A superior strategy to fight spam

Here are some rules that are only less effective but that sum up in total all my experiences that I have made in the last few years. And all these rules apply to all Internet users, from casual users to advanced users.

Rule 1

Never print your correct address online. Never again. Post your address on MySpace, Facebook, or your own website and you’ll be inundated with spam in minutes.

Whenever possible, try to hide or obfuscate your address with a java script and generate an image from your address. Encrypting it as namedomaincom is not enough.

Rule 2

Forget about all the filters and tools. Don’t trust your ISP’s spam filters.

From complicated regex filters and known bad mail server blacklists, to semi-intelligent Bayes filters, none of them deliver on their promises. They are always behind the current trend in spam.

The problems with filtering are not spam that goes undetected, but good emails that are accidentally held or, worse, deleted.

Rule 3

Use disposable addresses that can be erased if they start to attract spam messages. Try to find services that allow you to create those addresses with the tip of a finger. Each of these fake addresses is redirected to your main address and you can even reply to them, while your real address is always obfuscated.

This is by far the best way to communicate with machines, newsletters, shopping sites, etc.

And when they send you spam? No problem, just delete the destination address and that’s it.

Rule 4

Never reply to spam UNDER ANY CONDITION, just delete it. Never confirm that you read and even reply to such emails.

Rule 5

Don’t even open spam emails. They can infect you with a computer virus or confirm your address automatically in the background. Try to delete the suspicious message directly on the mail server.

Rule 6

Never click on links in spam emails, including unsubscribe links. This will only generate more spam. It is also better not to open emails from unknown senders in HTML mode.

Rule 7

Never buy anything from a company that does spam. Don’t reward those guys for bothering you. Do not visit their sites or ask for more information.

Rule 8

Use multiple email addresses for different intentions. This helps you identify different sources and senders, and allows you to separate them more effectively.

Rule 9

Use products in which unknown human senders have to identify themselves before their emails go from quarantine to your inbox.

Rule 10

Use automatically created disposable addresses for typing (e.g. web2.0, shops, newsletters)

Rule 11

Check if your email address is open to spammers by typing it into a search engine.

Rule 12

Try to use a more complicated address, which is less likely to receive spam email than one that can be easily attacked by the dictionary. The thing has addresses created completely randomly.

Rule 13

Stop using betrayed addresses. You will never be removed from the spammers list.

Rule 14

Never reveal your login details to anyone. Not his wife, not his best friend, and of course not his co-worker.

Rule 15

Always defend yourself in the best possible way. New Windows patches, updated virus protection, and a working firewall are a total must.

Rule 16

Do not use MS Internet Explorer, Microsoft Outlook, or Outlook Express. They make mistakes and are constantly the first potential prey of an attacker.