Computer tips ----Ways to stop Spam

Harvesting Email Addresses Like Yours
Many of us get lots of sp*am. Sp*am has become so much a part of Internet life that we have come to take it for granted If you've ever wondered how that infamous lot we refer to as "spamm/ers" get our email addresses so easily, we're going to tell you some software applications used by spa/mmers called "harvesters". We'll also touch on a couple other ways they get your email addresse(s).

A "Harvester" is a program that "spiders" Web sites looking for email addresses. Any email addresses it finds in those web sites it collects and stores them in a database. Among these addresses may be yours and mine. Some of you have personal Web sites. Did you know that when you include a link so people can contact you, your email address is vulnerable to harvesters? It is inevitable that an email harvester will come along at some point and "spider" your personal Web site or Web page and "harvest" your email address. You might sign a guest book and include your email address as part of your "comments". The Harvesters will get it. And entire Web sites can be "spidered" and email addresses gathered from them in a matter of seconds. Email addresses are all over the Web. On Web sites, on mail servers, on ISP hard drives. Harvesters can spider thousands of Web sites in a very short time and gather up every email address it finds.

Email addresses are bought and sold like any other commodity of value. Spam/mers make millions of dollars a year spa/mming people. Here's another way your email address ends up in a spam/mers hands: Did you ever subscribe to a magazine where they ask for your email address, so you fill it in? Did you ever look closely at those sign-up postcards? Most don't have any privacy policies stated on the subscription postcard you fill out and send in. What do you think will happen with your email address in those cases?

Beware of the companies that say they won't share your email address with any third party without your permission. What constitutes permission is the catch. "Permission" when used in that way, can be anything. It's subjective. Beware of sites that say they won't share your address without your permission.