Under
construction - started October 05, 2003 as a public service.
Last updated: October 10, 2003.
I'll add additional links and information on how to identify spammers from message headers, etc. as I have time.
Basic Stuff You Need To Know About Spam
- The first thing to realize is that most newsgroup servers and many email providers do not have anti-virus software installed. Contact your email provider if you suspect they don't scan for viruses and suggest that they should.
- Never, never, never open an attachment from anybody you don't know. Delete the email.
- Keep your operating system up-to-date (e.g. Windows Update)!
- If your email provider has anti-spam software on its email server, turn it on.
- Have one email address for friends and family. Use a second one, if you can, for business contacts. Use a third/fourth/fifth one for newsgroups, online purchases, etc. where you run the risk of attracting spammers. The email address you receive the spam on can tell you how it originated. Change the email address that's causing you problems if you can.
- Never respond to spam - even to a url that says "click here to opt out" - unless you know the company and really trust them. If you respond, they have proved they have a valid email address and can sell your email address to another spammer.
General Information
1. Anti-Virus Software
Install anti-virus software and keep it up to date. The Swen virus, for example, gets its email addresses from newsgroup postings that are downloaded to a PC that doesn't have anti-virus software on it. We gave up counting after we received 2000 emails, in less than 2 weeks, containing the Swen virus from members of newsgroups who did not have anti-virus software installed or up-to-date. Members of computer newsgroups who should know better!
If you don't have up-to-date anti-virus software, do an immediate online check (and then go and buy some anyway). There are several free online virus scans out there. We periodically use Housecall from Trend Micro even though our anti-virus software is kept up-to-date.
2. Munge your email address
In a newsgroup, never set your email address to be a real one. Add extra characters to make it harder for the automatic email address extraction programs to get your email address from your message. Look up "munge" on Google for an explanation.
3. Install a firewall
Swen, for example, sets up its own SMTP server (email distribution program) so you never see the infected emails it sends in your outbox or "sent items" so you think "it can't be me that's sending these infected emails". Wrong! Zonelabs, for example, has a free firewall so there are no excuses for not having one.
4. To Reduce Spam you see in newsgroup postings - use "filters"
For example, if you use Outlook Express. set up a filter using Tools/Message Rules/News to delete anything where the Subject contains "Nude Neighbour", "FBI Forensic", "Security Update", "Security Pack" ,etc. That way, you won't even see the posting - it never gets on your list.
5. To simplify the deletion of Spam received in emails
Set up a filter in your email reader to move all messages where the subject and/or body of the email contains things like (for the Swen virus) "Security Update", "Net Pack", etc. into a special folder e.g. "ProbableVirusEmails". Then, after a quick look to make sure there's nothing important, you can delete all of those with a couple of keystrokes.
Other Resources
| Network Tools | Lookup who the owner of a domain name is - address, phone number, fax number, contact for reporting abuse, etc. Be careful reporting abuse to anyone you don't know - they may be just collecting you email address for more spam. Report them to their domain registrar instead |
| Trendmicro - Housecall | Free online virus scan (Norton and McAfee may also have free online scans |
| Zonelabs | Free firewall |
| SpamPal homepage | Free anti-spam software |
| Mail Washer | Free anti- spam software |