Rt
We have been receiving a lot of questions about spam at Charter net recently. Here is my very best advice for you...
What has happened to cause this situation with your email?
Even if you don’t think you have done one or more of the following, you have. We are sorry but you just have. No your friend, neighbor or relative did not do it to you... Sorry but it is your own curiosity or desire for something free (even though you know better) that got you. None of us can help it we are just wired that way.
- You opened an email and there was a link for some cute free thing like Incredimail for instance. Little did you know that it is common practice for sites like this to send a program to your computer along with the cute stuff that tracks (a tracking cookie) every move you make while on the net. Now they are in a position to sell your email address to people who want to sell stuff like the stuff you have been looking at. In order to recoup their investment in you they in turn sell your address to others and here comes more spam your way.
- You went to a webpage to look at something and suddenly a flashing advertisement declared you a winner of free gas for a year... Just click a link to learn all about it and collect your prize. That click will get you a cookie and all the spam you can eat.
- A friend sends you an email with an attachment that is really funny.. Funny it has a virus that raids your email and sends your email address and everyone in your address book back to some spammer... and here it comes ... more spam.
We all love email... Most of you sign up and get an email address with whomever is providing your internet services.. When you move or change ISP (your Internet Service Provider) you immediately do away with your old email address and take on another which is a real hassle. New address book getting everyone the word what your new address is, etc.
The Cure:
- Do not open email from anyone you do not recognize... If you do.. D0 not open any attachments.
- There is NO free lunch. Look at your life. Did you ever get something for nothing? Now even if you won something you entered, bought a ticket, put a coin in the slot but it was not free.
- Get an email service and an antivirus program that scans incoming email for virus’ before you open them. Realize that even then after it says everything is hunky dory for you to download that the item may include a new virus that the cure hasn’t been worked out yet.
- Learn how to set your JUNK or Trash mail settings in your email program. This will get rid of about 90% of spam.
- Don’t indiscriminately give you email address out on so called free sites.
If you are having a problem right now here is what I would do.
- Close your current email account after you notify everyone concerned and send them your new address.
- Open new email accounts with 2 new online services and not your current internet provider. No matter where you move from then on you will not have to close one account and open another. My two favorite email sites are MSN HOTMAIL and G-Mail (google). Both of these sites have easy to use spam controls that you can set and they scan outgoing and incoming email and attachments before they get to your computer or leave it.
- Gmail has unlimited storage and organizing that allows you to keep all the email you receive over a lifetime.
- Hotmail limits its storage but it still gives you a healthy chunk. For both of these programs it means that your mail is stored on their computer server and not yours. Your address book everything is there. Wherever you go in the world you can access your email (past or present) on any computer.
- Now, only give one address to friends and relatives and use the other for those times that you have to give out on the web like visa, send me a ...thingy, etc. The one address will be more or less Spam free and the other will be the spam target.
Hope this helps.
