It never ceases to amaze me,
things that show up in my mail box. As an AOL member, I have use of some of finest spam filtering technology in world, but I still get at least three of following, each week: The Nigerian Scam, Unsolicited Hot Stock Tips, New Mexico Oil Strike Announcement, and Sexually Explicit Come ON's.Do you think they could let me send and receive important business letters? Nooooo! Mention SFI, or have a link to an Affiliate Gateway in your signature block, and suddenly, you are considered a garbage eating dog spammer! Some things just aren't meant to be easy, but there are a few things we can do to work around these problems.
Spam Filters
I'm not going to get into this subject too much, except to say, they are some of finest and most frustrating tools on Internet. Any time someone sends an unsolicited commercial message, it should be blocked by filter. Spam filters assign points to different aspects of a message. Too many points, and a message is filtered out. Where problems arise is when filter fails to distinguish between legitimate commercial messages and those that are unsolicited.
There a couple of things that can be done to help insure that important messages are delivered.
1. Don't use affiliate gateway links in your signature block. Your message will be delivered. However, in bound filter will assign points if a reply has that link in it. The reply stands a good chance of being blocked by filter.
2. Avoid using all capital letters in Subject Line of your message. The spam filters will assign several points to your message for this. If too many points are accumulated, it goes in trash.
Recognize a Scam
I'm sure most of you are familiar with Nigerian Scam, or one of many variants. Some rich oil executive or a bastard prince has just died a tragic death. If you would be so kind as to sign a legal document stating He is your long lost cousin, and that You are his only surviving relative, You will be paid 20% of money safely stashed away in a foreign vault. Blah! Blah! Blah!
This scam has been around for years. However, many may not know that Nigerian scam is actually an effort to collect your personal information for purpose of stealing your identity!
Once these cyber crooks have a person's personal information, i.e., Name, SSAN, DOB, Bank account info, they will systematically clean your clock! Not only will they empty any money from your bank account, they will also apply for and obtain bank loans, credit cards, and checking accounts in your name.
