Free Offers

Barry Karas

4:28 PM 6/23/2007

Sites require that I input my name and e-mail address for 'free' offers. I
do not input the information because I suspect that the information will be
sold to junk e-mailers. (Luckily, I have a scanning program so I can "weed
out" the junk e-mail.)

There are probably some computer programs that do this 'weeding out' before
the e-mail messages reach the user's computer. The problem -- or my
problem -- with these programs is that the programs use other peoples'
opinions as to what is junk.

I receive about 70 to 100 e-mail messages per business day (about ¾ on
Saturdays and about ¼ on Sundays). As I wrote, I am lucky that I have the
scanning program. It is not that I am an expert, but I am on my PC a
lot...and I have been for 10+ years.

Another problem I encounter: Occasionally I want something but I am
reluctant to input my name and e-mail address because I suspect that I'll
also receive scads of junk email messages. I can understand the rationale if
the product is "free" (but there is no such thing as a free lunch). However,
if I am willing to pay for the product then the vendor has no excuse to sell
my e-mail address. However there is no person in authority that I can easily
and quickly contact to get an assurance that my name and e-mail address will
not be sold. Do I have to live with this problem?

Thank you,

Barry Karas

Rock

"Barry Karas" <> wrote in message
news:. ..
> 4:28 PM 6/23/2007
>
> Sites require that I input my name and e-mail address for 'free' offers. I
> do not input the information because I suspect that the information will
> be sold to junk e-mailers. (Luckily, I have a scanning program so I can
> "weed out" the junk e-mail.)
>
> There are probably some computer programs that do this 'weeding out'
> before the e-mail messages reach the user's computer. The problem -- or my
> problem -- with these programs is that the programs use other peoples'
> opinions as to what is junk.
>
> I receive about 70 to 100 e-mail messages per business day (about ¾ on
> Saturdays and about ¼ on Sundays). As I wrote, I am lucky that I have the
> scanning program. It is not that I am an expert, but I am on my PC a
> lot...and I have been for 10+ years.
>
> Another problem I encounter: Occasionally I want something but I am
> reluctant to input my name and e-mail address because I suspect that I'll
> also receive scads of junk email messages. I can understand the rationale
> if the product is "free" (but there is no such thing as a free lunch).
> However, if I am willing to pay for the product then the vendor has no
> excuse to sell my e-mail address. However there is no person in authority
> that I can easily and quickly contact to get an assurance that my name and
> e-mail address will not be sold. Do I have to live with this problem?


Use a second email account and fake name. Use that account for junk
activities.

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

Rock

"Barry Karas" <> wrote in message
news:. ..
> 4:28 PM 6/23/2007
>
> Sites require that I input my name and e-mail address for 'free' offers. I
> do not input the information because I suspect that the information will
> be sold to junk e-mailers. (Luckily, I have a scanning program so I can
> "weed out" the junk e-mail.)
>
> There are probably some computer programs that do this 'weeding out'
> before the e-mail messages reach the user's computer. The problem -- or my
> problem -- with these programs is that the programs use other peoples'
> opinions as to what is junk.
>
> I receive about 70 to 100 e-mail messages per business day (about ¾ on
> Saturdays and about ¼ on Sundays). As I wrote, I am lucky that I have the
> scanning program. It is not that I am an expert, but I am on my PC a
> lot...and I have been for 10+ years.
>
> Another problem I encounter: Occasionally I want something but I am
> reluctant to input my name and e-mail address because I suspect that I'll
> also receive scads of junk email messages. I can understand the rationale
> if the product is "free" (but there is no such thing as a free lunch).
> However, if I am willing to pay for the product then the vendor has no
> excuse to sell my e-mail address. However there is no person in authority
> that I can easily and quickly contact to get an assurance that my name and
> e-mail address will not be sold. Do I have to live with this problem?


Use a second email account and fake name. Use that account for junk
activities.

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]

Plato

Barry Karas wrote:
>
> Sites require that I input my name and e-mail address for 'free' offers. I
> do not input the information because I suspect that the information will be
> sold to junk e-mailers. (Luckily, I have a scanning program so I can "weed
> out" the junk e-mail.)

Always use a disposable email address for "free offer" websites.

Also see:


--

Plato

Barry Karas wrote:
>
> Sites require that I input my name and e-mail address for 'free' offers. I
> do not input the information because I suspect that the information will be
> sold to junk e-mailers. (Luckily, I have a scanning program so I can "weed
> out" the junk e-mail.)

Always use a disposable email address for "free offer" websites.

