How not to deal with spam.

Joe Smith gets spammed. This time it's nasty - something he really didn't want to see. Joe understandably gets upset, and decides to take action.

First, he clicks the unsubscribe link. They have to honor the request by law, right? Yes, but they won't. In fact - they'll use his request to validate his address. They'll then sell his address to other spammers. It will likely do nothing to help with blocking spam email.

Next, he replies to the letter (with the original unspeakable image attached) and gives them a piece of his mind. The problem is that with a lot of spam, the reply-to address is forged. Frequently it even points to an innocent by-stander.

Finally, he sends email to the sender's ISP. He demands that they immediately cut-off jackflash@boogernet.com's account. The problem is that Jack didn't have anything to do with the spam. Faking a "from address" is incredibly easy. In fact, all you really have to do is change it to whatever you'd like in your email client.

My personal favorites are applications that filter mail and send out the complaint emails automatically. The main effect of these applications is to cause confusion and frustration for system administrators.

Adopting an application designed to filter junk mail still remains the most practical way to address the spam problem. Many different solutions are available. Many of them even have free trial periods to help determine if they are the best antispam solution for you.

I'm not saying there aren't effective ways to complain to ISPs about spam. There are, but you have to know what you're doing. Otherwise the collateral damage may outweigh the benefits.

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