We all get it, and none of us wants it. And for those of you who sit back and say, “spam doesn’t bother me,” think again.

“What is spam?” you may ask. Spam is basically unwanted advertising or otherwise scam attempts that are distributed en masse to those that did not request it. And for the most part, no one wants it. Items and services for sale, everywhere from valium and viagra (spelled in hundreds of different ways) to surgical procedures, find their way into our email inboxes.

Well, if no one wants it, then why does it persist? Simple: it works. If one sucker in a million falls for the pitch, then the spam pays for itself.

Well, okay, then why should we care? That part is simple too, because you’re paying for it!

Spam now accounts for over 80% (some studies say over 90%) of all email. It also accounts for two-thirds or more of all internet traffic. In a world where the ISPs are trying to get more money and citing that their “tubes” are full, wouldn’t it be great if we could simply relieve all that pressure? If we could eliminate that 60+% of unneeded traffic, then the tubes wouldn’t be so stressed and the ISPs can stop worrying for a while. And prices should drop, although I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one.

In any case, it needs to be noted that over 80% of spam is not sent by the spammer. Viruses these days are written to zombify your computer to make it do the virus author’s bidding. And guess what that is 90% of the time. That’s right: spam relay! And then who is paying for that bandwidth usage? That’s right, you are!

Okay, so we all know about the usual spam: those that are trying to sell us viagra or valium or to get us to visit various websites with potentially titillating content. First of all, if you need viagra or valium, it is truly best to seek out your own source of it. I would be wary of “pushers” that simply want to distribute their drugs; surely they have little care for their customers’ needs. Second, if you are tempted to visit “free” pr0n websites, please think again. The vast majority of those sites are constructed with the sole purpose of distributing viruses. And antivirus software suites these days aren’t as good as they used to be. Frankly, they seem to be losing the war. And there are new zero-day exploits appearing daily, so beware.

Another type of spam is the one that claims to be giving out free stock tips. The real game here is that the spammer’s client is hoping to trick enough people into buying the stock in order to drive the price up. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, and it would be great if it weren’t so risky. Someone has tons of stock in a company, they throw out these spams hoping the price will go up, and then they sell it all making a hefty profit. It’s called a “Pump-n-Dump.” Trouble is, what if you are one of the suckers who didn’t sell quickly enough? Or what if you one of only a few suckers who bought into the hype? You are going to lose your shirt!

Finally, there is the scam spam. These range anywhere from the Nigerien “419″ scam to the handy and convenient emails from your financial institutions. These are the most nefarious of all spam emails. Following a “419″ scam can, and has in some cases, turn deadly for the unfortunate recipient. At the very least, it can drain your bank account of all funds. If anyone at any time seems the least bit shady, it’s probably a scam. Use your best judgment. In fact, these scams don’t always come in via email. Sometimes they are initiated in chat rooms, online dating sites, etc. Be careful.

Additionally, if your bank (or any bank or financial institution) suddenly sends you an email telling you to log into their website, don’t do it. The typical ploy here is that they will send an email informing you that there is a problem with your account and you need to sign in immediately. They also help you out with a convenient link to the webpage. You click on it and a very convincing copy of the real website appears, soliciting your username and password, which you enter. The next thing you know, your funds have been drained from your accounts. The best way to spot these scams is if they come from an institution that you are not a part of. You may think, “well, they’re stupid. I don’t have an account with ABC Bank.” Well, somebody does, and those people might get some of these emails. The best way to combat these scams is to first of all not use the links they provide. Type in your bank’s web address manually; that way you know where you went. And don’t trust the address that seems to appear in the email; it may be wrong too. By the way, these are called phishing scams.  And they don’t always come from banks.  There are many phishing scams that pretend to be eBay or PayPal.  Some can even be for online gambling sites; there was a scam some months ago where someone got their hands on a bunch of online poker site usernames and passwords.  They would log on as you, play against their friends, and lose on purpose.  Suddenly, you get a big charge on your credit card!
Here’s a helpful tip. Find a way to use multiple email addresses for the various things you sign up for. If you have your own domain (something I highly recommend) then you can set up multiple accounts. But even better, Google’s GMail allows for nearly infinite addresses using the plus sign. For instance, if your email address is bob@gmail.com, then you can sign up for something using, say, bob+amazon@gmail.com. Then, if spammers guess your email address or steal it somehow, then you may easily see that if an email appearing to come from Amazon.com comes to bob+ebay@gmail.com that it is bogus.  You can also see which email address has been compromised, although there isn’t much you can do about it after that point.
Another tip is to use dodgeit.com. This handy website gathers email to *@dodgeit.com and allows anyone to see it. So, if there is something you want to sign up for and don’t trust that they will keep the address confidential, just sign up for it using a dodgeit.com address. Then you just go to the website and type in the first part of the address and you can view the email being sent to it. Beware, though. Anyone can see the results. So, if you are signing up for a website and receiving a username and password in the email, then anyone can see it. Best to get it, log on, and then change the password immediately.

Finally, be in favor of email signing techniques.  There are a few techniques being tested right now, but if one catches on then we can stop the email spam quickly.
In the end, spam is not just the problem of a few people. It is all of our problem. It chokes the “tubes” with data packets that could not only be used for better gaming and faster web-surfing but also has to get paid for by someone, and that someone is all of us. So, even if that ad for cheap watches seems really tempting, do not go there; you will only perpetuate the spam problem.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 21st, 2006 at 9:06 am and is filed under Spam.