Newsletter ArchiveSUBJECT:Spam Harvest - Business Impression The Internet 800 Directory - http://www.inter800.com The Internet 800 Directory Newsletter This issue is for Friday, November 15, 2002 Table of Contents 01. Spam Harvest 02. Business Impression 03. Tip Of The Week *01 Spam Harvest Welcome to the “The Internet 800 Directory Newsletter”. Have you ever wondered how your e-mail address finds it way onto so many spam lists? The FTC with twelve Federal, State, and local law enforcement and consumer protection agencies investigated that very question, as a component in their new initiative to fight deceptive spam and Internet scams. Northeast Netforce investigators "seeded" 175 different locations, which included, chat rooms, newsgroups, Web pages, free personal Web-page services, message boards and e-mail service directories. They then monitored the fake addresses over the next six weeks for spam. One hundred percent of the e-mail addresses posted in chat rooms received spam. Eighty-six percent of the e-mail addresses posted at newsgroups and Web pages received spam. Fifty percent of addresses at free personal Web page services were spammed. Twenty seven percent from message board postings, and nine percent of e-mail service directories got spam. For a chart of their results visit: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/pubs/harvestchart.pdf Here are five tips from their report that can help keep you from being harvested: 1. Consider "masking" your email address. Masking involves putting a word or phrase in your email address so that it will trick a harvesting computer program, but not a person. For example, if your email address is "johndoe@myisp.com," you could mask it as "johndoe@spamaway.myisp.com." Be aware that some newsgroup services or message boards won't allow you to mask your email address and some harvesting programs may be able to pick out common masks. 2. Use a separate screen name for chatting. If you use chat rooms, use a screen name that's not associated with your email address. Consider using the screen name only for online chat. 3. Set up disposable addresses. Decide if you want to use two email addresses - one for personal messages and one for posting in public. Consider using a disposable email address service that creates separate email addresses that forwards to your permanent account. If one of the disposable addresses begins to receive spam, you can shut it off without affecting your permanent address. 4. Use two email accounts. If you work for a business or organization that wants to receive email from the public, consider creating separate accounts or disposable email addresses for that purpose, rather than having an employee's address posted in public. 5. Use a unique email address, containing both letters and numbers. Your choice of email address may affect the amount of spam you receive because some spammers use "dictionary attacks" to email many possible name combinations at large ISPs or email services, hoping to find a valid address. If you have any thoughts or ideas you would like to share, please send them to Chuck Arning at chuck@inter800.com Volt Information Sciences is currently taking orders for the print version of the “Internet Toll free National Directory”. Millions of copies of this paper directory are sent to Fortune 500 companies, CEOs, and other decision makers. The next issue will be sent in February 2003, and the deadline for orders is Mid January 2002. You can buy placement ranging from a single listing to a full-page ad. We can even bundle your new or existing print ad with the Internet 800 Directory's online advertising. Call us (800-299-1879) for placement in this valuable book. *02 What Type Of Impression Does Your Business Make? This morning I took my wife's car to a Midas shop for new brakes. Not that I particularly liked Midas, but they do have a national "brand" and I had a 25% off coupon. While I was standing in line, outside of the shop, I noticed that there was an old wheel, an old distributor cap, an empty bottle of Crown Royal and about 100 cigarette butts just strewn about in their front door hedges. Ok, I'll admit that the Crown Royal indicated a little class (if not an attitude of devil-may-care, because either the customer or mechanic who discarded it probably drank it with Coke), I still immediately began to think about whether or not I wanted a shop, who didn't care about trash or other details, to fix my wife's brakes. I left, after telling the manager why - who could have cared less, I should add. Now that one experience left a taste in my mouth that will last until I'm too old to need brakes. Taking care of business involves the same rules that the Golden Rule implies. This is not to say that appearances are everything, as maybe the mechanic who would have fixed the brakes may have done an exceptional job with quality products. However, it does suggest that one can eliminate peoples' problems such as this by taking care of details, without going overboard by spending more on customer service than the job costs. Steve Jackson saj@inter800.com We’re Talkin’ Serious” Bone Suckin’ Sauce ! Winner: “Battle Of The Sauces.” Created in true western North Carolina style. Tomato based all-natural, sweetened with honey and molasses Order your Box of six today for $39.99 +s/h. Toll-Free 1-800-446-0947 or online http://www.BoneSuckin.com Tip of the Week Undoing an AutoCorrect in Word. You are typing in a document and Word’s AutoCorrect feature keeps changing what you type, this can really be annoying if you don’t want the spelling changed. To stop AutoCorrect do this: Type what you want to type, and let Microsoft Word AutoCorrect it. Next press the “Backspace” key. Now, type it way you want it. If you have any tips or shortcuts that you think the readers of this Newsletter will find useful, send them to sjackson@inter800.com Vegas Vacation has the best rates on Las Vegas Hotel Rooms. Don't make a reservation without calling us first! Call 800-637-6442 or visit our ad in the Internet 800 Directory: http://inter800.com/02281174.htm Banners? Pay-per-click? Why not target your market with links or information placed in relevant content? The Internet 800 Directory Newsletter offers direct access to business people who are interested buyers. Advertising: Information on how to sponsor this publication: Call 800-299-1879 Thanks for taking the time to review our newsletter for this week. If you know of anyone that might benefit from receiving this newsletter, send them to (http://www.inter800.com/news800/ ) where they can subscribe. All Contents Copyright ©1995-2002 The Internet 800 Directory Subscribe To The Newsletter: |