Techniques to stop spam fall into two categories: Filtering out
spam and minimizing the exposure of your email addresses
| Anti-Spam Tips | Reason |
|---|---|
|
Use unusual email addresses |
Some spammers use computer programs to guess at email addresses. Using unusual email addresses containing numbers and letters can thwart this tactic. |
| Don't provide email address over IM | Do not send your email address through chat rooms, instant message services or Internet bulletin boards and newsgroups. |
| Provide a form not an email address | If you want to enable users of your Web site to contact you online, provide a form. Make sure the "send to" email address is not contained in the page HTML, but in the form processing script. |
| Never reply to spam messages. | Never reply to spam messages even when they entice you to reply to "remove" you from their mailing lists. Often the instructions are either bogus, or a way to collect more addresses. Replying confirms to the spammers that your email address is active, and you may receive even more spam. |
| Use fake email addresses | Most Web-based sign-up forms require an email address. If you don't want to hear from the site (and don't need a confirmation e-mail or tech support), don't give a real email address. |
| Opt out | When you do sign up for or buy something online and you have to give out an email address, remember to opt out of everything you're not absolutely sure you want to receive. |
| Never submit personal information to non-secure Web sites | Never submit your credit card details or other personal information to non-secure Web sites. Secure Web sites will have a locked padlock icon that appears in yellow, or in a yellow box, on the bottom bar of the order form Web browser. |