THE ANTI-SPAM CLUB. How to eliminate spam before it drives you out of your favorite e-mail address. - Join the Crusade. - Internet - http://maxpages.com/moneydata/Anti_Spam

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1. Updates.

TIPS FOR MULTIPLE HOTMAIL ACCOUNTS. (December 12, 1999) So far as I can determine--in spite of sliding downhill a bit, Hotmail remains by far the easiest place to maintain multiple free accounts. Here is how:
1. Make www.msn.com your home page. This is automatic for Explorer users.
2. Click on the "Hotmail" tab. Do not use the "Passport Sign-In" because this makes for extra clicking.
3. "Copy" the url that appears when you click the "Hotmail" tab.
4. Return to the MSN Home page and "customize" it. Choose to "Add Links."
5. Name a link "HOTMAIL" and "paste" the Hotmail URL there. Result: you can now log-in to Hotmail from the top or the bottom of the MSN Home page---less scrolling.
6. Other recommended "custom" features: New York Times Headlines, Time Magazine Headlines, "Daily Diversions: Quote of the Day," "Local News: Weather." The rest is pretty worthless and will slow down your downloading. But also note: the "Hotmail" tab at the top of the page downloads before all else. So after you have checked your "local weather" once, you can instantly go to Hotmail from the top of the Home page.
6. Do not use the e-mail log-in that is on the Home page. This will not remember your passwords.
7. Do not click "remember password" on the Hotmail page. Maybe this is just my browser---but paradoxically, my browser will only remember the password if this is not clicked!
8. Do use the convenient "Password Log-out" that shows on the upper right of every page in your Hotmail. Only then can you enter a different Hotmail account!
9. OR do not log-out if you want to get information elsewhere and then come back. By clicking your "Home" button and then the "Hotmail" tab you then can get right back into your Hotmail without re-signing.
10. Make certain that you un-click your primary address from the "Yellow Pages" or "Hotmail Directory." Tests show that this will get you spammed.
11. Most Hotmail addresses get ZERO spam if you follow our advice. However: there are some names that seem to get outrageous amounts of spam no matter what. So you may want to wait a month and see before telling everyone, "This is my new address."
12. Extra speed: convert the Hotmail page to your start page. You will still get to the MSN page when you sign out.

HOTMAIL A LIABILITY FOR SG PLAYERS? (November 29, 1999) See the notice about "Hotmail.com and Mail.com" on our Stockgeneration "Withdrawal+Help" page.

ARCHIVING E-MAILS. (November 15, 1999) "Saved" e-mails can be lost. If you like to "save" important e-mails online---especially if doing business---open an additional account with the same name as your usual accounts, but an easy to remember 3-digit suffix such as: billyjoe911@hotmail.com. Then make a habit of putting this address into the "bcc" line whenever you send important documents. ("Bcc" means "blind carbon copy." This means a copy will be sent to this address---and unlike "cc," this action will be invisible to the primary addressee.) And of course, don't forget to log into this account every other month to keep it active. (Unused Hotmail accounts expire in 3 months.) Note: e-mail which mysteriously vanishes can usually be re-found by writing to Hotmail per their "help" section. (This just happened to me. Took them about 3 days.)

2. How to Eliminate Spam.

1. Use www.Hotmail.com, www.Email.com, www.Netscape.net, or some other large, reliable free service that allows multiple accounts.

2. Open 3 accounts with the same user name, but followed by a different number: 1, 8, and 9.

(Instead of 1 you can have no number.)

3. This makes it easy to log in when you tell your browser to "remember the password" for each. You need only type the first few letters of the user name. Since this produces 3 possibilities, your computer will show all 3 accounts, for you to choose one.

4. Under "Options: Preferences" in accounts 8 and 9, change the "REPLY TO" address to your 1 account.

5. When you sign up for account 1, UNCHECK the boxes to include you in the "directory" or "list," and do not subscribe to any of the free e-magazines.

6. Never ever subscribe to anything or order anything to the 1 account. This is your personal, private, clean account.

7. The very few spam letters you get to the 1 account, you will carefully look for "unsubscribe" directions and follow them, PLUS "block sender" (since much of the time these "unsubscribe" systems don't work). (This is not worth the bother in the 8 and 9 accounts---where you will just "delete" any spam unopened.)

8. Any time that you want to subscribe to something, join a FORUM, or order anything by Internet, AND IT MAY BE IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO RECEIVE MESSAGES FROM THEM, you give address 8.

9. If it is clearly not important for you to receive messages (i.e., posting a "free link," "free classified," "submitting to 300 search engines," etc.) you give address 9.

10. Therefore you will check 1 most often---this is your "real" address. Check 8 once or twice a month, or as needed, and 9 once a month to erase the junk and keep it running.

