Don't just get mad at spammers, get even. Today Laura Atkins, president of The SpamCon Foundation, tells you how.

If you've been on the Internet for more than a week, you've surely gotten unsolicited email, commonly known as spam. If you're like most people, you grumble, delete it, and wish you could stop it from filling your inbox every day.

Unfortunately, there's no magic bullet to keep spam out of your mailbox. Even the best filters let some spam through, and spammers continually invent new methods to get past filters. But there are some tricks you can use to keep your email box free of spam. Today Laura Atkins, president of the SpamCon Foundation, shares some of the most effective tips with you.

No matter what you do, act responsibly. Don't complain about spam unless you're sure the email is from someone you don't know and haven't explicitly given permission to send you email.

Don't exaggerate, don't make threats you can't fulfill, and don't be rude. The truth is sufficient, and will set your mailbox free.


  1. Learn how spam works, and what its effects are.

    The truth is powerful, especially when faced with an adversary that succeeds through easy-to-debunk lies. Some good anti-spam primers are hosted by the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE), This Is True, and the SpamCon Foundation.

  2. Track spammers down.
    Spammers usually put a fake address in the "From" field, so some innocent person or group gets all the complaints. You must dig a little deeper to bring the guilty to justice.
    This resource tells you how to find spammers, using tools such as "whois" and "traceroute." These tools are accessible through SamSpade and GeekTools.

  3. React effectively.
    If you just hit Delete, you're guaranteed to get more junk from the same spammer. Complaints often get them kicked off their Internet service provider (ISP). Statistics reports help governments develop anti-spam policies, and private lawsuits cripple spammers' ability to operate.

  4. Take part in community anti-spam efforts.
    You're not in this alone. Several discussion groups help track individual spammers and devise ways to stop their activities. See the list of groups here.

  5. Join an anti-spam organization.
    It's only through cooperation that we can lick this problem. Join SpamCon to learn what else you can do. While you're feeling all pumped up, join CAUCE as well. CAUCE fights for good anti-spam laws, and guards against bad ones.



Tom Geller is the executive director of the SpamCon Foundation.