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How to stop spam
Many businesses are deluged with spam and much valuable time is wasted wading through hundreds of emails picking out the genuine ones from among the junk. Unfortunately once your email address has been found by the spammers there is not a lot you can do to stop them sending more. If you click on the "opt out" links provided in their emails, these often simply confirm to them that your email address is alive and active! Even if you only open the email, a script in it can inform the spammers that it has been opened! The best way round this is to disconnect first from the internet before opening any emails from unknown sources.
If you are not already getting spam, you can take a few simple precautions such as not giving out your main email address to anyone other than you specifically want to. You can set up an alternative email address which you use for registering items on the internet, and any other people and organisations who you do not yet trust.
If you have an enquiry form on your website, check that your email address does not appear in the page source code. (It will then, probably, be hidden away in a script on the server - probably not easily accessible to a spam robot.) If, however, it does appear in the source code of your enquiry form page, and you are not familiar with cgi scripting, then simply direct the enquiries to an email address which does not matter too much - this can usually be set in the code very easily without any technical knowledge. You can always change it at any time, as the user will not know to which email address web enquiries are going and therefore will not be assuming that this is your email address for all future correspondence.
You will notice that my website email address is an image, not text, and if you view the code in the external js file, you will see that I have used javascript to split the email address into pieces. There are many other methods. One is to use hexadecimal and/or ascii codes in the source code, but this only works is you use notepad to edit your pages. Most HTML editors will simply rewrite it as normal text. Another method is to place something in the email address which has to be removed by the user. This method requires the user to take an action which they may be unsure how to do. These other methods, so I have heard, are not very effective as some spam robots can deal with them. Nonetheless, I can show you how to use whichever method you prefer.
However, if you already are being inundated with spam, I can help you set up anti-spam software. It is a time-consuming process as you (usually) have to specify a set of rules for determining what may constitute spam, as well as set up rules to determine which email addresses you permit. The software often needs to be "trained" to distinguish friend from (potential) foe, and this takes time. Some anti-spam systems are based on a spam-filtering service, and therefore do not need such complex training. However, configuration for optimal results is still advisable.
Moreover, you need a good system for quickly (and safely) reviewing those emails which your software has determined may be spam. Otherwise it may be of little more use to you than your current process of wading through hundreds of emails. A system that allows the emails to be reviewed client-side, i.e. on one's own pc, rather than on a remote server, is preferable - unless one has broadband.
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