How to avoid spam instead of stopping it

Nobody likes email spam. Spam messages cost us time and money when they are downloaded, they clog our mailboxes, and some present a security risk. No wonder that a zillion programs offer you their services in removing spam messages. These applications mostly work this way: they still let spam be downloaded to your computer, they will still let spam clog your mailbox, and downloaded spam viruses will still reach your PC. However, by using a spam “filter” application, you will presumably get a big satisfaction knowing that those evil spam messages are killed on your own PC. Hmmm - must be a better way, right? Well, there is.

A better approach to spam would be deleting messages before they arrive to your PC at all. Some internet providers are doing exactly this for their subscribers, but very gently – because they could be sued by subscribers for false hits. One of the pioneers of this approach – Spamcop.net – offers a personalized online spam filtering service.

Spamcop.net, which identifies spam by its origin, and is known in the industry for its updated “black lists” of spammers and spamvertisers (firms who use spam for advertising). It deletes spam right out of your ISP mailbox – before you download anything. You save time, and gain security. Only the filtered emails are downloaded to your PC, by your regular email program. As a bonus, you get an online web email account. You can configure “white lists” and “black lists” of your own, and as a measure against false hits, deleted messages are kept in an online folder for awhile.

As I started using Spamcop.net a couple of years ago, it dramatically reduced the number of spam messages arriving to my mailbox – think 90%. The service is very aggressive – maxing out the user-configurable spam intolerance throttle will result in regularly offing some innocent bystanders. However, setup requires some configuration. As far as customer support goes, Spamcop indeed offers the friendliness of a correctional institute – no fancy flash demos here. But if you can handle it, it is worth the effort - with the spam situation as it is, I would rather use Spamcop than enlist my own PC in the war on spam. Excuse me for not volunteering – but it is a big bad world out there, and my PC is better used in creating useful stuff than pretending to be a battle machine.

Comments

[WicKicO]

I can´t find a way to stop spam
on my website. I ban their IP´s
but they come back with another IP

I waste hours erasing that crap from
my website