Does changing email-address solve the spam-problem? Thread poster: Heinrich Pesch
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Heinrich Pesch 
Finland
Local time: 13:41
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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Has anybody of you changed his/her emal address lately and did you get rid of spam? Or did they find you soon again?
I'm thinking of moving my business emal address because I moved to another broadband provider. But because this is a rather radical solution, because I would have to change my entries everywhere, last not least my business card.
So I would like to hear about your experiences.
Regards
Heinrich
[Bearbeitet am 2007-11-12 15:06]
| | | | PAS
Local time: 12:41
Polish to English
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| Avoiding spam | Nov 12, 2007 |
I have a simple rule. I never, ever use my business address for registering on web sites, surveys, whatever.
This even includes my e-mail contact at this site. My business address is in the CV, I communicate with the world via yahoo and one or two other commercial e-mail providers.
The result - zero spam on my business address; Practically all the spam is in my yahoo address.
If you change your address, keep the old one for a few months until everyone has a chance... See more I have a simple rule. I never, ever use my business address for registering on web sites, surveys, whatever.
This even includes my e-mail contact at this site. My business address is in the CV, I communicate with the world via yahoo and one or two other commercial e-mail providers.
The result - zero spam on my business address; Practically all the spam is in my yahoo address.
If you change your address, keep the old one for a few months until everyone has a chance to get used to it. Then, you can gradually abandon the old address.
Pawel Skalinski
[Edited at 2007-11-12 14:33] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tim Drayton
Cyprus
Local time: 13:41
Turkish to English
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| Not if you advertise this address on a website | Nov 12, 2007 |
I have an e-mail account with my own registered domain, but I never used this account for a long time. When I decided to make this particular account my main business contact address, I displayed it on my website. Almost immediately, spam started to pour into this previously dormant account. This shows that many spammers employ software for collecting e-mail addresses from websites.
| | | | Alexey Ivanov
Russian Federation
Local time: 13:41
English to Russian
| No 100% guarantee | Nov 12, 2007 |
Hi Heinrich,
I changed my e-mail address twice during the last 2 years. First I moved it because with the ADSL provider I was using I not only received a lot of spam, but was quite regularly the subject of hostile penetration attempts. Curiously enough, when I investigated the IP address of the hostile computer it very often turned out to be one of the computers of the ADSL provider who were also my ISP. So, I moved to another ISP, but was still using the same ADSL provider. So, now... See more Hi Heinrich,
I changed my e-mail address twice during the last 2 years. First I moved it because with the ADSL provider I was using I not only received a lot of spam, but was quite regularly the subject of hostile penetration attempts. Curiously enough, when I investigated the IP address of the hostile computer it very often turned out to be one of the computers of the ADSL provider who were also my ISP. So, I moved to another ISP, but was still using the same ADSL provider. So, now I had 2 e-mail addresses: one with the ISP and one with the ADSL provider. I was still receiving spam – approximately the same amount (if not more) at my ADSL address and practically no spam at my new address at my new ISP server. Most probably because I signed up for spam filter ($1 per month or about that).
But after the ISP server was blocked by the domain Registrar allegedly for spamming for 2 days and I was deprived of access to my site and my mail I moved my site to Proz server and changed my e-mail again. I am quite happy with ProZ hosting services, but I still receive some spam (1-6 letters daily). But then, I did not come round yet to signing up for spam filtering which I believe I should.
Conclusion: Changing e-mail address alone will not solve your problem 100%. Temporarily you will enjoy peace, but they will chase you in the end. The solution must be complex and include:
1. Signing up for spam filtering with your ISP.
2. Masking your real e-mail address in contact details given on your site to prevent stealing it by robots (replace the @ sign with *, for example). That will not prevent visitors from using the address after correcting it manually. After all everyone will understand what needs to be done to contact you.
3. Using an Internet security application with a spam filter (I am using Norton and had never reasons to complain, but I believe there are many other). If you blacklist a sender you will at least save yourself time wasted in reading the subject and the sender's name.
However, remember that the spammers use a lot of tricks to get your address (mainly by buying lists of addresses fished out using robots). They also frequently change the sender's address and name, so there's no 100% guarantee, I am afraid. But using the above you will considerably reduce the amount of spam. ▲ Collapse
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Margreet Logmans (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 12:41
English to Dutch
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| Matter of time | Nov 12, 2007 |
In my experience, it's only a matter of time before an email-address gets spammed.
You need to protect your inbox with anti-spam settings or anti-spam software. It's not 100% adequate, but nothing else will help you in the long run.
I've tried keeping my email address safe by not displaying it on any website and not using it to create online accounts for anything, but some of my recipients used the address for e-cards and mass mailings and the case was lost. Sorry to say!
... See more In my experience, it's only a matter of time before an email-address gets spammed.
You need to protect your inbox with anti-spam settings or anti-spam software. It's not 100% adequate, but nothing else will help you in the long run.
I've tried keeping my email address safe by not displaying it on any website and not using it to create online accounts for anything, but some of my recipients used the address for e-cards and mass mailings and the case was lost. Sorry to say!
Mozilla Thunderbird handles spam quite well, IMO.
Best,
Margreet ▲ Collapse
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 13:41
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | name.surname | Nov 12, 2007 |
Alexey Ivanov wrote:
2. Masking your real e-mail address in contact details given on your site to prevent stealing it by robots (replace the @ sign with *, for example). That will not prevent visitors from using the address after correcting it manually. After all everyone will understand what needs to be done to contact you.
