Introduction and Basics| Filtering Mail

What is "Spam"?
Simply, "spam" is any unwanted e-mail, generally commercial in nature. You can almost always recognize it from the strange, illogical, and sometimes-absurd subject lines. They will offer items at a price that's too good to be true, items that have no use, or services that are illegal in nature.

How Do I Avoid Spam?
The first step you should take to avoid spam is to set up a second e-mail account to use as a "junk" account. You can sign up for free e-mail accounts from a variety of places (such as Yahoo or Hotmail). Use this account when you need to enter your e-mail address on sites, such as when you need to register software you download. Entering in your e-mail address in these places will inevitably get you signed up for mailing lists you don't wish to belong to. By signing up with your junk account, you can be sure that none of this spam will carry over to your original account.

Do your best to refrain from posting your e-mail address on message boards and newsgroups. Spammers are able to send "bots" (tiny programs) out to scour these boards for anything with an "@" symbol in them (which tells them that it's an e-mail address). If you wish to have an address posted on these boards, you have two options: first, use your "junk" account; second, if you are posting with the intent of getting responses and mail from other people, you may still want to use your original account, so instead of listing your e-mail address as normal, try spelling it out, like in this example:

Your Name AT eden DOT Rutgers DOT edu

This will take an extra step for other users to e-mail you, but it should effectively keep the bots from listing your address.

A final option is more specifically for newsgroups. Your newsgroup reader probably allows you to edit how your e-mail address appears when posting messages. You may be able to add extra letters to the end of your address, effectively changing it to something that's not yours in the eyes of the bots. For example, "username@eden.rutgers.eduCATION" is a popular way, as would be "username@aol.comPUTER." Bots have no idea what to do with these addresses, but a person viewing these on the newsgroup will understand what is being done. Most users also add a line to these messages saying "Remove CATION from address to mail me," to help avoid any further confusion.

Both AOL and Outlook Express have these options; consult your e-mail or newsgroup program's help file for further help.

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