You’ve Got Spam: How to "Can" Unwanted Email

If you are receiving lots of junk email messages from people you don't know including JUNK and BULK...read the following... 

As you use email, marketers are increasingly using email messages to pitch their products and services. Unsolicited commercial email - also known as "spam" can be and is annoying and time consuming! 

How Spam happens...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, 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.

Reduce the Amount of Spam that You Receive...When on the Internet...try not to display your email address. That includes newsgroup postings, 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 pre-selected box if you want to opt out.

You can also report unwanted spam mail to the Federal Trade Commission.  Send a copy of unwanted or deceptive messages to uce@ftc.gov. The FTC uses the unsolicited emails stored in this database to pursue law enforcement actions against people who send deceptive spam email.