The Computer Corner, Sept 1, 2006
Charles Miller

Burned by an old flame

I received an email the other day from my ex-novia Donna Sue in Dallas. We keep in contact via email, and I am usually delighted to hear from her. This time, though, she committed a transgression I felt warranted a stern tongue-lashing.

Her email was an announcement of her upcoming move sent to all her friends. I could clearly see the message was sent to bill@juno.com, bob@aol.com, and dozens of other addresses. I almost hit the ceiling.

You also have likely received such an email, sent to you where you could clearly read the names and email address of all the other recipients. The senders of spam email love this because they can use these emails as a source of valid email addresses.

Using a technology called “packet sniffing” the spammers sniff TCP/IP data packets flowing across the internet until they find ones containing a lot of @ signs. They “harvest” these packets and add the email addresses to their junk email list. This is one way your email address gets added to those spam lists.

I have used the same email address for 11 years and have carefully avoided getting it “polluted” with spam. Unfortunately, through the carelessness of good friends like Donna Sue, I am starting to get more and more spam.

There are several things to remember if you wish to reduce the number of spam emails you receive. This is not going to be a complete list, but it’s a start.

First, never, ever send emails to multiple recipients by putting all their names in the “To” field or the “CC” (carbon copy) field. Always use “BCC” (blind carbon copy) so that the email addresses are hidden from each recipient.

Second, never enter your email address when asked for it online. If I visit a website that requires an email address, I usually try entering nojunkmail@thankyou.com.

Third, never use the “tell a friend” or “send this article to a friend” option on a web site, and tell your friends to do likewise. A lot of online shopping sites and newspapers include these links on their pages. The link is there to make it easy for you to send that web page to your friend, but it also makes it easy for the website to collect lists of valid email addresses.

Fourth, if you do receive spam emails, try to never open them. You can usually tell from the sender’s name or the subject line that the mail is unsolicited. If you open the mail to read it, some emails can include a “call home” feature that immediately contacts the sender’s website to verify that the address they used was correct. If you do open a spam email, never click on the link that says “remove me from your list.” That only confirms your address and brings more spam.

Fifth, get a “throw-away” email address. A discardable address is a valid email address you can use when necessary, such as when a website will not take nojunkmail@thankyou.com. I have an email address I use online and give out when I cannot necessarily trust the person to use it responsibly. I discard the address every year, sometimes more often, whenever I get tired of reading all the spam it collects. It is an easy matter to abandon that account for another.

Sixth, once you have a throw-away email address, you should start giving out your “real” email address only to those people you know and trust. Donna Sue, you were the inspiration for this article—but to you my new email address is now cmjunkmail2006@smaguru.com 


Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant, a frequent visitor to San Miguel since 1981 and now practically a full-time resident. He may be contacted at 044-415-153-8528 or email FAQ@SMAguru.com