Helping to bin spam that infuriates us all

FORGET the so-called Millennium Bug (most of us have) and the growing variety of internet viruses that multiply faster than SARS ever did. The biggest threat to the global communications revolution of email is the humble spam.

Spam is unsolicited commercial email - the on-line equivalent of junk mail. And it is growing at an alarming rate.

Just 12 months ago, according to email filtering company MessageLabs, spam emails made up only 2.3 per cent of emails received in our inboxes. Today, that has risen to a massive 55 per cent - and the figure is still growing.

Already, it is a nuisance. It takes time to filter out spam from legitimate email and much of it advertises dubious products or makes bogus claims.

But if the growth of spam continues at its present rate, experts fear, it won't be long before email becomes virtually unusable - the trickle of genuine mail buried under a deluge of unwanted junk.

Internet giants AOL and Microsoft take it so seriously they have already launched lawsuits against some of the world's biggest spammers. The European Union is also taking action: from October 1, users will have to opt in to receive unsolicited email adverts rather than opting out of them.

But beating the spammers won't be that easy. In his keynote speech to the UK's first-ever Spam Summit on July 1, E-commerce Minister Stephen Timms admitted as much. The government, as part of an on-going inquiry into spam, is drawing up a series of regulations to deal with the problem, and is proposing an Information Commissioner with power to take action against breaches of the new European Union rules.

The problem will be tracing and then taking action against the senders of spam which originates from outside the EU, he admitted.

"This is not a problem which is going to be solved by regulation alone," Mr Timms said.

"Spam is not a UK or a European phenomenon. Most of the spam we get here comes from outside the European Union."

So what can you as an email user do to try to prevent your inbox being jammed with unsolicited rubbish?

The Advertising Standards Authority has produced new guidelines to help email users cut down on spam.

These are some of the steps the ASA recommends you take:

Avoid displaying your e-mail address in public, such as on websites, newsgroups or chat rooms.

Consider having a second "public" email address for public display online. You can then use this address for entering online chats and for online shopping, for example. Then, if your public address starts to receive spam you can close the account without affecting your permanent, private address.

Use a unique email address. Spammers use "dictionary attacks" to sort through possible name combinations hoping to find a valid address. Thus a common name such as jsmith may get more spam than a more unique name like js45c19mith.

Whenever you sign up for an online service, always read carefully the terms and conditions, privacy policy and any other statements that describe how the site will use your personal information. They may want to mail you or pass your details to other companies so that they can mail you.

Remember to read any tick box text carefully: some may say you have opted-out of receiving email while others may say you have opted in!

Unless you feel it is from a legitimate company that has made a genuine mistake in mailing you, do not respond to spam email messages. Do not even unsubscribe. Sending a reply, even a request to be taken off their database, may confirm the account is active and encourage the spammer to send more mail.

If it is clear the email is from a legitimate company, like a large high street retailer or utilities supplier you have heard of, use their unsubscribe procedure as this will probably be the easiest way to stop receiving email in future.

Most email software comes with filters that can scan and block email messages. You should find out if your software has this function and make sure it is switched on. Ask your Internet Service Provider for advice about filters it offers. If you don't have filters you may be able to buy or download filtering software.

If you are receiving email from companies based in the UK that you have had no dealings with before and you know that you have not given them permission to contact you by email, you can contact the ASA and they will take action to stop the company emailing you again. Simply save the e-mail and then visit the online complaints form on the ASA's website where you can upload the e-mail as an attachment.

Do NOT, however, simply forward spam to the ASA unless a member of ASA staff has asked you to, otherwise the organisation would be overwhelmed.

For more information on how the ASA regulates new media such as the internet, take the new media guided tour on the ASA website www.asa.org.uk. Alternatively, you can visit a range of spam-busting websites online by going to any internet search engine and typing in the word 'spam'.

Updated: 09:23 Thursday, July 10, 2003