Jam the spam!

A few tips to keep unwanted e-mail from reaching your screen:

• Guard your address closely. Don’t give it out to merchants, when entering contests, and other "casual acquaintances." Your best bet is to set up a free e-mail account for times when you must submit an e-mail address to one of these parties.
• See if your Internet service provider offers a spam filter. Make sure it is activated for your account. You can also install filtering software or take advantage of filters built in to your e-mail program.
• Do not respond to spam. Usually, that only serves to verify your address as an active account.
• Don’t put a long list of recipients in your To: field when sending or forwarding e-mail. Spammers who get a forwarded message with this information simply add the lists of addresses to the list. Instead, put your recipient list in the Bcc: field, which is not visible to anyone but the sender.
• Choose an e-mail address beginning with a letter toward the end of the alphabet and you might reduce the amount of spam you receive. Spam lists often are sent out alphabetically and many are stopped before completion.
• Do not give your e-mail address to any online service’s member directory.

Illustration © Comstock Images.

Buyers & sellers, visit www.texasrealestate.com.
REALTORS®, visit www.tar.org.