Ban on Spam

Increasing use of the internet has seen a rise in the use of email which in turn has seen increasing use of spam. Spam is the term used for junk email which is unsolicited and often unwelcome.

There are two types of spam:

Marketing spam - these are email mailshots from organisations trying to sell you something.
These should be reducing as the impact of new regulations (see below) comes into force.

Malicious spam - these are email mailshots sent out almost at random and are the most pernicious form of spam.

2003 saw the introduction of criminal penalties for those sending unsolicited email spam. The Office of the Information Commissioner is responsible for enforcing the rules and further information can be found at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

But what can you do to try to reduce the number of spam emails you receive? It is estimated that businesses worldwide receive seven billion spam messages every day. The European Commission is working to ban spam but much of it comes from outside the EU.

We provide a checklist below of action you can take to effect your own ‘ban on spam’.
  • Think about who you give your email address to. When you buy over the internet don’t ask for information on other products. Always use a secure website when divulging personal details and credit card numbers. (A secure website will display a yellow padlock at the bottom of your screen.)
  • Do not use ‘Unsubscribe’ as this merely confirms your email address used on malicious spam. This option should only be used when you receive Marketing spam from a reliable source.
  • Do not open emails and/or attachments from unlikely sources.
  • Use antivirus software to act as a primary barrier and update this regularly. See www.sophos.com or www.mcafee.com for antivirus software.
  • Use filtering software to restrict spam and update this regularly. See www.contactplus.com or www.spamkiller.com for filtering software.
  • Have an internal policy on internet and email use.

Ask your internet service provider what their policy on spam is and if you are not happy then consider switching to a new provider.