That reminds of the guy a few years ago who inquired about a file he had sent me for translation. I made sure did he had used the right address?
Yes, is'nt that your address: Vorname.Name@... ?
Perhaps he is still sending me his messages to this address.
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I'd try another approach (and I've been doing this for a while). I have a commercial email account that about a year ago started to get loaded up with spam. Where it came from, who knows. In any case, I set up an account with Gmail. All mail coming into the commercial account is forwarded to Gmail. Gmail (with its absolutely fantastic anti-spam filter) filters out the spam (or at least 99% of it) and let the normal mail go through. In this way, my old commercial account is still active so custom... See more I'd try another approach (and I've been doing this for a while). I have a commercial email account that about a year ago started to get loaded up with spam. Where it came from, who knows. In any case, I set up an account with Gmail. All mail coming into the commercial account is forwarded to Gmail. Gmail (with its absolutely fantastic anti-spam filter) filters out the spam (or at least 99% of it) and let the normal mail go through. In this way, my old commercial account is still active so customers can send mail to it, plus, I have another account.
Just a thought
George ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 06:41
German to English
| They'll track you down no matter what | Nov 12, 2007 |
A few years ago, I purchased a domain name with the intention of eventually starting a business under that name. I have a web site on that doman that I use for testing purposes, as well as an e-mail address. I have *never* shared the e-mail address and only use it for testing purposes. The e-mail address is not posted on the web site. Nevertheless, I check the e-mail for the site a couple of times/year and find spam.
The explanation someone offered was that spam bots collect domain ... See more A few years ago, I purchased a domain name with the intention of eventually starting a business under that name. I have a web site on that doman that I use for testing purposes, as well as an e-mail address. I have *never* shared the e-mail address and only use it for testing purposes. The e-mail address is not posted on the web site. Nevertheless, I check the e-mail for the site a couple of times/year and find spam.
The explanation someone offered was that spam bots collect domain names, then generate various user combinations. The addresses that don't bounce are then recycled. In theory, even [email protected] will eventually receive spam.
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Clare Barnes
Sweden
Local time: 12:41
Swedish to English
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| Don't have a spam problem... | Nov 12, 2007 |
...touch wood. I do know that my web hotel/e-mail server has a very effective anti-spam system that involves bouncing all e-mail arriving from an unknown address the first time it arrives - apparently spam servers do not do automatic resends, whereas genuine servers do, usually within a couple of minutes. In the three years I've been with them I have only had one problem with this, with a company's server that only resent e-mail after 24 hours - and it was easily solved by putting that server on... See more ...touch wood. I do know that my web hotel/e-mail server has a very effective anti-spam system that involves bouncing all e-mail arriving from an unknown address the first time it arrives - apparently spam servers do not do automatic resends, whereas genuine servers do, usually within a couple of minutes. In the three years I've been with them I have only had one problem with this, with a company's server that only resent e-mail after 24 hours - and it was easily solved by putting that server on a "white list".
Anyway, that's my understanding of how it works... this means that you wouldn't need to change your e-mail address, just the server through which you receive your e-mail (my broadband provider sends my business e-mail, my web hotel receives it... I think). If you want, send me an e-mail and I'll put you in touch with the right company (Swedish based). ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sonja Tomaskovic (X)
Germany
Local time: 12:41
English to German
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| You cannot influence what others do with your e-mail | Nov 12, 2007 |
Until a few months ago my business mail account was absolutely spam free. I had no spam problem at all. Of course, I have done what everyone else has already desribed: never published it on the internet, never used it for any kind of subscription, only forwarded it to real clients.
However, one of these clients created a mass mailing, and instead of using a mail list server, or putting our e-mails into the BCC field, everybody who received the e-mail was able to see who else was 'on... See more Until a few months ago my business mail account was absolutely spam free. I had no spam problem at all. Of course, I have done what everyone else has already desribed: never published it on the internet, never used it for any kind of subscription, only forwarded it to real clients.
However, one of these clients created a mass mailing, and instead of using a mail list server, or putting our e-mails into the BCC field, everybody who received the e-mail was able to see who else was 'on the list'. A few days later, spam started to pour in.
So the problem is not mainly about what you do with your e-mail account. It's about what others do with your e-mail. And you cannot influence that.
Sonja ▲ Collapse
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Gmail
I'd try another approach (and I've been doing this for a while). I have a commercial email account that about a year ago started to get loaded up with spam. Where it came from, who knows. In any case, I set up an account with Gmail. All mail coming into the commercial account is forwarded to Gmail. Gmail (with its absolutely fantastic anti-spam filter) filters out the spam (or at least 99% of it) and let the normal mail go through. In this way, my old commercial account is still active so customers can send mail to it, plus, I have another account.
Just a thought
George
I use exactly the same system and works fine. Gmail allows you not only to receive mail from other accounts but also to send mail using your from the other address.
Besides, it is free, you have 2GB storage, a mail search engine similar to google and a innovative and very useful mail organisation system through conversations.
regarding spam, ¿what is that?
[Edited at 2007-11-13 07:51]
[Edited at 2007-11-13 07:52]
[Edited at 2007-11-13 07:52]
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