The top twelve spammers tricks

Top Twelve E-Mail Spammers Tricks 12 Unsolicited Email Scams

     The American Federal Trade Commission released a list of scams appearing in unsolicited commercial e-mail. The FTC had appealed for and then received more than 250,000 items of junk mail since last autumn (1998), forwarded to it by netizens upset with the spam they were getting. The spams were put into a searchable database and then used to compile a "dirty dozen" list, which was "a tip-off to a rip-off", according to the Director of the Consumer Protection Bureau, Jodie Bernstein.

Dirty Dozen

  • Business opportunity scams are often old pyramid schemes in disguise, offering huge amounts of income for a small investment in time and money.
  • Bulk e-mailing offers consist of selling lists of e-mail addresses or software for companies or individuals to use. They are often of poor quality and such mailings can be illegal. The lists often included e-mail addresses harvested from netizens websites.
  • Chain letters with claims such as "Make $50,000 in less than 90 days" are just as illegal as the paper versions.
  • Work-At-Home schemes offering money for filling envelopes or assembling craft items rarely produce any return.
  • Health and Diet scams offering scientific breakthroughs, miracle cures and secret formulas are just electronic snake oil.
  • Easy Money offers people the chance to "Learn how to make $4,000 in one day" and other such outlandish claims. The 'Make Money Fast' con.
  • Get Something Free uses the bait of free computers and phone cards to get consumers to pay membership fees. They are then told they do not qualify unless they sign up other members.
  • Investment Opportunities tout outrageously high rates of return with no risk. These also included shares being hyped by 'stockbrokers'.
  • Cable Descrambler Kits are supposed to give you cable television without having to pay a subscription. The practice is illegal, the kits often don't work.
  • Guaranteed loans or credit on easy terms can turn out to be lists of lending institutions or credit cards that never arrive.
  • Credit Repair Scams can charge a fee to clear up a bad credit record. But such records cannot be erased.
  • Holiday prize promotions offer cheap luxury holidays, but the accommodation never seems to match up to the promises and upgrades prove expensive.

Here are some very easy things you can do to avoid or slow down email spammers and Internet hackers.

Avoiding Spam

  1. One of the easiest things you can do to avoid spam is to never give out your real email address. Your real email address should only be used with trusted friends and coworkers. For all other types of email, and for situations that require an email address from you, you should setup and use a junk email account. A junk email account is usually obtained from a free web based email provider like Hotmail or our InfoHQ.com free email.
    A junk email account is used for all types of correspondence when the end-user can not be trusted with your real email address. So use your junk email account for entering contests, shopping, registering on web sites etc. When your junk email address becomes so full of spam that you get tired of managing it, you delete it and get a new email account. Spam problem solved, you start spam free with a new email address.
  2. Don't open junk email. The safest thing to do with junk email is to delete it.
        Bad things can happen by opening junk email such as; the impossible to close window scam, resetting of your homepage to the spam site, and loading of unwanted or hostile programs.
        You should not even consider opening junk email unless your computer is thoroughly protected and you want to take action against the sender of the spam.
  3. Never open email attachments unless you trust the sender and you expected an attachment. Computer viruses and other hacker software is mainly transmitted through email attachments.
        Opening email attachments is dangerous. When you open attachments you are putting your computer at risk.
        Unless you are absolutely sure an email attachment is safe, you should delete the entire email. If it was something important, it can always be resent.
  4. Don't click on "remove" from mailing lists. If its a mailing list you subscribed to, or a store you trust, then you should use the email's unsubscribe feature. For any other type of spam, you shouldn't unsubscribe from it as this just invites more spam, nor should you be reading it in the first place.
  5. Use your email program's spam blocking features. All email programs have spam blocking features. Take some time to figure out how to block email from spammers. With many email programs it is possible to specify exactly who is allowed to send you email.     You can also download or buy programs that will block email spam, however these programs will take time to "train" on what is spam and what isn't.

Avoiding Hackers

  1. Never post your IP address in a public place. This is like inviting a hacker to your door. Once they know your Internet Protocol address (four numbers divided by periods e.g. 168.320.001.01) they can begin hacking you.
  2. Always run your Firewall and Antivirus programs first. Your firewall and antivirus programs should always be running before your computer connects to the Internet. If for some reason you want to turn these programs off, make sure you have first disconnected from the Internet. It is also a very good idea to enable automatic software updates in these programs so they stay up-to-date.
  3. When you are not using your computer, disconnect it from the Internet. One of the worst things that can happen is when a hacker breaks into your computer and you don't even know it. To prevent unknown attacks, your computer should be disconnected from the Internet when not in use.
        There are various ways to disconnect from the Internet, you could: turn off the computer, put your computer in Windows' Standby mode (Start/Shutdown/Standby), break the Windows' Internet connection, or power down your modem.
        Remember that just because your computer screen has gone blank/dark doesn't mean that you have disconnected from the Internet. A blank or dark screen is an indication of power saving mode and does not mean your computer is disconnected from the Internet.
        Also, it is not a good idea to pull cables from your modem with the power on, as this could short-out your modem or computer. If you have an external modem and want to turn it off, the best thing to do is to plug the modem into a switched surge protector, and then turn the surge protector off.


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Top Twelve E-Mail Spammers Tricks 12 Unsolicited Email Scams