am I just naive about spam

[Bob George]

"arson smith" <arsonsmith@hotmail.com> wrote:


> [...]
> I was getting an occasional spam email like
> maybe once a week when I decided that I should
> go ahead and fill out the stuff to be removed.
> as soon as I did that I don't know if they
> decided wow I have a real address here.  now
> I get 3-10 spam messages from porn-home bussnes-
> loan-everything else crap.  [...]

I went on a bit of a personal crusade some time back to not only deal with
spam (procmail rules and the like) but to avoid it, at least in my
legitimate mailboxen. Here's a quick summary of what I did, for anyone else
who might be interested:

1. I set up a freemail account (iname.com) with a name I don't feel too
strongly about. This is my "throwaway" address that I use whenever a web
page insists that something be entered, for product registrations and the
like. I check this one only infrequently, and leave the junk there to be
deleted en masse whenver I do visit. This one gets 10-15 spam messages
daily. This is the most obvious trick of the lot.

2. For every mailing list, news server and other situations where I do care
about responses, I create an alias (via sendmail in my case). The aliases
all map to an existing user account on my Linux server that I can poll with
the mail client of my choice. The separate aliases allow me to track which
lists are leaking my address, at which point I can unsubscribe or otherwise
deal with the issue. Note that this will result in *rejecting* the spam, not
simply accepting it and then deleting it. This at least gives me the feeling
that they'll know the address is dead and hopefully quit banging on it.

I also use freemail accounts for my kids which are forwarded to aliased
accounts on the Linux box. If they start to get spam, the account gets
changed. So far, e-mail.com has been VERY good at not letting spam in (other
than the obligatory "Happy Valentines Day from EMAIL.COM"), and they don't
use the accounts for anything other than person-person contact. So far, no
"free porn" in the kids' mailboxes. Sendmail aliases also are used to drop a
copy in my inbox (the kids are aware of the policy -- thems the rules) so I
can screen them.

3. On the aforementioned user accounts on my Linux box, I use procmail rules
to sort mail into various "folders" for ease of review. I usually do this
using the From: line for lists, and To: for everything else. PLUG messages
go into a frequently read folder, while "suspicious" mail goes into a
general area. I used various spam filters in combination with this approach
in the past, but actually have let them go since reducing overall spam
intake to manageable levels. A few messages do leak in, but they're coralled
in a holding area ("Other" folder) that simplifies sorting and killing them
without getting in my way. Again, if any one account seems to be getting too
popular, I can tell where it came from (who they used as the destination --
via "apprently to" headers thanks to sendmail!) and change the account if
worth it's worth maintaining, or simply delete it.

4. On high-visibility news servers and lists (like this one) I use a further
level to draw attention away from my "true" identity. lpwa (lpwa.com)
provides a service that bounces messages via their service. That cryptic
address actually maps to an aliased account on my system. I figure this
keeps my host from unwanted attention. I suppose a freemail account that
forwards might accomplish the same thing, but then I'd have to deal with
creating multiple corresponding freemail accounts for each list/news server.

I'm sure there are LOTs of variations on this approach, and not everyone
will be so patient with the work involved. Still, it works for me, and I've
yet to wind up with much spam in my real accounts. I'm sure this approach is
not bulletproof, but it's worked well for me. I still do get some spam --
especially in my @Home mailbox -- but I've resigned myself to silently
ignoring it rather than trying to do anything about it. I just don't have
the time to pursue it often.

Any tips/tricks or other good stuff appreciated!

- Bob