How you get SPAM... To begin with the bad guys send SPAM because that's how they make money, it's their job, it's how they make a living... We're talking millions of dollars here... A lot of spammers are very good at what they do and work extremely hard finding viably e-mail addresses. First off they have programs that search the internet, day and night, 24/7, checking every site and web page for anything that resembles an e-mail address... If you've posted your e-mail anywhere on the internet it's on a SPAM list somewhere... When I say anywhere I mean anywhere, on your own web page, in a Guestbook, on a forum post, MySpace, a blog, anywhere it can be seen it can be grabbed by a spammer. They also have programs that generate names for e-mail addresses, anything that can be found in a dictionary, telephone book, lists of baby names, lists of nick names and such... Anyone who has an internet connection can get a list of all the internet providers in the world... So all they have to do is tell the program to use those names with those providers... Instant SPAM list. Years ago my dial up provider gave their customers FREE web sites... To keep track of all the sites the provider used the customers e-mail addresses as the site names and then posted the list of the sites on the home page... Instant SPAM list.... ( Fortunately they've seen the error of their ways... lol ) Ever sign up for anything FREE on the internet or even registered purchased items and they asked if you wanted to be on their mailing list... Yep, instant SPAM list... Well not all the time but if you don't specify what kind of mail you want from them your address can end up on a SPAM list ( especially the FREE stuff ). Ever get a Forwarded e-mail from a friend with a zillion e-mail addresses in it that tells you to add your name to the list and send it to 10 of your friends... Yep, and if you Forward it, you just created another SPAM list. Ever get mail and you weren't quite sure who it was from or the Subject sounded interesting so you Opened it anyway.. Yep!!! You just added your address to an A #1 golden SPAM list because they know it's a good address and they can sell it to other spammers. Those are a just some of the ways they get your address... So what's the answer... Well, get a new address, pick something no one can guess with lots of letters with numbers mixed in, don't give it out to anyone, create a message rule that sends all your mail to the trash and you MAY stop the SPAM for a week or two... lol Seriously though, never, ever reply to SPAM or click on the links to be removed from their list unless you're absolutely positively sure who sent it... Sometimes reporting them to your internet provider works but after you report the first 100 or so your IP may get a little testy (lol)... Your best bet is to just delete them without opening... Sooner or later they'll slow down... Get a free e-mail account to use for registering for stuff, your internet friends and stuff like that... Only use the e-mail account from your internet provider for family and really close computer savvy friends... BTW, Rules to block e-mail addresses or IP's won't work because they use phony addresses... But, you could make a Rule like this.... Where the from line contains people not in my address book, Delete from Server... But the problem with that is if your friends change their e-mail address before telling you their mail won't get through, same goes for replies from any mail you send out to people not in your address book... Rita

Flash The other day I got something from Xerox. Since I own some stock in them, I 'assumed' it was likely just something I really did not want or need to know, as usual, stock holders meeting, proxy voting, blah, blah, blah. Imagine my surprise when I opened it to find a check. I had filed paperwork months ago as part of a class action law suit, and was awarded some $ because I had held some stock between certain dates, when something was amiss. A similar thing happened a while back. I don't recall the return address name, but it was a dividend check from Idearc. I had not bought stock in them, but was 'given' some shares as a result of owning some Verizon stock. Those 'given' shares now pay a quarterly dividend. Granted some things I can tell for sure they are 'junk' but other things I now take the time and look over them b4 discarding in any way. I stopped 95% of junk mail from coming into out house... got off all the mailing lists! I did too. My mailbox is no longer stuffed. I made a few calls to get catalogs stopped (never ordered from them anyway) and many things I stuffed back in the postage paid envelopes and sent it back to them with a note to Please remove this name and address from all mailing lists. That got their attention, and they no longer must waste their advertising dollars mailing me stuff to have to deal with in any way. Sue

I was curious when I posed the question. Years ago, I got the newspaper. Sunday ads were a "must look at" thing with me. It prompted me to SHOP - which led me to buy more than I anticipated! Other than that, the papers just piled up and made a mess. I finally discontinued the newspaper - (got tired of the mess). Junk mail is out of control! It comes in the house and gets thrown in a "pile" in the den. The only time I read it is if I'm thinking about going grocery shopping...I want to know if chicken breasts are on sale or? I get the big-lots, and some linens and some other misc ads that I may be interested in. Usually by time I read them, they are expired! lol. (A good thing - saves me money!) What I've found...IF I don't read the ads, I SAVE lots of $$$! And by cancelling the newspaper, I save more there too. I KNOW I can "save" using coupons from the paper, but if I don't SEE the coupon, I won't go to store! There is a way to cancel ALL junk mail delivered to house, but I won't do it - as there are two major and two minor grocers that I WANT ads from - to look for any sales on what I want to buy. (This is done sporadically - like, if I suddenly decide I want to cook a roast, "Are there any on sale?". (If not, I won't buy-lol!) I am currently gearing up for a huge shopping excursion on the sale items for Easter! (I like to buy lots while on sale to last for a few months - the good thing about holidays! lol) Other junk mail - like for auto related, I never know what to do with - as it seems everytime I throw them out, someone needs a coupon for oil change or something. There are two types of junk that REALLY irritate me: 1) CRAPPY PIZZA ads... they come in every week but expire three months from receipt. DH loves pizza, but geez...why pay for all the ads? (I think most people have their desired pizza places, and no ad will sway them.) So, if they just would QUIT, they could offer the same pizza at much lower price, and everyone would make out! 2) That MAJOR company that provides cable TV service! (I've been fighting them for three years now for "services not rendered" - so I especially have a very bad distaste for them). Now they "offer" phone and internet - as well as the "whole package deal". And I get NUMEROUS ads from them every single week, not to mention the ads on TV, and even when I call to complain about NON-service of TV, they STILL try to push off their new services! NO WAY! OK, that #2 was too graphic - need another thread for that one! To sum it up...I've actually SAVED a lot of $$$ by NOT reading the ads - even tho they enter my house. OTOH, when I DO decide I want to shop, I can scan the ads at home to see if what I want is on sale to save money.

My junk mail often does't make it in the house. I have to walk by the curbside garbage can so I make my donation on my way by. If I think it has a "pre-stamped" envelope I rip it all up and stuff their crap and send it back. On a multi-crap day I exchange who gets whose info. The other option is to write "recipient no longer lives here, return to sender" on the unopened envelope and put it back in the mail. It gives me great satisfaction knowing these trolls are paying to get all their offers back. Yes all "free offers" will require a SS#, and it a misconception you will be OFFICIALLY approved. You could get flushed.