Dear Computer Lady,
I dearly love getting your newsletter and it helps me tremendously, so please keep up the good work.
I have some questions: l. Lately, since about the last 6- months, I have been getting GOBS, like about 100 spam emails a day. Is this because of a site a visited or what is causing it and how can I stop it?
2. Also in the last month I have been getting daily at least 12 notices from my server that an email I sent was UNDELIVERABLE. When I check it out there is an email address that I do not even know. How is this happening and how can I stop it?
This is driving me CRAZY and I need to stop it as I simply do not have time to wait for over a 100 spam emails to download everyday just so I can read my newsletters and emails from friends. Thank you for your help.
Donna in Austin, TX
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Dear Donna,
These problems are probably all coming from the same cause. Somehow, your e-mail address has gotten on a spammers list and has probably been sold to other spammers.
Your e-mail address could have gotten on a spammers list in a couple of ways, you could have filled out an online form that was really nothing more than a trick to collect e-mail addresses from people. Lots of places that tell you that you have won something will be nothing more than an attempt to collect your e-mail address.
Spammers also have software that will search the internet for e- mail addresses on web pages. So, if you signed a guestbook on a website, and your e-mail address is included, the software will pick up that e-mail address. That is why when you sign my guestbook, you have the option to not show your e-mail address.
Once they have your address, spammers not only send e-mail to your address, they also use it as a fake return address. That way, people can’t tell where the junk mail really came from. Since many e-mail addresses on a spammers list have closed, some of those e-mails bounce. The bounced messages are the undeliverable e-mails that you are getting.
Probably the best way to fix this problem, is to contact your ISP and change your e-mail address. Or, you can sign up for a spam filter like Spamarrest.
If you get a new e-mail address, don’t give it out on websites. If you want to fill out a form, or enter a contest, get a free e-mail account with yahoo or hotmail and use that address. When you get too many spam messages with the free account, just close it, and create a new one.
Elizabeth
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