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American Morning

'Spam' Scams

Aired April 23, 2003 - 07:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Is there anyone who hasn't been spammed? We're talking about the flood of unsolicited e-mails. I'm sure you know what we're talking about. Junk e-mail, nicknamed "spam," now accounts for 45 percent of all e-mail traffic in the U.S., compared to just 8 percent back in 2001. Now, that's more than 2.3 billion unsolicited Internet messages every day.
So how can you avoid getting spammed? Jim Louderback, editor-in- chief of ExtremeTech.com, has all of the answers.

We're so glad to have you here to hear about this, because everybody hates it.

JIM LOUDERBACK, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, EXTREMETECH.COM: Yes, exactly. I wish I had all of the answers, but there really aren't any good answers for everything. But there are a number of different ways that you at least can get a start on getting that spam out.

COLLINS: Yes, how do you avoid it?

LOUDERBACK: Well, the first thing I like to do is get two e-mail addresses. I mean, get what I call a disposable e-mail address. Hotmail, Yahoo, other places will let you sign up for a free e-mail address. Whenever you go to one of those sites that says, you've got to give me your e-mail address to get whatever you're doing, give them the disposable one. And then when it fills up with spam, get rid of it. Only give your real e-mail address to your friends and people you trust.

COLLINS: That's a great idea. How about these spam blockers? Tell us what they are, and do they really work?

LOUDERBACK: Well, you know, most people have anti-virus programs on their system now that sit there and wait for like nasty little programs that are going to destroy your system. Spam blockers are kind of the same. When you get e-mail, they check your e-mail to see if it's spam, and they go against -- some will go against lists of known words, like the word "porn." Everything with the word "porn" they'll take out. Others will evaluate that message against other messages that they know are bad. Others will use lists of a black hat list, people that they know are spammers, don't accept that.

These programs are great. They come with names like Spam Butcher and Spam Catcher and Spam Killer.

COLLINS: Wow! They're vicious.

LOUDERBACK: Yes, it costs about $20. They're a really good idea.

COLLINS: OK, great. And the last one that you have is unsubscribe from newsletters. Because I'm imagining that newsletters also are sometimes sales ploys, right?

LOUDERBACK: Well, it depends on which ones you have. Some are good, and some trusted organizations are all right. Others, where you -- you know, you sign up for this stuff, you buy something, you say, yes, send me a special newsletter about deals. Well, you know what, those deals? They're going to end up going to spammers, and they're going to go all over the place.

So that will help. But the first thing is, don't sign up with them with your real e-mail address to begin with, and that will really help.

COLLINS: This is a great idea, having those two e-mail addresses. Well, what about the unsubscribe buttons? I have to tell you, I have hit that button many times for certain promotions that have come to me. One company three different times, I'm still on the list. Do they work or not?

LOUDERBACK: Well, some people they do, and some people they don't. It depends on who the organization is. And the thing is, unsubscribe, often you're basically just telling the spammer that I exist, I'm here. When you answer something or unsubscribe it says that it's a legitimate e-mail address.

So the real thing is don't get into trouble in the first place by giving out your e-mail address, the one that is your personal e-mail address, not the disposable one that I talked about.

COLLINS: Right. We just have a little bit of time left. I've got two questions for you. How does this attack, so to speak, on spam affect the legitimate e-mail business?

LOUDERBACK: Well, it's a real problem for people. I send out a newsletter to three-quarters of a million people every week about what's going on in technology. My stuff is starting to get attacked as spam. There are certain words I can't use. There are certain things I can't do.

COLLINS: Right.

LOUDERBACK: These people have signed up for it and they like it. Most of them like it. Some people would probably think it's spam.

And the other side of it is that there is e-mail with these spam programs, sometime they block e-mail that you want to get. So you may be looking for an e-mail from somebody and it may be filtered out by these programs you may not even know. It could be really important. It could be about your tax refund.

COLLINS: Right, exactly. Now the last question for you. Is this ever going to be made illegal? I mean, is legislation possible here? LOUDERBACK: Legislation is possible, but I think the best thing to do is to have a national "do not spam list," like the national "do not call list" that...

COLLINS: Right.

LOUDERBACK: ... we're just getting to for telemarketers.

COLLINS: Right.

LOUDERBACK: But the problem is international, and just because we block people in the U.S., people over in Europe, people in Asia, they can do it, and they can spam you, and they're out of the range of our laws.

COLLINS: All right.

LOUDERBACK: So it's a problem.

COLLINS: We're still working on the problem. All right, Jim Louderback, editor-in-chief of ExtremeTech.com, thanks for being here.

