If you are recieving lots of spam in your inbox and you have control over the email addresses and email aliases with your hosting account, you may want to try this scheme:
You'll need to ditch your current email address, but before doing that, do the following:
- Set up a mail form, but not just any old mail form. It's got to have a verification number scheme built into it that can't be read by spambots. Yep spambots can actually submit email through the run-of-the-mill mail forms that most sites have.
- Next, be sure to set up an auto-responder for an email address that gets attached to the email sent back to the user sending email through the mail form. It's easy to set up an auto-responder via Plesk interface where the email account does not actually keep email. The auto-responder email address simply tells the person that they must submit email through the mail form in the event the user decides to reply to the reply sent back to the user. It also stops spammers from being able to use that address to spam you in future email sent.
- Then set up another email account with a desired email address as an email alias. This is also easy with Plesk interface. I never divulge the email address associated with the email account, but create email aliases instead. Have the mail form send the mail form message to this account. Ensure that the mail form replies with the bounce-auto-responder address (as was described above) if you wish to send back an auto-response via mail form to user.
- When you reply to general user inquiries, always respond with the bounce-auto-responder address, and never with your used aliased email address unless the user has a legit need for knowing your address. Spammers will fish around for addresses by submitting dummy email questions hoping you'll reply with the email address you use.
- Use other unique email aliases for all the services, forums, online accounts you have that might require an email address to be tied to them. The aliases will help you to identify email more quickly coming from them. This also helps you to know where spam is coming from if you should see spam from these specific unique addresses or who is selling your addresses to spammers. When a specific alias starts to get spammed, simply create another alias for that online account and delete the old alias and/or contact them about the spam.
I've implemented this relatively easy system myself over the past 2 years and generally do not get any more than a couple spams every few months. I use NO spam filters and no spam software. While there is no 100% spam free method of recieving email (except for not using email), this method will help you cut your spam down by around 99.97% (my estimate). That's pretty good while ensuring that people can contact you if need be with legit messages. And you don't have spam filters or spam software inadvertantly causing you to lose messages you want to see.
HTH
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