Sadly there are any number of ways your Email address can be obtianed. There are web sites that can extract this information just by you visiting it.

In addition it is available to every server on the internet that is used to pass mail which most large servers do. There are also large companies that sell it.

Some ways you can stop seeing the spam is to setup rules on your email program. AOL and most IPS companies now have some sort of spam blocking that you can setup with certail words in the body of the email that will not pass them on to you. I use Outlook and Outlook Express and both allow me to do that directly. I either tell it not to download that email or to delete it before I even see it.

Another thing to can do to help is to not uses Browser Addons like Hot-Bar. They are spy ware programs that are designed to gather and send information about the places you visit and information you type into the browser.

You can go to the address below and download a free program that will check your system for spy ware and remove it. It should be used just like Anit-Virus Software.

Install the Ad-Aware program only.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

Hope this helps.
Heather

Thanks Heather,

Funny thing. I had Adaware until a few months back, then I couldn't get up dates and someone told me they had "disappeared."

With your help I now have it back.....


Peter

I know exactly how you feel Chuck, I receive 800-1000 similar emails each day. And unfortunately there is nothing I can do if email addresses are publicly available on web pages. Mine is at the botton of all Synth Zone pages which are widely listed in the search engines, so my email gets harvested by people compiling SPAM lists. And even worse viruses use it as a forged return address, I have had viruses supposedly from me ( from some server overseas ) to myself. It all gets very tiring, I wish there was some way to validate senders email addresses. Then SPAM would diminish rapidly if the sender could actually be contacted.

You should know the BBS Profile settings do allow you to have your email address hidden if you choose. Maybe you should set that option to avoid publishing your email address.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 12-04-2003).]

Hi Nigel,

Thanks very much for responding to my comments regarding the SPAM problem all of us face every day. I am reluctant to hide my e-mail address from my forum friends so I will leave things as they are for the time being and deal with the SPAM as it arrives.

I see California, among other states, the federal government, the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia, have recognized the seriousness of the SPAM problem and are now intervening to do something about it. Lets hope these initiatives are successful in the long run and SPAM becomes just a memory.

Thanks again, Nigel. Take care.

Warm Regards, Chuck

REGARDING SPAM:
Because my name and address are all over the internet, I was getting several hundred spams a day. I used to track down their unforged IPC addresses and write them, advising them of our California Law and showing a copy to our California Attorney General and their ISP, then signing my letter with my name followed by ESQ. Most people know what that means. I would advise them that it would be their only warning before they lost their internet privledges. I would never get another spam from those people but others would take their place.
HOWEVER:
Then came Mail Washer. This program will show you in a couple of seconds all the emails on your server waiting for your download signal. Your choices are to Bounce them back to the sender, Blacklist them, delete them, or mark them as a friend. Only the ones you mark as a friend are then downloaded to your computer for you to read. All the others are bounced back to the senders. When a spam is continually bounced back to the sender they soon quit sending to you. My spam is now down to about 10 or less per day of new spammers. A fringe benefit is you can tell which emails have an attachment and can mark it to be deleted or bounced. I have not received any virus download since installing this mailwasher program. My Virus Program just sits, does nothing and gets a free $35.00 a year. The program is a free download and although it is worth its weight in gold the Author only asks for 3 to 20.00 contribution, and that is up to your conscience. YOu can send nothing if you are one of those kind and use it forever. This will resolve your spam problem. Try it, I am sure you will like it and if not you can move on to something else.
Best to all
Bebop


[This message has been edited by BEBOP (edited 12-04-2003).]

Chuck,

A technique used by many contributors to newsgroups is to try to mask their email address from automated systems whilst keeping it clear to human readers. Eg I could supply my email address as zzmdaniellzz@zzoptusnetzz.com.auz and add the comment 'remove z's to email me', or something like that.

I, too, use MailWasher, and it certainly makes it easy to delete mail before it is downloaded. However, in my case I still get 40 or so rubbish emails a day, many of which are marked by MailWasher as 'origin blacklist' which I think means I've already blacklisted them which also implies I've already bounced messages from those addresses. Still, I do recommend the program because (a) it is easy to get rid of the junk, and (b) I expect I have got myself off some lists.

Regards,
Mike


[This message has been edited by Mike Daniell (edited 12-04-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Mike Daniell (edited 12-04-2003).]