Here are some additional tips on my previous post, I concentrated on preventing spam messages from getting into your inbox. This time I will be providing tips on what to do or not to do when spam messages already got their way to your inbox.
What to do:
Immediately delete a suspicious e-mail message. Most of the time, you can already guess that an e-mail is from a spammer through its subject. AOL reported the Top 10 Spam Email Subject Lines of 2003. Basically, most of the e-mail subject lines contain a promising special online offer. You further know it’s a scam or a spam if you have not signed up for the said special offer.
AOL’s ‘Top 10 Spam Email Subject Lines’ of 2003:*
1. Viagra online (also: xanax, valium, xenical, phentermine, soma, celebrex, valtrex, zyban, fioricet, adipex, etc.)
2. Online pharmacy (also: ‘online prescriptions’; ‘meds online’)
3. Get out of debt (also: ’special offer’)
4. Get bigger (also: ’satisfy your partner’; ‘improve your sex life’)
5. Online degree (also: ‘online diploma’)
6. Lowest mortgage rates (also: ‘lower your mortgage rates’; ‘refinance’; ‘refi’)
7. Lowest insurance rates (also: ‘lower your insurance now’)
8. Work from home (also: ‘be your own boss’)
9. Hot XXX action (also: ‘teens’; ‘porn’)
10. As seen on oprah
* - Source: AOL. This list is unscientific, and is not in any specific order. The cited email subject headers are not ranked by volume.
What not to do:
1. Don’t forward chain e-mail messages You lose control on who can see your e-mail. As I have emphasized in Prevent Spam in Your Inbox Part I, it might be prudent to tell your friends not to send you this type of message. Further, you may become one of the accomplices of online scam because most of these messages are designed to trick people.
2. Don’t contribute to a charity based on a request in e-mail. Unfortunately, some spammers prey on your good will. If you receive an appeal from a charity, treat it as spam. If it is a charity that you want to support, find their number elsewhere and call them to find out how you can make a contribution. (Microsoft Office)
3. Do not reply to a spam message. If you were already suspecting that you are being spammed, don’t reply to it even for the sake of clarification. Through this, they can also clarify that your e-mail address is actively used which will encourage them more to send you spam.
4. Do not unsubscribe. Through this, they will also confirm that your e-mail address is active.
Tags: Internet, Tips
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Dec 13, 2006 at 15:52:04
good post. i hate it when i get forwarded chain emails and something about charity when you know that it’s bogus.
i get a lot of spam emails with those subject lines. hehe
Jul 30, 2007 at 20:18:41
Excellent tips, especially about not using the standard unsuscribe method. A++