“No RX needed!, Buy this stock!, Get cash now!”
If you have been online very long, you have seen junk e-mail with subjects like the ones above. Many of the messages contain things like:
- Reply with “remove” in the subject line and we will remove your e-mail address from our mailing list.
- Click here to be removed from our mailing list or something similar
“Should I follow the unsubscribe directions in the spam I get?”
Our answer is nearly always “NO”.
Why do we tell you not to unsubscribe (in most cases) or reply to spam? Most companies sending mass e-mails will completely ignore your request, or worse. There are legitimate companies that will honor unsubscribe requests; Amazon.com, BestBuy, WebMD and Travelocity are examples of companies that do actually listen and honor your wishes to not be contacted again.
What do the experts say about unsubscribing?
Brian Livingston of WindowsSecrets.com says:
Once upon a time, if an unsubscribe form on a Web site existed at all, it was pretty safe to submit your e-mail address to it. Unfortunately, spammers got sneakier and things went downhill from there…
Things really have changed. Not only will you not not get removed from future maillings, you may start getting more spam! Mr. Livingston goes on to say:
Worst of all, some sites that operate “global removal services” actually charge consumers money to be “removed from all spam lists.” Then they sell the names to spammers! According to Spamhaus.org, a respected antispam service based in the U.K., a few of these services offer their “do-not-email lists” for free, but others charge gullible Internet users $5 to $22.
The entire article Mr. Livingston wrote can be found here.
Solutions to spam
We offer InfoWest Clean E-mail service. It costs $1 per month and works great. It’s not perfect, but it’s close. Learn more about our Clean E-mail service here.
Summary & advice
Unsubscribing will get you nowhere in most cases. Getting a good filter helps stop spam, like the Clean E-mail described above.
There are things you can do to keep from getting spam. Here are some suggestions:
- Get more than one E-mail address (we give you at least 5 with every account if you want). Use one email address for things like contact with friends and family. Use another for business, online shopping or information requests.
- Beware of where you give out your e-mail address. If a site asks for your e-mail address, make sure they have a privacy policy. Also, if a site looks “shady”, it probably is.
Spam Trivia
The first ’spam’ message ever sent was in 1978 on the ARPANET .
Here is the actual message itself.
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