that contain specific words within the body of the email.
It’s too late! I’m spamming to death!
If you get spam regularly, it may be time to get a new email address. Contact your legitimate email contacts and inform them of the new email address. You get a lot of spam for some reason. Do not post your email publicly on forums or blogs and create a second ‘junk’ email address for websites that require email confirmation to sign up.
Join the fight against spam
Since the existence of spam, a number of companies have emerged that have sought to combat them. Joining these companies and submitting the details of the spam you have received will help combat spammers and lead to their servers being blacklisted. Just Google “Fight Spam” and a number of different companies and stories will appear in the results.
Dealing with spam is a hassle. As technology becomes more advanced, online spammers only find new ways to spam you. Will not go away. You will have to use common sense when sharing your email address, otherwise it could be a daily routine that is nothing short of a cumbersome task to delete.
