mac wrote:
"ACE" wrote in message
news
I have been in this discussion group before regarding the same
subject. However, I really need to get some type of solution to the
problem we are having with junk mail. I posted before that I set my
parents up with OE. Just last week, they received 1500 pieces of
junk mail. Now, that is totally
unacceptable. I did, as suggested, set up a filter using the
address book method, but really now. All of this junk mail just
goes into their deleted
file which still needs to be perused. I took a look at some of this
junk mail, and it is very strange, at least to my untrained eye. The
entire block
of spam was in alphabetical order and it covered every subject under
the sun.
Now, please tell me there is a reason and that it can be fixed.

Thank you very much!

Ace

After reading this and your previous thread, a new email address is
the only answer for them?
http://groups.google.com/group/micro...fff751 388b7c

Jumping in here, I think it may be. I have to assume that their present
address is something along the lines of initial-name? If so, that would
account for most of the spam. The address is "dictionariable", or guessable
in other words. The spams they're getting have probably been going out for
months and now it's landingi n their inboxes.

When you format an e-mail username, it should include digits in the middle
of it; not at the end or beginning. Most systems won't accept numbers at
the beginning and spammers "guess" the numbers at the end with counters. So
if for instance, you want to have , instead make it
. THAT becomes much harder to guess. And do NOT
use SS numbers, phone or addresses for the numbers; find something else easy
to remember. I use my old college ID number.
That will get rid of a LOT of the spam.

Two e-mail addresses are almost required in this day of internet treachery.
Three or four are better. Many ISPs offer more than one address. Does
theirs?

My suggestion, if the ISP only porivdes one address, would be to:

Get a new address for their "main" address. This has the downside of having
to notify everyone of their new email address though, so Bruce's advice
might be better if that's an issue. This one would be used for trusted
people; family, close friends, etc.
Then get a free address at Yahoo or one of the many places online that
provide free e-mail. There are hundreds of them so if you go this route you
might want to ask here for reliable ones to go to. I use Yahoo and
sneakemail.com. Use that address for non-trusted people, internet signups,
things like that. If it gets too heavily spammed, you can throw it away and
start over with another new one. It also makes it a lot easier to stand the
spam that often comes with signing up for things online, too since it
doesn't clutter up the "good" inbox.

HTH
Pop`