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Once you're on these lists, how do you get off? The spam messages themselves often include instructions, but they tend tend to be either bogus or a way to collect more addresses. Typically, if you reply to the email to complain, your message will bounce back because the return address has been forged and doesn't actually exist (or, looking at the "From" address, it's obvious that it's fake). Worse, if it does manage to get through to the spammer's site, they will often not only not remove you from their mailing list, they'll see your complaint as evidence that your address is valid and spam it all the more! They do not care that you're irritated or angry, since they figure if even 0.1% of the millions of people they send junk mail to send them money for the advertised product or service, they're coming out ahead. They literally do not care about the other 99.9% -- which is yet another indication of the quality of the businesses that use spam.
The first advice is to be extremely cautious about clicking on a "remove me" link. Even simply clicking on a link can confirm your address is valid. If you see a link to (say) http://www.spam.site/?23xa-12375475183, that often indicates your address in coded fashion. If you click, they know that the spam to the address associated with the code 23&xa-12375475183 is not only a good address, but that the person there reads their mail and clicks on the URL's in them -- a very valuable address indeed! Those addresses, then, are sold for premium prices which results in even more spam for you because you just proved you click on the URL's!
If you are subscribed to a well known listserv removing yourself from the list may not result in these negative consequences. However it is just too difficult to guarantee removal from various listservs, and to know their particular policy on keeping your email address confidential. For more information on managing listservs please see the January 2002 News Bytes.
The second bit of advice is never, never, ever buy anything from someone who sends you unsolicited advertising by e-mail, even if the product is something you want! Many of these offers are fraudulent, and the advertising method is, by definition, underhanded, especially if the "from" address is forged! Why in the world would you want to give your hard earned money to people who would forge their return address, or make you pay to receive their advertisement that you didn't even ask for? But consider this: even if it's not a scam, by buying from a spammer you legitimize spam, and thus add to the problem. If only .1% buy, and you are one of those buyers, one may conclude that you responsible for 1000 more spam messages coming into your mailbox -- and everyone else's. Is that what you really want? It is simply not worth it to encourage spammers! Think of the corollary: If no one bought anything from spammers, they'd stop spamming -- it wouldn't be worth their effort if everyone ignored them. But, since a very small percentage does buy, it encourages them to continue, or expand, their operations. Thus, the number two source to blame for spam is the people who buy from the spammers, making it profitable for them to continue spamming.
The third advice is to create Filters in Eudora to filter out any spam you receive.
The fourth and final advice is to simply delete the "SPAM". It may take a little time at the beginning of the day when you check your mail, but this is often the most effective method.
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