How And Where Can I Report Spam And Will It Prevent Spam? Options

[NilsC]

I'll start with the last one first, "NO" it will not stop spam on it's own. Reporting spam adds the spammer to block (black) lists that can be used by email servers and ISP's to add real time blocking or filtering of mail from the listed IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. A lot of companies and ISP's subscribe to multiple lists to prevent spam. Some ISP's are lenient with who can send emails through their servers or what "smtp" (simple mail transport protocol), others force you to use their "smtp" server for all outbound mail. On my email server I block any email from "dynamic IP space" which is what most users are on when they surf the internet from home. The problem with that is "iana" (internet assigned numbers authority) is slow updating their lists. An example is my IP addresses per lookup belongs to "Distrito Capital - Santaf� De Bogot� - Interalta" in Colombia ----> hmmm maybe that is why I see so many NSA and .mil snoopers around (IMG:http://www.ctflyfish.org/forum/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

So the objective if you are still with me is to report spam without the spammer figuring out who reported them. That can be a tricky undertaking because they leave hidden id strings in the email and in the headers. So reporting the email with your email address removed alone may not prevent the spammer from finding out who reported them and that your email address is active and working. If you take the time to sign up with SpamCop you should be fairly safe if you use their reporting form or forward any message you would like to report to an email address they supply you with. I have used their service for about 5 years and I know it helps reducing spam. Read the instructions and sign up - have fun reporting the scum.

One thing you should do on your computer is turning off any preview pane you have and remove any email <delete> that you don't intend to read. Why is this necessary are you paranoid? Yes, I'm paranoid because I send you an email and hidden in the email is an image 1 pixel by 1 pixel in size and I didn't embed the image in your email I added a link to an remote server address where the link in your email has an unique id and when you open the email - the link in your email query the remote server with your unique ID and your email is verified as valid and live ready to be sold to the next spam email list. Preview pane in Outlook Express is the same as opening the email and because Micro$ofts firewall only block incoming traffic the link is served up and you may see a message "remote image blocked in this email" but that may already be to late because the outbound id may have leaked out already.

Your paranoid webmaster
Nils