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What is spam?

In short, spam is junk e-mail that clutters your email account.

The term "spam" is defined as:

Unsolicited e-mail, often of a commercial nature, sent indiscriminately to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups; junk e-mail.

Reputable marketers usually do not use unsolicited e-mail to advertise; instead, they send e-mail only to current or prior customers or to those who give explicit permission.

Why do I get spam?

E-mail spam is very attractive to entities that wish to send mass communications because it is cheap. It costs next to nothing to send a message to hundreds or thousands of email addresses. If a spammer can get your address there are few things that will prevent the spammer from sending you spam. It is very difficult to stop the spammer from sending you more messages or prevent them from selling your address to other spammers.

There are many ways that a spammer can get your address:

  • From posts to UseNet newsgroups or any other publicly available forum.
  • From mailing lists that you are subscribed to.
  • From web pages that display your email address.
  • Web forms that ask for your email address.
  • From your web browser.
  • From IRC and chat rooms.
  • By guessing.
  • From online "whitepage" directories.
  • From other spammers.

How much spam do WiscMail users get?

According to statistics generated from the WiscMail anti-spam scanner, about 40% of all email traveling through the WiscMail servers is spam. Furthermore, about 75% of all mail originating from off campus is considered spam.

How do I prevent getting spam?

The only way to not get spam is to make sure that spammers do not know your e-mail address or make them think that your account is not being read. There are many ways that you can protect your address:

  1. Don't read or preview messages that you know are spam. Modern spammers use HTML to detect whether or not you have read the message. Throw it away without reading it.
  2. Unsubscribe from the mailing list if and only if the company is reputable (you should be able to tell from their web site if they have one). Have you ever filled out one of those web forms and forget to check whether the "Send me Info" box was checked or unchecked? It's usually set on by default.
  3. Don't reply to spam messages and don't click the link that says "unsubscribe" if company is not reputable. Spammers often use this to verify that your address is valid. They rarely remove your address from their mailing list; or if they do, then they may just put you on another list.
  4. Obtain a "throwaway" e-mail address. Use this address if you have to enter your email address in an form online. Check the account periodically to make sure that no legitimate messages get sent to that address. Options include Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.
  5. Read web site privacy policies before submitting personal information. This will help you determine if the company is reputable enough to handle your private information. If you determine that the company may abuse this information, give them your "throwaway" address instead.
  6. Don't put your email address on a web page. Spammers use "spider" programs to scour the internet looking for email addresses. If you absolutely have to publish your real email address on a web page there are some ways to hide your address so that people can read it, but spider programs can't. Look up these tactics with your favorite search engine.
  7. Change the security settings on your web browser. Each browser has different settings. In general, avoid accepting cookies, don't put personal information in the browser's profile and do not allow the browser to fill in fields for you.

How do I report spam?

Information about reporting spam.

How do I get spam out of my Inbox?

You've done all you can to prevent spammers from spamming you. However, the spam keeps on coming. The only thing that you can do now is deal with it in a way so that it does not bother you.

DoIT offers a free service to WiscMail users that causes their e-mail not originating from other WiscMail users to be scanned by an anti-spam application. More information about the service.

There are other ways to get rid of spam.

  • Some email clients, such as Mozilla Mail, Mail.app (for the Mac), and Outlook 2003 have filters built into them. These filters require you to train your email client on what your spam looks like and they only work if you use it correctly. Make sure that you read the documentation before you expect to see favorable results.
  • Some vendors offer plugins for email clients. Some are free, some are not. DoIT does not recommend any particular plugin for your email client. Do a search on the internet to find a plugin for your client that fits your needs.
  • New methods for catching spam are conceived every day. Some methods work very well, some do not; some methods are easy to use, some are not; some are compatible with WiscMail, some are not. You are free to try any POP or IMAP compatible service or application at your own risk. As mentioned above, the service provided to WiscMail users is designed to be compatible with all WiscMail users as well as being as accurate as possible in catching spam.