Many people know what spam is, but do not know how to defend themselves against it. If you want to properly fight spam, you should understand how it works and why people do it. The most important thing you need to know about spam is that it’s all about making money. Many people try to spam because they think that the product they are marketing is a numbers game, the more they can spread the information about their product, the higher the chance that someone will “bite”. Spammers do not care about other people and the other thing that drives their intentions is trying to make a sale.
Spam is defined as un-solicited email that is sent in bulk to people who are not friends with that user or have an affiliate with that user. Pretend that spam is a door to door salesman that keeps pounding on your door everyday to sell you the newest diet supplement.
A typical e-mail from a spammer will consists of a product or service they are trying to sell. Also, con-artists use spam e-mails to deceive and trick people into giving up money or personal information (think Nigerian prince).
So how do these con artists work? As stated, these trick masters want a quick dollar and play numbers games. Sending out millions of unsolicited e-mail is easy and even if a small amount of people buy, they become rich. They create large mailing lists and usually will collect email addresses from any source possible. They can pull your email address from chat rooms, web 2.0 sites, buy, sell and even trade them. There are even such things called spambots that work like webcrawlers. Except these bots crawl your website and gather personal information bout you.
So how do you protect yourself? Spyware blockers software and other forms of anti-virus programs can help guard against intruders trying to steal your personal information.
Also, If spammers don’t have your e-mail address, then they can’t contact you. Keep your contact information a secret or use an alternative e-mail address for sites that you think might be harmful. Choosing a spam resistant e-mail address can help as well. The more unique your address is, the harder it is for spammers to guess your e-mail. Lastly, when signing up for web 2.0 and other services; make sure to read the fine print and check to see if these websites solicit your e-mail address to other third parties. If so, then stay away from the site.
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tags: Blockers, Series, Spam, Spyware, Understanding
