---

Make It Easy

BY BETH TERRY

Thursday, October 25, 2001

Protect yourself
from spam

Do you know enough about spam to protect yourself? Not that pink stuff in the little rectangular can, I'm talking about the junk e-mails flooding our computers.

My saga started a few weeks ago. A spammer forged my old e-mail address as the return address for spam he sent to thousands of addresses. I found out when the delivery failures started jamming my mailbox. To make matters worse, he was sending porn! From the looks of it, he used the dictionary method of sending the spam. This means he used a random program to pick likely names at all the major servers. Whatever didn't hit a "live address" came back to me: the supposed sender. He had forged my name in the "return path" section of the e-mail.

I contacted the fraud units of several servers to investigate. Here are their recommendations to prevent a re-occurrence:

1) Rethink your e-mail address if it is on a high traffic server. If your address has a name and number, it is easy to find in a dictionary search, making you vulnerable.

2) Change your passwords frequently and don't save them on your computer. Some spammer programs allow access inside your computer. When they send spam it erases all traces of their presence.

3) Protect your friends' e-mail addresses. Learn how to send blind copies when you send to multiple people. Erase old e-mail addresses when you forward. Spammers are extremely sophisticated at harvesting addresses. Let's not make it easy for them.

4) If you get hit, don't wait. Contact your ISP and ask for the fraud hotline immediately. They can do more if they catch it early on.

5) If you have a serious problem, go to spamcop.net. They can help you find a solution and offer tips on prevention.

6) Finally, make sure you have a firewall and virus protection on your computer.

It's getting crazier by the day out there. Be safe and take care of yourself.

---

Beth Terry is president of Pacific Rim Seminars.
This column is excerpted from her upcoming book,
101 Ways to Make Your Life Easier. Send questions
on management, customer service and other issues
to beth@bethterry.com.