Do you receive lots of junk
email messages from people you don't know? It's no surprise
if you do. As more people use email, marketers are increasingly
using email messages to pitch their products and services. Some
consumers find unsolicited commercial email - also known as
"spam" - annoying and time consuming; others have
lost money to bogus offers that arrived in their email in-box.
Typically, an email spammer
buys a list of email addresses from a list broker, who compiles
it by "harvesting" addresses from the Internet. If
your email address appears in a newsgroup posting, on a website,
in a chat room, or in an online service's membership directory,
it may find its way onto these lists. The marketer then uses
special software that can send hundreds of thousands - even
millions - of email messages to the addresses at the click of
a mouse.
How Can I Reduce the Amount
of Spam that I Receive?
Try not to display your email
address in public. That includes newsgroup postings, chat rooms,
websites or in an online service's membership directory. You
may want to opt out of member directories for your online services;
spammers may use them to harvest addresses.
Check the privacy policy when
you submit your address to a website. See if it allows the company
to sell your address. You may want to opt out of this provision,
if possible, or not submit your address at all to websites that
won't protect it.
Read and understand the entire
form before you transmit personal information through a website.
Some websites allow you to opt out of receiving email from their
"partners" - but you may have to uncheck a preselected
box if you want to opt out .
Decide if you want to use two
email addresses - one for personal messages and one for newsgroups
and chat rooms. You also might consider using a disposable email
address service that creates a separate email address that forwards
to your permanent account. If one of the disposable addresses
begins to receive spam, you can shut it off without affecting
your permanent address.
Use a unique email address.
Your choice of email addresses may affect the amount of spam
you receive. Spammers use "dictionary attacks" to
sort through possible name combinations at large ISPs or email
services, hoping to find a valid address. Thus, a common name
such as jdoe may get more spam than a more unique name like
jd51x02oe. Of course, there is a downside - it's harder to remember
an unusual email address.
Use an email filter. Check
your email account to see if it provides a tool to filter out
potential spam or a way to channel spam into a bulk email folder.
You might want to consider these options when you're choosing
which Internet Service Provider (ISP) to use.
What Can I Do With the Spam
in my In-Box?
Report it to the Federal Trade
Commission. Send a copy of unwanted or deceptive messages to
spam@uce.gov.
The FTC uses the unsolicited emails stored in this database
to pursue law enforcement actions against people who send deceptive
spam email.
Let the FTC know if a "remove
me" request is not honored. If you want to complain about
a removal link that doesn't work or not being able to unsubcribe
from a list, you can fill out the FTC's online complaint form
at www.ftc.gov. Your complaint will be added to the FTC's Consumer
Sentinel database and made available to hundreds of law enforcement
and consumer protection agencies.
Whenever you complain about
spam, it's important to include the full email header. The information
in the header makes it possible for consumer protection agencies
to follow up on your complaint.
Send a copy of the spam to
your ISP's abuse desk. Often the email address is abuse@yourispname.com
or postmaster@yourispname.com. By doing this, you can let the
ISP know about the spam problem on their system and help them
to stop it in the future. Make sure to include a copy of the
spam, along with the full email header. At the top of the message,
state that you're complaining about being spammed.
Complain to the sender's ISP.
Most ISPs want to cut off spammers who abuse their system. Again,
make sure to include a copy of the message and header information
and state that you're complaining about spam.
How Can I Avoid Spam Scams?
The FTC suggests that you treat
commercial email solicitations the same way you would treat
an unsolicited telemarketing sales call. Don't believe promises
from strangers. Greet money making opportunities that arrive
at your in box with skepticism. Most of the time, these are
old fashioned scams delivered via the newest technology.
Here are some of the most common
scam offers likely to arrive by email:
-
Chain letters. Chain letters
that involve money or valuable items and promise big returns
are illegal. If you start one or send one on, you are breaking
the law. Chances are you will receive little or no money
back on your "investment." Despite the claims,
a chain letter will never make you rich. For more information
on chain emails, check out www.ftc.gov/chainmail.
-
Work-At-Home Schemes. Not
all work at home opportunities deliver on their promises.
Many ads omit the fact that you may have to work many hours
without pay. Or they don't disclose all the costs you will
have to pay. Countless work at home schemes require you
to spend your own money to place newspaper ads; make photocopies;
or buy the envelopes, paper, stamps, and other supplies
or equipment you need to do the job. The companies sponsoring
the ads also may demand that you pay for instructions or
"tutorial" software. Consumers deceived by these
ads have lost thousands of dollars, in addition to their
time and energy.
-
Weight Loss Claims. Programs
or products that promote easy or effortless long term weight
loss don't work. Taking off weight, and keeping it off,
requires exercise and permanent changes in your diet. All
the testimonials and guarantees in your email are not worth
the space they take up on your hard drive.
-
Credit Repair Offers. Ignore
offers to erase accurate negative information from your
credit record. There's no legal way to do that.
-
Advance Fee Loan Scams.
Be wary of promises to provide a loan for a fee, regardless
of your past credit history. Remember, legitimate banks
don't issue credit cards without first checking your credit.
-
Adult Entertainment. You
may get an email from an adult entertainment site that claims
to offer content for "free" and doesn't require
a credit card number for access. All you have to do is download
a "viewer" or "dialer" program. However,
once the program is downloaded onto your computer, it may
disconnect your Internet connection and reconnect to an
international long distance phone number, at rates between
$2 and $7 a minute. Be skeptical when you see opportunities
to view "free" content on the web.
The FTC works for
the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair
business practices in the marketplace and to provide information
to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a
complaint or to get free
information on consumer issues, visit
www.ftc.gov
or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY:
1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing,
identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into
Consumer Sentinel,
a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil
and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and
abroad.
|
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION |
FOR THE CONSUMER |
1-877-FTC-HELP |
www.ftc.gov |
|
April 2002