If you are using CPanel, you can check your default email account by clicking on “webmail” icon from your control panel home page. You can also set what your unrouted messages will do by clicking on “mail” icon and selecting “default address", then “set default address” - you can then choose to blackhole unrouted messages (just let them disappear into cyberspace - my personal favorite), fail messages (bounce them back to sender) or you can specify an email address you want them forwarded to. If you are afraid someone simply misspelled your email address and you want to sift through unrouted messages, set up an email account specifically for them (ex: unrouted@yourdomain.com) and remember to check it every week or so.

SPAM filters: I consider spam filters to be a final line of defense if all others fail. Currently, I use Mozilla Thunderbird as my email application and it comes with a built in spam filter which can be trained to catch unsolicited email. There are also many other SPAM filter software out there for email clients such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, etc. which are worth a look. To find out more information on available spam filters, check out www.spamfighter.com (for Outlook and Outlook Express - free) or do a quick google search for “free anti spam software” for your platform.

A special note for AOL users: While I have nothing against AOL and they are trying very hard to combat spam, they are slowly, but surely losing battle. I’ve had two email accounts opened with them, and before I even had a chance to sign up for anything or even tell my family about it - I received spam. I do not know why they are so prone to spam, but something tells me it has a lot to do with their member directory. My advice, get another email address - just remember to check your AOL email every once in a while to delete messages. I’ve also noticed that a lot of other subscription services are declining to email AOL users due to their new “report spam” button being far too close to delete button and webmasters of legitimate email lists are getting warnings from their ISPs.

In closing, I have managed to keep my current primary email spam free (literally) for over a year using these methods, and before that I kept my primary email address spam free for just over two. I will plainly admit that I have no sympathy for spammers, and I make sure to hunt down anyone who sends me spam and report them until their site is either shut down or their ISP is added to a block list.

If you want to learn more on fighting this spam war, there are many valuable resources online such as www.spamhaus.org which hosts a blacklist of known spammers and www.spamcon.org which has a wealth of information on protecting yourself against spam.