Free Offers

  • Thread starter Thread starter Barry Karas
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Barry Karas

4:28 PM 6/23/2007

Sites require that I input my name and e-mail address for 'free' offers. I
do not input the information because I suspect that the information will be
sold to junk e-mailers. (Luckily, I have a scanning program so I can "weed
out" the junk e-mail.)

There are probably some computer programs that do this 'weeding out' before
the e-mail messages reach the user's computer. The problem -- or my
problem -- with these programs is that the programs use other peoples'
opinions as to what is junk.

I receive about 70 to 100 e-mail messages per business day (about ¾ on
Saturdays and about ¼ on Sundays). As I wrote, I am lucky that I have the
scanning program. It is not that I am an expert, but I am on my PC a
lot...and I have been for 10+ years.

Another problem I encounter: Occasionally I want something but I am
reluctant to input my name and e-mail address because I suspect that I'll
also receive scads of junk email messages. I can understand the rationale if
the product is "free" (but there is no such thing as a free lunch). However,
if I am willing to pay for the product then the vendor has no excuse to sell
my e-mail address. However there is no person in authority that I can easily
and quickly contact to get an assurance that my name and e-mail address will
not be sold. Do I have to live with this problem?

Thank you,

Barry Karas
 
Barry Karas said:
4:28 PM 6/23/2007

Sites require that I input my name and e-mail address for 'free' offers. I
do not input the information because I suspect that the information will
be sold to junk e-mailers. (Luckily, I have a scanning program so I can
"weed out" the junk e-mail.)

There are probably some computer programs that do this 'weeding out'
before the e-mail messages reach the user's computer. The problem -- or my
problem -- with these programs is that the programs use other peoples'
opinions as to what is junk.

I receive about 70 to 100 e-mail messages per business day (about ¾ on
Saturdays and about ¼ on Sundays). As I wrote, I am lucky that I have the
scanning program. It is not that I am an expert, but I am on my PC a
lot...and I have been for 10+ years.

Another problem I encounter: Occasionally I want something but I am
reluctant to input my name and e-mail address because I suspect that I'll
also receive scads of junk email messages. I can understand the rationale
if the product is "free" (but there is no such thing as a free lunch).
However, if I am willing to pay for the product then the vendor has no
excuse to sell my e-mail address. However there is no person in authority
that I can easily and quickly contact to get an assurance that my name and
e-mail address will not be sold. Do I have to live with this problem?
Click to expand...


Use a second email account and fake name. Use that account for junk
activities.
 
Barry said:
Sites require that I input my name and e-mail address for 'free' offers. I
do not input the information because I suspect that the information will be
sold to junk e-mailers. (Luckily, I have a scanning program so I can "weed
out" the junk e-mail.)
Click to expand...

Always use a disposable email address for "free offer" websites.

Also see:
http://www.bootdisk.com/housecall/011.htm#2
 
Barry Karas said:
4:28 PM 6/23/2007

Sites require that I input my name and e-mail address for 'free'
offers. I do not input the information because I suspect that the
information will be sold to junk e-mailers. (Luckily, I have a
scanning program so I can "weed out" the junk e-mail.)

There are probably some computer programs that do this 'weeding out'
before the e-mail messages reach the user's computer. The problem --
or my problem -- with these programs is that the programs use other
peoples'
opinions as to what is junk.

I receive about 70 to 100 e-mail messages per business day (about ¾ on
Saturdays and about ¼ on Sundays). As I wrote, I am lucky that I have
the scanning program. It is not that I am an expert, but I am on my
PC a lot...and I have been for 10+ years.

Another problem I encounter: Occasionally I want something but I am
reluctant to input my name and e-mail address because I suspect that
I'll also receive scads of junk email messages. I can understand the
rationale if the product is "free" (but there is no such thing as a
free lunch). However, if I am willing to pay for the product then the
vendor has no excuse to sell my e-mail address. However there is no
person in authority that I can easily and quickly contact to get an
assurance that my name and e-mail address will not be sold. Do I have
to live with this problem?
Thank you,

Barry Karas
Click to expand...

In addition to the other replies, some free webmail accounts allow you to
receive mail sent to

(e-mail address removed).

Gmail does this, among others. For example, if you have an account called
barrykaras at gmail.com, you could specify barrykarras+freewebsitename at
gmail.com on the form, and you'd get the mail - and could set up rules/tags
to identify all messages sent to that address, to weed out the junk if you
get it.
 
Barry said:
4:28 PM 6/23/2007

Sites require that I input my name and e-mail address for 'free' offers. I
do not input the information because I suspect that the information will be
sold to junk e-mailers. (Luckily, I have a scanning program so I can "weed
out" the junk e-mail.)

There are probably some computer programs that do this 'weeding out' before
the e-mail messages reach the user's computer. The problem -- or my
problem -- with these programs is that the programs use other peoples'
opinions as to what is junk.

I receive about 70 to 100 e-mail messages per business day (about ¾ on
Saturdays and about ¼ on Sundays). As I wrote, I am lucky that I have the
scanning program. It is not that I am an expert, but I am on my PC a
lot...and I have been for 10+ years.

Another problem I encounter: Occasionally I want something but I am
reluctant to input my name and e-mail address because I suspect that I'll
also receive scads of junk email messages. I can understand the rationale if
the product is "free" (but there is no such thing as a free lunch). However,
if I am willing to pay for the product then the vendor has no excuse to sell
my e-mail address. However there is no person in authority that I can easily
and quickly contact to get an assurance that my name and e-mail address will
not be sold. Do I have to live with this problem?

