Disclaimer

Junk mail, junk emails, junk phone calls, junk faxes. By filling our letter boxes, using our fax rolls, blocking up our email and disturbing our private time, it has become more than just junk, it has become a breach of our privacy.

Although we often feel it is simply something we must put up with in today's modern, electronic, mail-listed world, this is not the case.

The Data Protection Registrar in the UK issue some helpful guidlines as follows:

Stop Junk Mail

contact the

Mailing Preference Service (MPS)

Tel: 0845 7034599

email: mps@dma.org.uk

Enables any member of the public to have their name deleted from or added to a mailing list. It is sponsored by 4 major trade associations and Royal Mail.

Also have a look at stopjunkmail.org.uk lots of useful info there!

In the USA contact:

Mail Preference Service,
P.O. Box 9008,
Farmingdale,
NY 11735-9008

also check out stop junk

Stop Junk Phone Calls & Faxes

contact the

Telephone Preference Service (TPS)

Tel: 0845-070-0707

or

6 Reef House,
Plantation Wharf,
London
SW11 3UF

or

Fax Preference Service (TPS)

Tel: 0845-070-0702

In the first instance, particularly with telesales, where you have much more direct contact, ask to speak to the team supervisor. It is often enough to merely threaten them with the TPS to solve the problem.

However, if that doesn't work use the above services to register your wish to not receive junk. If you do continue to receive it, the services will then take action on your behalf against the organisations involved.

but does it work??

In the USA contact: The DMA

Stop Junk Email (spam)

This is a bit more tricky as there is no one organisation to contact. However, there are a number of things you can do to prevent the continued flurry of emails advertising a wide range of products and services, scams, get-rich-quick schemes, offensive adult XXXX sites and general rubbish.

If you do receive junk email, the simplest way to deal with it is to simply delete it. Never, repeat, never reply to it. All this will do is show that your email address is a valid one an invite more junk.

You can contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and ask if they have a policy for dealing with junk email. Some ISP's have on-line filters which can be set up for individual filtering. These vary in effectiveness, but are worth investigating. You can also get anti-spam software from most shareware sights like TUCOWS

But how did they get your email address in the first place? A rich source of email addresses is from News Groups (Discussion Groups). Spammers use email 'strippers' to collect email addresses. There is an easy way to prevent your email addresses being of any good. Simply alter the options on your news client to show your email address as:

joebloggsNOSPAM@NOSPAM.your-isp.com

or if you are more wary try:

joebloggsNO-SPAM-HERE-PLEASE@NO-SPAM-HERE-PLEASE.your-isp.com

this should foil stripping software quite nicely, and only the most stupid humans.

Email addresses can also be gleaned from web-pages and on-line people finder sites where you may have left your email address at some time.

For some more useful advice we recommend that you have a look at:

Opt Out UK which offers a free service for consumers and business,

also Get Net Wise

and eco future

Incidently, why, 'spam'?

It comes for the British comedy, Monty Python's Flying Circus' and the famous 'spam' sketch.

comments that we have received from site visitors

Disclaimer