What should you do if you receive spam?

Answer

Here's the summary from Ken Hollis and the alt.spam FAQ:

First off NEVER reply to the "Remove Me" e-mail addresses or sites. This only confirms that you have a live e-mail address and makes *your* e-mail address more valuable to sell to other spammers.

Start off by reading this spam FAQ: http://gandalf.home.digital.net/spamfaq.html

It may take a while to digest all of the new information, but just read it and see what you can get out of it.

Start complaining to the ISP (Internet Service Provider) of where the spam came from. Understanding the "Received:" headers is key to this. Trace back in the Received: header to where it looks like the spam came from and complain to that provider about the spam.

Look in the body of the e-mail. If someone tells you to reply to back to a e-mail address or if they point you to a web site then complain to the ISP owner of that web site or e-mail address (NEVER complain to the spammer, they already know it is wrong and will ignore you).

These steps will help get the spammers accounts eliminated.

Will it stop you from getting spam? Probably not. If spammers have your e-mail address it is already too late. They are selling your address to each other, passing it around. About the only way to do that is to change your e-mail address and give it out to as few people as possible.

First answer by ID1369410650. Last edit by ID1369410650. Question popularity: 69 [recommend question]