What can you do about spam?

Unsolicited, mass emails aren't as big a problem as they once were. Laws in developed countries have caught up, making sending spam illegal, and several high-profile cases have punished the most prolific offenders.

In two parts, this quick guide explains what you can do to help prevent spam being sent, and what you can do to avoid receiving spam.

Preventing spam

If a lot of the spam you receive looks similar, it's likely it's all from the same spammers. Spending a few minutes reporting these messages can put them out of business.

In the UK?

It is illegal to send spam in the UK, so if you can identify the sender you can report them to the Information Commissioner's Office. See the ICO's guide to spam email for more on how to complain.

Spam from Gmail?

Google is keen to maintain a good image for all their services, so are strict on spam. If you receive spam from a Gmail user, you can quickly report it, and have their account disabled.

Report Gmail spam.

Spam linking to a website?

A lot of spam will try to promote a website address, and web addresses have to be registered with a domain name registrar. These registrars are required to take down websites which are promoted through spam, so a quick report can ruin the spammers business.

To simplify and speed up this process, you can use the Complainterator - a small piece of software which automates the process, looks up the domain name registrar, and sends a complaint email. The Complainterator takes about a minute to run, and uses your mouse to copy information, so just leave it until it's finished.

Download the Complainterator.

Avoiding spam

Spammers use automated software to trawl the internet for exposed email addresses, so if you've ever posted your email address on a website or in a message board, it's likely that you receive regular spam. Google for your email address and see if it's found anywhere, and try to have it removed.

Owning your own domain name is a useful tactic to avoid and prevent spam. Using a catch-all email address, you can register for websites using different email addresses. If one of the websites sells your address to spammers, you'll know who.

Last updated on 03 August 2010, at 13:16.