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Cut Down on Spam Now!

Are you tired of deleting email messages with subject lines like “kulegnji” or “vitriine” from your inbox? If spam has become the bane of your online existence, you’re not alone.

According to Symantec’s latest State of Spam report, spam now accounts for 72% of all email messages. But junk mail is not just a nuisance and a waste of your time; it's also become a common way to commit fraud and spread malicious software.

So how can you stop unwanted messages? While there are no foolproof ways to completely eradicate spam, these tips can help you significantly reduce the amount of junk mail you receive.

Block it

Make sure your PC is protected by antispam software. Both Norton Internet Security™ and Norton 360™ offer antispam capability to automatically filter out annoying, dangerous or fraudulent emails from your inbox.

Check in with your ISP

Does your Internet service provider filter your emails? If yours doesn’t, find one that does. Also, report spam to your ISP provider, Symantec, at piracy@symantec.com, and/or the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov.

Protect your email address

Some companies, even reputable ones, will sell your email address to spammers for cash. So make sure to carefully read a company’s privacy policy before giving out your address. For instance, when you sign up for a service online, you may see some text at the end of the form that says "Yes, you may share my address with your third party marketing partners," and often the checkbox next to it is already checked. Be sure to uncheck it.

Hide your address

If you maintain a personal Web site with your email address coded in plain text, you’re asking for trouble. Spammers regularly scour the Internet to locate email addresses on Web sites and will easily find yours. You can “hide” your address with code or in an image, so that spambots won’t be able to recognize it. For instance, instead of John_Doe@company.com, publish the email address as John Doe[at sign]company.com.

Get a secondary address

Consider using a disposable address that automatically forwards to your private email address when registering with Web sites or shopping online. You can easily do so with services like Spamex, Mailinator or PookMail.

Make it unique

Spammers use dictionary attacks to sort through possible name combinations at large ISPs and email services, hoping to find a valid address. Research shows that email addresses containing numbers and symbols are more difficult to guess and thus receive less spam. So get creative when you choose your email address.

Do not respond to suspicious emails

Any sort of response only confirms your email address and may result in more junk mail. As the fight against spam continues, we’ll keep you updated on new ways to get rid of unwanted messages. Stay tuned!

Related Links

• How to Protect Against Spam
• Norton Downloads
• Viruses & Threats: Conficker Worm (aka April Fools 2009, April 1st Virus)