FTC FACTSfor Consumers

ONLINE

1-877-FTC-HELP

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION FOR THE CONSUMER

www.ftc.gov

D o you receive lots of junk email messages from people you donít

know? Itís no surprise if you do. As more people use email,

marketers are increasingly using email messages to pitch their

products and services. Some consumers find unsolicited commercial email ó

also known as ìspamî ó annoying and time consuming; others have lost money

to bogus offers that arrived in their email in-box.

Typically, an email spammer buys a list of email addresses from a list

broker, who compiles it by ìharvestingî addresses from the Internet. If your

email address appears in a newsgroup posting, on a website, in a chat room, or

in an online serviceís membership directory, it may find its way onto these lists.

The marketer then uses special software that can send hundreds of thousands ó

even millions ó of email messages to the addresses at the click of a mouse.

Youíve Got Spam: e Got Spam: e Got Spam:

How to “Can” Unwanted Email
Facts for Consumers

How Can I

Reduce the

Amount of Spam

that I Receive?

Try not to display your email

address in public. That includes

newsgroup postings, chat rooms, websites or in

an online serviceís membership directory. You

may want to opt out of member directories for

your online services; spammers may use them

to harvest addresses.

Check the privacy policy when you submit

your address to a website. See if it allows the

company to sell your address. You may want to

opt out of this provision, if possible, or not

submit your address at all to websites that

wonít protect it.

Read and understand the entire form before

you transmit personal information through a

website. Some websites allow you to opt out

of receiving email from their ìpartnersî ó but

you may have to uncheck a preselected box if

you want to opt out .

Decide if you want to use two email addresses ó one for personal messages and one

for newsgroups and chat rooms. You also

might consider using a disposable email address

service that creates a separate email address

that forwards to your permanent account. If one

of the disposable addresses begins to receive

spam, you can shut it off without affecting your

permanent address.

Use a unique email address. Your choice of

email addresses may affect the amount of spam

you receive. Spammers use ìdictionary attacksî to sort through possible name combinations at large ISPs or email services, hoping to

find a valid address. Thus, a common name

such as jdoe may get more spam than a more

unique name like jd51x02oe. Of course, there

is a downside ó itís harder to remember an

unusual email address.

Use an email filter. Check your email account

to see if it provides a tool to filter out potential

spam or a way to channel spam into a bulk

email folder. You might want to consider these

options when youíre choosing which Internet

Service Provider (ISP) to use.

What Can I Do

With the Spam

in my In-Box?

Report it to the Federal

Trade Commission (FTC). Send a

copy of unwanted or deceptive messages to

spam@uce.gov. The FTC uses the unsolicited

emails stored in this database to pursue law

enforcement actions against people who send

deceptive spam email.

Let the FTC know if a ìremove meî request

is not honored. If you want to complain about

a removal link that doesnít work or not being

able to unsubcribe from a list, you can fill out

the FTCís online complaint form at

www.ftc.gov. Your complaint will be added to

the FTCís Consumer Sentinel database and

made available to hundreds of law enforcement

and consumer protection agencies.

Whenever you complain about spam, itís important to include the full email header. The

information in the header makes it possible for

consumer protection agencies to follow up on

your complaint.

Send a copy of the spam to your ISPís abuse

desk. Often the email address is

abuse@yourispname.com or
Facts for Consumers

postmaster@yourispname.com. By doing this,

you can let the ISP know about the spam

problem on their system and help them to stop

it in the future. Make sure to include a copy of

the spam, along with the full email header. At

the top of the message, state that youíre complaining about being spammed.

Complain to the senderís ISP. Most ISPs

want to cut off spammers who abuse their

system. Again, make sure to include a copy of

the message and header information and state

that youíre complaining about spam.

How Can I Avoid

Spam Scams?

The FTC suggests that you

treat commercial email solicitations the same way you would

treat an unsolicited telemarketing sales

call. Donít believe promises from strangers.

Greet money making opportunities that arrive

at your in box with skepticism. Most of the

time, these are old fashioned scams delivered

via the newest technology.

Here are some of the most common scam offers

likely to arrive by email:

ï Chain letters. Chain letters that involve

money or valuable items and promise big

returns are illegal. If you start one or send

one on, you are breaking the law. Chances

are you will receive little or no money back

on your ìinvestment.î Despite the claims, a

chain letter will never make you rich. For

more information on chain emails, check

out www.ftc.gov/chainmail.

ï Work-At-Home Schemes. Not all work at

home opportunities deliver on their promises. Many ads omit the fact that you may

have to work many hours without pay. Or

they donít disclose all the costs you will

have to pay. Countless work at home

schemes require you to spend your own

money to place newspaper ads; make

photocopies; or buy the envelopes, paper,

stamps, and other supplies or equipment

you need to do the job. The companies

sponsoring the ads also may demand that

you pay for instructions or ìtutorialî software. Consumers deceived by these ads

have lost thousands of dollars, in addition

to their time and energy.

ï Weight Loss Claims. Programs or products

that promote easy or effortless long term

weight loss donít work. Taking off weight,

and keeping it off, requires exercise and

permanent changes in your diet. All the

testimonials and guarantees in your email

are not worth the space they take up on

your hard drive.

ï Credit Repair Offers. Ignore offers to

erase accurate negative information from

your credit record. Thereís no legal way to

do that.

ï Advance Fee Loan Scams. Be wary of

promises to provide a loan for a fee, regardless of your past credit history. Remember, legitimate banks donít issue credit

cards without first checking your credit.

ï Adult Entertainment. You may get an

email from an adult entertainment site that

claims to offer content for ìfreeî and

doesnít require a credit card number for

access. All you have to do is download a

ìviewerî or ìdialerî program. However,

once the program is downloaded onto your

computer, it may disconnect your Internet

connection and reconnect to an international

long distance phone number, at rates between $2 and $7 a minute. Be skeptical

when you see opportunities to view ìfreeî

content on the web.
Federal Trade Commission

Bureau of Consumer Protection

Office of Consumer and Business Education

April 2002

F C EDERAL RADE OMMISSION T FTC OR HE ONSUMER

1-877-FTC-HELP www.ftc.gov

Facts for Consumers

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent

fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business

practices in the marketplace and to provide

information to help consumers spot, stop and

avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free

information on consumer issues, visit

www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTCHELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-

4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing,

identity theft and other fraud-related complaints

into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online

database available to hundreds of civil and

criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S.

and abroad.