Don’t know how I got on them in the first place.
How embarrassing. Of course I meant to say “How do I get my e-mail address off spammers’ lists”.
You can’t. If you complain to them, they’ll just use that address to spam more, or sell the address to some other spammer.
I’ve heard of a program that will trick the spammers into thinking your email doesn’t work. Supposedly it sends back the same type of message that the spammer would get if the email address were invalid.
I have no idea how well it works, or even what it’s name is though.
I’ve heard that the worst thing you can do is email them to have your name removed, as this confirms your email address as “live”. They are often sent randomly.
anyway, here’s a thread which might be useful.
I use Spamcop, http://www.spamcop.net/
They have a free form, or you can pay for greater convenience. Since spam is a violation of nearly every Acceptable Use Policy, Spamcop is one way to let the spammer’s upstream host know that the spammer is violating the policy. They get their site shut down and/or access cut and have to move on to a new one.
It’s not perfect. But I think it helps everyone on the net by making it easy to report spammers.
1.Don’t reply & you won’t be on that spam list anymore.
2.Get an email program that can filter it out.
- delete them as they come in.
What I’ve done to counter spam is to create a free e-mail account on Hotmail. Whenever any website (any) asks me for an e-mail address, I type in that address. This way, spam caused by organizations that the site farmed my e-mail address out to doesn’t clog up my box, yet I’m able to receive any real correspondence that the site might send me.
A furtehr plus to Hotmail is a feature called “Bulk Mail” - not sure exactly how it works, but any spam sent to my Hotmail address is filtered into this folder. This further simplifies the task of finding real mail that is sent to my hotmail account. I don’t think I’ve ever received real spam at my primary address (which was opened after I started doing this).
Thanks for the comments. But the funny thing is that I have a hotmail address that I use for all websites and puchasing and I have no spam going to that account.
I have a more official account that I get spam on. The spam comes in waves, 5-10 at a time. Sometimes 2 of the same message from the same spammer. There must be some list they’re using.
Say I want to spam. Or say I want to sell an idea that will net you $10,000 per week. Who do I have to contact in order to get that list?
If you have a webpage, there’s a simple way you can help the world at large fight back against the scourge of email harvesting programs:
http://members.hostedscripts.com/antispam.html
That’s just the first example I have at hand, but essentially, you generate a random list of nonsensical email addresses so that when the spambots eventually spider your site, they get a coupla hundred extra invalid addys to make their day just a little more difficult. The more people that do it, the more the spammers get screwed.
Major: Generally, the hotmail antispam features (inbox protector and bulk mail) are pretty good about blocking the crap, which is possibly why you aren’t getting flooded. Anyway, sites like the SDMB aren’t usually the major source of addys for the spammers… it’s either a)free opt-in scams where you willingly give them your address (like the various sweepstakes) or b)stuff like guestbooks, where a mailto link with your address is coded in a page (which is what the strategy above attempts to combat.) If you avoid both no-no’s above, you probably won’t get much spam.
Major Feelgud, you could buy a list. You’d just search the net for people who have such a list to offer or buy a cdrom full of them. Im surprised you don’t get spam selling lists like that already.
There are also programs, which I won’t name, that can suck all the email addresses from a web site or a newsgroup automatically.
Also take into account that spammers use a database of first and last names and try to guess email addresses to see which ones work. So if you’re “john@isp.com” or “johndoe@isp.com” or “jdoe@isp.com” chances are you’ll get spam. If you’re “major_feelgud@isp.com” they probably wont guess that one, and it should remain spam free. They tend to target free email places in this way (like hotmail or mail.com), but will sometimes do it to commercial ISPs as well.
In short, pick an email address that’s not easily guessed, don’t post to newsgroups, and be careful which web sites you give it to. NEVER reply to a spam mail.
Imagine the spam I get – my hotmail account is ilikeamonkey@hotmail.com. No spam about ‘MAKE MONEY FAST’; instead, spam after spam after spam about ‘HOT MONKEY LOVE’.
It’s just not fair. I really do like monkeys, but not in that way. I just want to stay friends.
Try telling people you like goats. I know exactly what you mean.