LOUDERBACK: Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired April 23, 2003 - 07:47   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Is there anyone who hasn't been spammed? We're talking about the flood of unsolicited e-mails. I'm sure you know what we're talking about. Junk e-mail, nicknamed "spam," now accounts for 45 percent of all e-mail traffic in the U.S., compared to just 8 percent back in 2001. Now, that's more than 2.3 billion unsolicited Internet messages every day.
So how can you avoid getting spammed? Jim Louderback, editor-in- chief of ExtremeTech.com, has all of the answers.

We're so glad to have you here to hear about this, because everybody hates it.

JIM LOUDERBACK, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, EXTREMETECH.COM: Yes, exactly. I wish I had all of the answers, but there really aren't any good answers for everything. But there are a number of different ways that you at least can get a start on getting that spam out.

COLLINS: Yes, how do you avoid it?

LOUDERBACK: Well, the first thing I like to do is get two e-mail addresses. I mean, get what I call a disposable e-mail address. Hotmail, Yahoo, other places will let you sign up for a free e-mail address. Whenever you go to one of those sites that says, you've got to give me your e-mail address to get whatever you're doing, give them the disposable one. And then when it fills up with spam, get rid of it. Only give your real e-mail address to your friends and people you trust.

COLLINS: That's a great idea. How about these spam blockers? Tell us what they are, and do they really work?

LOUDERBACK: Well, you know, most people have anti-virus programs on their system now that sit there and wait for like nasty little programs that are going to destroy your system. Spam blockers are kind of the same. When you get e-mail, they check your e-mail to see if it's spam, and they go against -- some will go against lists of known words, like the word "porn." Everything with the word "porn" they'll take out. Others will evaluate that message against other messages that they know are bad. Others will use lists of a black hat list, people that they know are spammers, don't accept that.

These programs are great. They come with names like Spam Butcher and Spam Catcher and Spam Killer.

COLLINS: Wow! They're vicious.

LOUDERBACK: Yes, it costs about $20. They're a really good idea.

COLLINS: OK, great. And the last one that you have is unsubscribe from newsletters. Because I'm imagining that newsletters also are sometimes sales ploys, right?

LOUDERBACK: Well, it depends on which ones you have. Some are good, and some trusted organizations are all right. Others, where you -- you know, you sign up for this stuff, you buy something, you say, yes, send me a special newsletter about deals. Well, you know what, those deals? They're going to end up going to spammers, and they're going to go all over the place.

So that will help. But the first thing is, don't sign up with them with your real e-mail address to begin with, and that will really help.

COLLINS: This is a great idea, having those two e-mail addresses. Well, what about the unsubscribe buttons? I have to tell you, I have hit that button many times for certain promotions that have come to me. One company three different times, I'm still on the list. Do they work or not?

LOUDERBACK: Well, some people they do, and some people they don't. It depends on who the organization is. And the thing is, unsubscribe, often you're basically just telling the spammer that I exist, I'm here. When you answer something or unsubscribe it says that it's a legitimate e-mail address.

So the real thing is don't get into trouble in the first place by giving out your e-mail address, the one that is your personal e-mail address, not the disposable one that I talked about.

COLLINS: Right. We just have a little bit of time left. I've got two questions for you. How does this attack, so to speak, on spam affect the legitimate e-mail business?

LOUDERBACK: Well, it's a real problem for people. I send out a newsletter to three-quarters of a million people every week about what's going on in technology. My stuff is starting to get attacked as spam. There are certain words I can't use. There are certain things I can't do.

COLLINS: Right.

LOUDERBACK: These people have signed up for it and they like it. Most of them like it. Some people would probably think it's spam.

And the other side of it is that there is e-mail with these spam programs, sometime they block e-mail that you want to get. So you may be looking for an e-mail from somebody and it may be filtered out by these programs you may not even know. It could be really important. It could be about your tax refund.

COLLINS: Right, exactly. Now the last question for you. Is this ever going to be made illegal? I mean, is legislation possible here? LOUDERBACK: Legislation is possible, but I think the best thing to do is to have a national "do not spam list," like the national "do not call list" that...

COLLINS: Right.

LOUDERBACK: ... we're just getting to for telemarketers.

COLLINS: Right.

LOUDERBACK: But the problem is international, and just because we block people in the U.S., people over in Europe, people in Asia, they can do it, and they can spam you, and they're out of the range of our laws.

COLLINS: All right.

LOUDERBACK: So it's a problem.

COLLINS: We're still working on the problem. All right, Jim Louderback, editor-in-chief of ExtremeTech.com, thanks for being here.

LOUDERBACK: Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.