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You've Got SpamInternet privacy is a great concern when it comes to your family. Unsolicited E-Mail, which is commonly called "spam" or bulk mail, is a huge problem on the Internet. Most spam consists of get rich quick schemes and offers to buy something. Unfortunately some may be dangerous. For instance, a dangerous virus can be in E-Mail attachments. Another dangerous item often found in spam is clickable links to x-rated sites and you don't want your child to connect to something like that. You can take action to protect yourself and your family from unsolicited E-Mail. How was your E-Mail address obtained by spammers? One common way is the use of programs to scan bulletin boards, mail lists, news groups and personal Web pages to collect E-Mail addresses. To protect your primary E-Mail address, obtain another one. Use your new E-Mail address when posting to bulletin boards, surveys or anywhere else that requests an E-Mail address. Obtaining another E-Mail address is quick and easy. USA, Yahoo and Hotmail are just a few of the hundreds of companies that offer free E-Mail. It will only take a few seconds to scan the incoming messages of the inbox on the new E-Mail address and it could save you and your family the frightening experience of opening an objectionable E-Mail. When that address starts having the inbox full all the time, go get another E-Mail address! Be sure the adult in the family is the one to check this account. Some accounts like Hotmail are easy targets for spammers. Another way spammers obtain your E-Mail address is when you visit a Web site. Your browser may give out your E-Mail address. Check your browser and see if it gives out your E-Mail address by getting a privacy analysis of your Internet connection. Scroll down to see if it lists your E-Mail address. Some advertisements are loaded on pages through FTP instead of HTTP and need a user name and password to load. Your browser will automatically provide this, so if it does provide your E-Mail address, it can be collected. If it provides your E-Mail address, it is mostly likely because you are using an older browser. Consider upgrading to a newer version, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape. Check your E-Mail program to see if it has a filter. This option is especially useful if you and your family only have a few people that you exchange E-Mail with and it will help you to organize your inbox. You can send your letters from "Aunt Sally" and your friend, "Jane" to an individual folders and all your other E-Mail to a "to be reviewed" folder, to read and delete at your convenience. This is also very useful, if you and your family each have their own E-Mail address. You can set it up to receive each person's mail to a different folder. Another good way to protect your children is to have them use a special E-Mail program for kids that filters their mail and doesn't allow them to give out personal information. Using the filtering option in your E-Mail inbox will save you time by organizing your E-Mails and protecting you from spam. Here are directions about filtering for your specific E-Mail program:
You can help stop the practice of spamming. Eventually spamming will stop if spammers find that they are not making any money at it. When you get unsolicited E-Mail, usually it will offer you a place to write to unsubscribe. Do not use it! This will only confirm that it is a valid E-Mail address. Even if they offer the best deal on earth, do not try it! These companies are very hard to track down if you do not receive the products that you purchased. Attachments in E-Mails can be very dangerous. If the E-Mail is unsolicited and contains an attachment, do not open it. Dangerous viruses can be in attachments. E-Mails without attachments can contain viruses but this is very uncommon. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Take a few minutes now to protect your family from spam. It will save you the embarrassment of your child going to an x-rated site or the hassle of getting a dangerous virus into your computer. |
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