Also see:


--

Bruce Chambers

Barry Karas wrote:
> 4:28 PM 6/23/2007
>
> Sites require that I input my name and e-mail address for 'free' offers. I
> do not input the information because I suspect that the information will be
> sold to junk e-mailers. (Luckily, I have a scanning program so I can "weed
> out" the junk e-mail.)
>
> There are probably some computer programs that do this 'weeding out' before
> the e-mail messages reach the user's computer. The problem -- or my
> problem -- with these programs is that the programs use other peoples'
> opinions as to what is junk.
>
> I receive about 70 to 100 e-mail messages per business day (about ¾ on
> Saturdays and about ¼ on Sundays). As I wrote, I am lucky that I have the
> scanning program. It is not that I am an expert, but I am on my PC a
> lot...and I have been for 10+ years.
>
> Another problem I encounter: Occasionally I want something but I am
> reluctant to input my name and e-mail address because I suspect that I'll
> also receive scads of junk email messages. I can understand the rationale if
> the product is "free" (but there is no such thing as a free lunch). However,
> if I am willing to pay for the product then the vendor has no excuse to sell
> my e-mail address. However there is no person in authority that I can easily
> and quickly contact to get an assurance that my name and e-mail address will
> not be sold. Do I have to live with this problem?
>
> Thank you,
>
> Barry Karas
>


Short answer: Yes.

While it's not possible to completely eliminate spam (unsolicited
commercial email), there are some precautions and steps you can take to
minimize it's impact:

1) Never, ever post your real email address to publicly accessible
forums or newsgroups, such as this one. For years now, spammers have
been using software utilities to scan such places to harvest email
addresses. It's a simple matter to disguise your posted email address
so that these software "bots" can't obtain anything useful. For
example, insert some obviously bogus characters or words into your reply
address, for example: "."

2) Never, ever reply to any spam you receive, even to "unsubscribe" or
"remove" yourself from the spammers' address lists; you'll only compound
the problem. If spammers had any intention of honoring the your desire
not to receive spam, they wouldn't have become spammers in the first
place. When you reply to a spammer, all you're doing is confirming that
he/she has a valid, marketable email address.

3) Be especially leery of any offers from websites for free software,
services, information, etc, that require your email address, or that
require your email address so you can "login" to access the offered
service and/or information. Many such sites are supplementing their
income by collecting addresses to sell to the spammers. For instance,
subscribing to CNN.COM's Breaking News Service will garner you a lot of
additional spam. (Of course, not all such sites have under-handed
motives; it's a judgment call. If the offer seems "too good to be
true," it's most likely a scam.)

4) DO forward any and all spam, with complete headers, to the
originating ISP with a complaint. Not all ISPs will make an effort to
shut down the spammers, but many will. One tool that makes forwarding
such complaints fairly simple is SpamCop (.

4) Another useful tool is MailWasher (. This
utility allows you to preview your email before downloading it from the
server. Spammers can even be blacklisted, so that any future emails
from them will be automatically deleted from the server.

5) Within Outlook Express, add any spammers to your Blocked Senders
list, so the their messages are automatically deleted from the server
without being downloaded to your PC.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

HeyBub

Barry Karas wrote:
> 4:28 PM 6/23/2007
>
> Sites require that I input my name and e-mail address for 'free'
> offers. I do not input the information because I suspect that the
> information will be sold to junk e-mailers. (Luckily, I have a
> scanning program so I can "weed out" the junk e-mail.)
>
> There are probably some computer programs that do this 'weeding out'
> before the e-mail messages reach the user's computer. The problem --
> or my problem -- with these programs is that the programs use other
> peoples'
> opinions as to what is junk.
>
> I receive about 70 to 100 e-mail messages per business day (about ¾ on
> Saturdays and about ¼ on Sundays). As I wrote, I am lucky that I have
> the scanning program. It is not that I am an expert, but I am on my
> PC a lot...and I have been for 10+ years.
>
> Another problem I encounter: Occasionally I want something but I am
> reluctant to input my name and e-mail address because I suspect that
> I'll also receive scads of junk email messages. I can understand the
> rationale if the product is "free" (but there is no such thing as a
> free lunch). However, if I am willing to pay for the product then the
> vendor has no excuse to sell my e-mail address. However there is no
> person in authority that I can easily and quickly contact to get an
> assurance that my name and e-mail address will not be sold. Do I have
> to live with this problem?

Check out "mailinator.com" for one-time, throw-away address capability (such
as registering for a news site).

HeyBub

Barry Karas wrote:
> 4:28 PM 6/23/2007
>
> Sites require that I input my name and e-mail address for 'free'
> offers. I do not input the information because I suspect that the
> information will be sold to junk e-mailers. (Luckily, I have a
> scanning program so I can "weed out" the junk e-mail.)
>
> There are probably some computer programs that do this 'weeding out'
> before the e-mail messages reach the user's computer. The problem --
> or my problem -- with these programs is that the programs use other
> peoples'
> opinions as to what is junk.
>
> I receive about 70 to 100 e-mail messages per business day (about ¾ on
> Saturdays and about ¼ on Sundays). As I wrote, I am lucky that I have
> the scanning program. It is not that I am an expert, but I am on my
> PC a lot...and I have been for 10+ years.
>
> Another problem I encounter: Occasionally I want something but I am
> reluctant to input my name and e-mail address because I suspect that
> I'll also receive scads of junk email messages. I can understand the
> rationale if the product is "free" (but there is no such thing as a
> free lunch). However, if I am willing to pay for the product then the
> vendor has no excuse to sell my e-mail address. However there is no
> person in authority that I can easily and quickly contact to get an
> assurance that my name and e-mail address will not be sold. Do I have
> to live with this problem?

Check out "mailinator.com" for one-time, throw-away address capability (such
as registering for a news site).