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Just say NO - Fight the Spam!

Here at Yahoo! we hate spam as much as you do .... so we want to teach you how to fight the good fight, avoid junk mail and relieve your life of the stress it creates!

40% of all emails sent globally each day is estimated to be junk mail .. and that's just one type of spam that pervades our lives every day. While Yahoo! can't do much about unsolicited calls to your home phone, unsolicited sms to your mobile or catalogues clogging your letterbox, we can help you manage spam in your Yahoo! Mail account.

The best protection you have online against the tide of spam in your inbox is Yahoo! Mail's SpamguardTM. The newly enhanced, more powerful SpamGuardTM is Yahoo! Mail's junk mail filtering technology that is part of the service we offer to all users of Yahoo! Mail - for free!

Yahoo! Australia & NZ Mail offers other spam-fighting tools that further bolster protection against spam. The newest weapon against spam provides e-mail users the ability to block html graphics from being downloaded automatically when a message is opened and also protects users from web beacons, which are invisible tags within an e-mail that trigger an alert back to the spammer that the e-mail has been opened and the address is “live.” With Yahoo! Mail you also have the control to block up to 100 addresses and set up 15 filters to customise protection against spam.

We also have a worldwide team of experts who are dedicated to staying one step ahead of people who target you with unsolicited mail and we work tirelessly with other organisations to jointly devise new ways of combating junk mail.

Here's some handy tips to protect your inbox:

DO

  1. Treat your email address like your phone number - don't give it out randomly.

  2. Check the small print when opting into services on the web. All services should have a privacy policy like the Yahoo! Privacy Policy that tell you what the company that you are signing up to will or won't do with your email address.

  3. Use an email service with a recognised junk mail fighting tool - Yahoo! Mail's new and more powerful version of SpamGuard is an industry leading filter and it's free.

  4. Practice good email etiquette by agreeing with friends and family what emails, such as jokes, pictures, chain letters and the like should or should not be sent to you. This is especially important for your work emails - some companies have strict rules governing what you can and can't send regarding non-work related emails. Check out the rules.

  5. Learn how to use the simple blocking functionality on your email; your system will automatically block these emails for you - need help to set up filters in your Yahoo! Mail account? Check out our easy instructions

  6. Be careful when opening or forwarding attachments from addresses you don't recognise. Fortunately, attachments in Yahoo! Mail are scanned for viruses before you open them and save them to your Yahoo! Briefcase or hard-drive.

  7. When receiving any attachments always take a look at the extension (that's the 3 letter code at the end of any attachment, eg .jpg). You should be particularly vigilant with any attachments that have the extension .exe and .vbs as these files are programs which will run on your computer when you double click on them. Be sure you know what a file is before you open it. Be particularly vigilant if you do not know the sender. Even if you do know the sender you should always check with them if you think the attachment looks in any way suspect.

    But no need to panic, Yahoo! Mail has the answers. As well as scanning attachments, Yahoo! Mail allows users to place a file in Yahoo! Briefcase or Yahoo! Photos and then offer the recipient the opportunity to download the file, by including a link in the email to your Yahoo! Briefcase or Yahoo! Photos. Many companies operate firewalls that prevent certain attachments entering their system. For this reason, using tools like Yahoo! Briefcase and Yahoo! Photos should ensures that emails reach the desired recipient's inbox.

  8. Report email abuse from spammers to your service provider to help get junk mail out of inboxes and back onto the dinner table! If you are unsure about an email in your inbox let us know at http://help.yahoo.com/help/au/abuse.
DON'T
  1. Ever reply to spam email - if you respond you're letting the spammer know your mail account is valid and it will only lead to more junk mail.


  2. Contribute to spam by sending on chain letters, jokes, images etc, unless you have permission from friends and family to do so.


  3. Click on a URL, web site or image within junk email - again, it could validate your email address and lead to further junk mail.


  4. Post your email address in public places - spammers mine for email addresses and could pick up yours in this way. If you do, adopt an assumed name or alias. If you want to post your address on a news group site for example, spell your address out - e.g. joecitizen@yahoo.com.au joecitizen at yahoo dot com dot au.


  5. Fall for "personalised" or spoof email subject lines - you are being conned into opening the mail Spammers will try to trick you into opening spam mail by pretending to know you, or trying to intrigue you. Typical ruses include "Hey, how are you?", "Urgent and Confidential", "We need to meet". "I have money for you". Do not respond to mail with subject lines such as these unless you recognise the source.


  6. Send junk mail on to other people - spammers may get hold of their addresses ... and you may lose friends!


Check out some of the tricks that Spammers use to get into your inbox!