11. To clean up 9, on the bottom of your IN-BOX click "select all," and then "delete." If you have several pages of spam you may need to do this several times. Of course, you may want to scan the titles briefly just in case there's something interesting.

12. Sooner or later, 8 also will be put on a few spam lists and begin to fill with junk. Usually you can tell if something is spam without opening it. Just "select" all such titles and "delete." Don't bother to "unsubscribe." But do "block sender" on those low-lifes who say "Hi!" etc. in the title and turn out to be spam.

13. Eventually, 8 may get so much spam that even this gets tedious. So this is the time to open a new account---just the same, but ending in 7.

14. Anything important in 8, you notify of your new address as 1 or 7. After a while you will find that 8 is no different from 9. At that point you just forget about that account.

15. Or maybe you will keep 7 for things "probably" important, 8 for things "maybe" important, and 9 for things definately not important. And of course if 7 begins to fill up, you start a 6, etc.

16. However: there may be no need for 6 because by then, you will have learned how to determine which companies will or will not put you on a spam list.

17. SOME COMPANIES INSIST THAT YOU DO NOT USE HOTMAIL. They will insist, "give us your 'real' address at your ISP." No problem. So give them your "real" address which you never use!

18. Just be sure to "clean out" that ISP address once in a while so it will not fill up, thereby reject all new mail, and thus not register as valid. Also, of course, be sure to "clean it up" if you order something that IS important---i.e., a forum may send your "password" to that address.

19. When something important like a "member account" in a forum or business service IS registered to your ISP e-mail which you never use: usually, you can then go to the "member account" AFTER it is set up and change the address listed to your hotmail 1 account.

20. ANOTHER OPTION. Instead of the Hotmail 1, maybe you do want to use your ISP address as home base. No problem. I only suggest Hotmail because (a) it is equal to or much better than any ISP address in quality; (b) if you ever travel, it may be more difficult to check your ISP e-mail than Hotmail; and most of all, (c) if you ever move, you may be forced to use a different ISP, resulting in a different "top priority" e-mail address---meaning you then need to make sure that everyone who may not have written to you for years now has your "new address." Not very convenient.

21. Please let me know via the feedback page if you find:

(a) AN E-MAIL PROVIDER THAT IS NOT FREE BUT VERY GOOD AND VERY CHEAP.
(b) Anything as good as Hotmail.
(c) Any free or cheap e-mail that will be accepted by forums etc. that "do not accept free e-mail addresses."
(d) Any good, free or cheap, reliable, uncrowded "e-mail auto-responder" services that definately do not cause users to be spammed.

22. FOR KEEPING UP WITH IMPROVEMENTS IN THESE SUGGESTIONS, BOOKMARK THIS PAGE AND CHECK OUR "UPDATES" ABOVE EVERY FEW MONTHS.

3. Petition for a "Spam Block" that Works.

"Block senders" are almost worthless if you get on a spam list because you have to open each piece of junk mail individually. Also, because this does not send a "reply" it does not reduce proliferation to other lists. Therefore, soon the "block sender" is more time consuming than it is worth.

To encourage a "block sender" option that actually does something, we suggest sending the following message to the appropriate "suggestions" or "comments" address of your e-mail provider. This is usually listed under the "Help" section. (At Hotmail this seems to be commentquest@hotmail.com.)

YOUR "SPAM BLOCKER" IS NOT SUFFICIENT.
TWO SUGGESTIONS FOR A "SPAM BLOCKER" THAT WORKS:

(1) "BLOCK SENDER" from "Inbox." I.e., the ability to "delete and permanently block the address" of any number of "selected" e-mails without having to open.

(2) "AUTO REPLY" option for "Block Sender." I.e., a setting such that by pushing "block sender," (a) the message is deleted, (b) the address is added to the "block sender" list, AND ALSO (c) a "reply" is sent to that address which may help to:
---Remove my address from circulation to other advertisers.
---Warn the sender in case the "block sender" was in error.
Ideally, any "reply" including "subject line" can be pre-written by the account holder. Example:

Subject line: You are BLOCKED

Message:

IF THIS ACTION IS IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY ME FROM ANOTHER SOURCE.
Based on the subject line, your e-mail has been taken for unwanted advertising.
Your e-mail was thus deleted un-opened and any further e-mails from the same source will be BLOCKED.
If this was a commercial message, this was a correct action and thus YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED TO REMOVE MY E-MAIL ADDRESS FROM ANY MAILING LIST UNDER YOUR CONTROL, AND TO NOTIFY WHOEVER PROVIDED YOU WITH MY E-MAIL ADDRESS TO DO THE SAME.

Thank you.

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Page Updated Sat Oct 7, 2000 11:21pm EDT