Thank you,

Barry Karas
Click to expand...


Short answer: Yes.

While it's not possible to completely eliminate spam (unsolicited
commercial email), there are some precautions and steps you can take to
minimize it's impact:

1) Never, ever post your real email address to publicly accessible
forums or newsgroups, such as this one. For years now, spammers have
been using software utilities to scan such places to harvest email
addresses. It's a simple matter to disguise your posted email address
so that these software "bots" can't obtain anything useful. For
example, insert some obviously bogus characters or words into your reply
address, for example: "(e-mail address removed)."

2) Never, ever reply to any spam you receive, even to "unsubscribe" or
"remove" yourself from the spammers' address lists; you'll only compound
the problem. If spammers had any intention of honoring the your desire
not to receive spam, they wouldn't have become spammers in the first
place. When you reply to a spammer, all you're doing is confirming that
he/she has a valid, marketable email address.

3) Be especially leery of any offers from websites for free software,
services, information, etc, that require your email address, or that
require your email address so you can "login" to access the offered
service and/or information. Many such sites are supplementing their
income by collecting addresses to sell to the spammers. For instance,
subscribing to CNN.COM's Breaking News Service will garner you a lot of
additional spam. (Of course, not all such sites have under-handed
motives; it's a judgment call. If the offer seems "too good to be
true," it's most likely a scam.)

4) DO forward any and all spam, with complete headers, to the
originating ISP with a complaint. Not all ISPs will make an effort to
shut down the spammers, but many will. One tool that makes forwarding
such complaints fairly simple is SpamCop (http://spamcop.net).

4) Another useful tool is MailWasher (http://www.mailwasher.net). This
utility allows you to preview your email before downloading it from the
server. Spammers can even be blacklisted, so that any future emails
from them will be automatically deleted from the server.

5) Within Outlook Express, add any spammers to your Blocked Senders
list, so the their messages are automatically deleted from the server
without being downloaded to your PC.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell
 
Barry said:
4:28 PM 6/23/2007

Sites require that I input my name and e-mail address for 'free'
offers. I do not input the information because I suspect that the
information will be sold to junk e-mailers. (Luckily, I have a
scanning program so I can "weed out" the junk e-mail.)

There are probably some computer programs that do this 'weeding out'
before the e-mail messages reach the user's computer. The problem --
or my problem -- with these programs is that the programs use other
peoples'
opinions as to what is junk.

I receive about 70 to 100 e-mail messages per business day (about ¾ on
Saturdays and about ¼ on Sundays). As I wrote, I am lucky that I have
the scanning program. It is not that I am an expert, but I am on my
PC a lot...and I have been for 10+ years.

Another problem I encounter: Occasionally I want something but I am
reluctant to input my name and e-mail address because I suspect that
I'll also receive scads of junk email messages. I can understand the
rationale if the product is "free" (but there is no such thing as a
free lunch). However, if I am willing to pay for the product then the
vendor has no excuse to sell my e-mail address. However there is no
person in authority that I can easily and quickly contact to get an
assurance that my name and e-mail address will not be sold. Do I have
to live with this problem?
Click to expand...

Check out "mailinator.com" for one-time, throw-away address capability (such
as registering for a news site).
 
4:28 PM 6/23/2007

Sites require that I input my name and e-mail address for 'free' offers. I
do not input the information because I suspect that the information will
be sold to junk e-mailers. (Luckily, I have a scanning program so I can
"weed out" the junk e-mail.)

There are probably some computer programs that do this 'weeding out'
before the e-mail messages reach the user's computer. The problem -- or my
problem -- with these programs is that the programs use other peoples'
opinions as to what is junk.

I receive about 70 to 100 e-mail messages per business day (about ¾ on
Saturdays and about ¼ on Sundays). As I wrote, I am lucky that I have the
scanning program. It is not that I am an expert, but I am on my PC a
lot...and I have been for 10+ years.

Another problem I encounter: Occasionally I want something but I am
reluctant to input my name and e-mail address because I suspect that I'll
also receive scads of junk email messages. I can understand the rationale
if the product is "free" (but there is no such thing as a free lunch).
However, if I am willing to pay for the product then the vendor has no
excuse to sell my e-mail address. However there is no person in authority
that I can easily and quickly contact to get an assurance that my name and
e-mail address will not be sold. Do I have to live with this problem?
Click to expand...

If you haven't already, dump the crappy MS "browser" and use Firefox. Then
get an extension called "Temporary Inbox". It will show up in your
toolbar. When you need a short-term email address, get one from them and
use it until your transaction(s) is/are complete. It's also checked from
the toolbar. After a time the email address will disappear. But you won't
have to check it after you're done with it.

You can use the service without dropping MS' kludgy abomination (IE), but
it's not as convenient. You'll have to go to the page, get an address, use
it and go back to the page to check for mail. That might be OK for someone
accustomed to having to run a long ton of anti-whateverware. But it's not
something I'd be willing to bother with.

An alternative: sign up with several free email services, get addresses,
use them until they're overwhelmed, then pretend they never existed and
get replacements. It works, but it's still not as convenient as doing it
all from a browser. You can search for free email servers on any good
search engine (which leaves MS out in that area, too).

Finally, getting rid of the native "browser" MS puts there removes one
more avenue from their arsenal to spy on you with. That alone should be
motivation enough.

You're welcome. Have a nice day.
 
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