Search Engine Optimisation
Website Marketing and Promotion

Scams and Spams

Spam Email

Spam is the irritating and unsolicited Email that comes to all of our In Boxes. The spammers try to get you to buy something, or a distant but very rich relative has died in Timbuktu, or …

I often have myself unavoidably inundated with Spam Email. When trying to promote a Website, it is occasionally necessary to contact many Search Engine directories, hoping that they will put a Link back to my Website. Some of the Websites contacted are disreputable. After the deluge of spam Email has subsided, I am left with persistent Emails, where the sender will not take the hint.

Using a Visual Basic delete routine in Microsoft Outlook, all repeated Email is sent to that big bit-basket in the sky.

The types of Email scams to be wary of are:

• Charitable phishing scams: Beware of Emails that appear to be from legitimate charities.
• Social networking requests: Do not click on a link – sign directly into Facebook and then look for your acquaintance.
• E-cards: Be careful before clicking on an e-card, especially if it's from a site you haven't heard of.
• Fake luxury jewellery: Beware of offers for luxury gifts at a price that's too good to be true.
• Job search scams: Beware of online offers for high paying jobs or at-home money making schemes.
• Auction site fraud: Make sure you're actually going to eBay or other auction Website.
• Email banking scams: Beware of official looking Emails that appear to come from your bank.

The Scammers will:

• Take your money
• Steal credit card information and your identity
• Install malware
• Trick you into revealing passwords
• Install pop-ups and unwanted advertising
• Launder money

Here is how to avoid getting spam Email in the first place:

• Do not give your Email address to everyone who wants it. You are never obliged to supply your Email address, just because there is a request for it. Does your local bank really need your Email address? And if you did get a legitimate Email from the bank, how would you distinguish it from spam?
• If you are completing a form, leave the Email address blank.
• If you have found what you believe to be a reputable Website (like Facebook), and they request your Email address, then it is probably a valid request. But check the privacy policy of the Website. Make sure that they do not share information with other organisations.

And if the spammers have somehow obtained your Email address:

• Don't buy anything from an unsolicited Email. Period.
• Don't reply to spam and ask to be unsubscribed. The request will be ignored, and you will be kept on their list. They will never stop sending Emails when they discover that your Email address is valid. Your Email address will be up for sale, to all and sundry. Legitimate Email newsletters usually have an automated unsubscribe link. These can be used, if you are sure that the Email is legitimate.
• Use anti-spam software to filter out spam as it comes into your Email system. The spam will be moved to your Junk Mail folder. Most anti-spam filters need a bit of fiddling, to stop legitimate Email being sent to the Junk Mail folder.
• Check with your ISP, they may have anti-spam software to catch spam before it is sent to your Inbox. Some of these filters are too enthusiastic about filtering, and you may hit problems, especially with all the Email jokes that appear from time to time. You don't want to lose any of those now, do you?
• When visiting a Website to make a payment, make sure that the web address uses a prefix of https:// instead of the usual http://. The "s" indicates that the site is encrypted and secure. There must also be a Lock on the right hand side.