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Junk Mail / Spam

Please note that TwinCitizen Online has a policy of NEVER selling or distributing our customer lists or their e-mail addresses.

So how did you end up getting junk e-mail?

Your e-mail address can get put on spam mailing lists in several ways. Here are some examples:

• you use the e-mail address when filling out forms (hard-copy or online) and that company resells your information,
• you use the remove or opt-out link included in the junk e-mail (you basically are verifying for the sender that their message was sent to a valid e-mail address),
• your e-mail address is posted on your web site, or
• you post to a newsgroup or blog.

Web crawlers are programs which visit websites and search of specific information. They can "discover" your e-mail address in the last two cases sited above.

Some web sites automatically check a box which says you are giving them permission to share your information with third party companies. You have to actively uncheck the small box in order to prevent this from occurring. When using the Internet, always check the fine print and privacy links.

So what can be done about it?

Mail Server Filters

One method we use to address the issue of junk e-mails is to have spam filters active on our mail servers. The majority of junk e-mail is rejected before it is even delivered to your Inbox. However, spammers are getting smarter all the time and are finding ways to get around each new generation of spam filters.

Junk Mail Controls

An additional way to fight spam is to enable your mail application's built-in junk mail controls. AT&T Worldnet has a good article explaining how to filter incoming e-mail messages for Outlook Express and Netscape Mail. It can be found here.

To read a more in-depth article about Outlook's junk mail filter, check out this article published by Microsoft.

For a brief tutorial on using the junk mail control in Mozilla and Thunderbird, click here.

Software Products

There are also commercially available software tools to help you identify and remove spam. An article covering the Top 10 Windows Spam Filters can be found here.

Additional E-mail Addresses

A suggestion we have made to customers is to limit the use your primary e-mail account to just corresponding with friends and family. We then suggest that they set up a secondary e-mail address to use when filling out forms on the Internet or for any time a company asks them for their e-mail address. That way, any data collection and subsequent junk mail will be sent to that alternate e-mail address and not the primary one.

Additional Mail Topics:

• Mail Protocols
• Mailbox Quota