Friday, June 17, 2005

Spamming The Internet ...Are YOU the next Vicitim? by Debbie Solomon



When you hear the word SPAM, what comes to your mind?
Is the term worse then the meaning?
This word SPAM has been blown out of proportion. It is
causing unbelievable hysteria on the internet.

Many businesses are spending more and more time each day
getting frustrated, yelling at the spammers, and reporting
the spammers.
-Is it really worth it?
-Is there a way OUT?

Unfortunately we will never get rid of spam. It is like
getting rid of the junk mail in your mailbox. It is always
there. You can bank on it almost everyday. It is the same way
with SPAM. As long as you have any kind of existence online,
your email box will be littered with SPAM.

There is a way to cut a lot of it out though. Ever since
I got my new email server, I have had very little spam
in my email box. Sure I get one or two a day, but it is not
like it used to be.

So, HOW do we get rid of SO MUCH spam mail?

The BIGGEST CULPRIT of Spam is FFA LINK pages.
Now, I know many people feel that since they agreed
to receive this junk mail in exchange for placing their
link that it is not spam. Well, SPAM is basically unwanted
EMAIL. Do you WANT to receive all these emails?

Many business who host an FFA LINK page do it for one reason
and one reason only - FOR YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS! I am not
saying ALL FFA Link pages do this, but MOST of them do.
If you submit to FFA LINK pages, you can be guaranteed at
least 100 emails a day. And then all the follow-up emails
after that, so it is never-ending. You will be automatically
subscribed to ezines and newsletters, which you never
personally subscribed to. But somewhere on the FFA page in
real small writing is your agreement.
In fact, a lot of these newsletters
even put on top of their publication that you have agreed to
receive this newsletter by subscribing, corresponding with them,
or placing your LINK on their FFA page.

Of course the owners of FFA Pages will not agree with me. But,
if you want complete honesty-
-you will not increase traffic to your site.
-you will not reach thousands and millions of people to view your ad.
-you will not even be able to keep your link there for more than one day.
(and that is good for FFA pages. Normally you are off within hours).

-So WHY post to FFA sites when you are off of them in hours or a day?
-So WHY post to FFA sites when your email box is flooded with Emails?
-So WHY post to FFA sites to gain exposure when all you get is hundreds
of emails selling their product?

-Don't you want people to read about YOUR product?
-Don't you want people to see YOUR link?
-Don't you want people emailing you about YOUR product?

FFA LINK pages do you more harm than good.
The time and energy you spend at posting to these links,
could be time and energy spent on doing
something productive for your business.
These pages are there only to get your email address.
Many of these pages have members who pay
to get your email address and spam you. These are called,
"Opt-In email Lists for SALE, or for RENT". That is where
many of these companies get their addresses. Don't get me wrong,
I am sure there are legit ones out there, but they are few and
far between.

People who do post to FFA LINKS will never read all
the junk mail in their in-box, they just delete it.
So what is the point?
It is like a cat and mouse game that will never end. So,
is that what you really want? Because it does not
stop there. Your email address is added to spam databases, and posted
to opt-in mailing lists (real "opt-in", huh?). NOW, your
email address is a pawn for spammers. Every piece of software
for harvesting email addresses will grab yours, and now your email
address is for sale everywhere.

Do yourself a favor....
There are so many ways to do productive advertising. Stay away
from FFA LINKS. You will make NO money, and you will be a
VICTIM of constant SPAM. You will NEVER see a successful business
entrepreneur posting to FFA Sites. Ask them where to advertise,
they will tell you.

When I was a newbie, I submitted to every FFA link I could find.
Gee, submitting your link to hundreds of thousands of possible clients?
And for FREE? How could you go wrong? It was SO easy!

I would wake up the next morning with hundreds of emails in my box.
In my opinion, YES< it is SPAM! Because I DO NOT WANT THEM!
I posted to an FFA LINK page, that is all.
I HAD to agree to receive some emails, but not HUNDREDS!!!
That was the only way to get my link on the page!
I was in for a rude awakening.
Not one thread of business came through
and I could not decipher what was JUNK MAIL,
and what was business.

I literally had to get another email account.
I do not touch FFA Pages, and I get an average of a few
spam mails a day.
Everything else is business. I love it!
I will never totally get rid of spam. In fact,
now it is a pleasure, because I just reply with my AD.
Anyone who does business online is guaranteed
to receive some. But if you want to get rid of
the hundreds of emails in your box,
then STOP POSTING TO FFA Pages!
They are, in fact, the biggest culprit of SPAM.

Most successful businesses have learned to stay away
from FFA Pages. These practices
are not part of a successful business. They are part of a
desperate ploy to make money without spending any.

Now, not everyone will agree with what I am saying, however,
the facts are in front of you. You decide whether you want
to deal with all the junk mail. I, for one, can say that
it is a pleasure doing business online, now that I do not have
to wake up to hundreds of spammers.

You can save yourself a lot of headaches by NOT falling VICTIM
to SPAMMERS!


About the Author
Debbie is the Creator of The HomeSource Arena,
which is The Leading Source in Certified Home Employment,
and owner of The Online Exchange Ezine, a Top Rated,
world renowned Ezine.
Please visit her site at:
http://www.marketingtrendz.com
editor@marketingtrendz.com

"Shortcuts To Control Terroristic Email!" by A.T.Rendon



Everyone agrees that SPAM is a growing problem
on the Internet. And with estimates that we will
soon have over 1 billion people worldwide surfing
the net, this problem will only continue to grow worse.

The worst part of this situation is that spammers
are very clever people and they are using all of
their knowledge to get their message onto our
desktops whether we want it or not.

For example, this week hidden among all of my
usual get-rich quick schemes and penis enlargement
information was an email from a porn site that
literally took control of my desktop.

As soon as the email message was highlighted in
my Outlook Express window, it launched a web page
that took up the entire screen of my computer.

There it was on my 21" monitor, for the whole world
to see it if they were looking over my shoulder, a
lusty, busty women crouched on her knees with
her arms pressing together her breasts to overly
exaggerate the obvious and her legs spread so far
apart you could see her most intimate body parts
in all of their powder pink glory.

I am a man with a healthy love for women but I
do not appreciate having this sort of thing forced
on me because someone wants me to give them
my money in exchange for pornographic pictures.

As far as I am concerned, these are "Terroristic Tactics".

My computer and I were held hostage by the use of
HTML source code that includes script language
that launches a window to view their web page.

Worse still, the window is one that takes up the entire
computer screen and does not have the usual buttons
on the upper right hand corner to minimize or close
the window.

And, it might even include the command to keep
popping open even more windows on your desktop
at set intervals that can literally freeze up your computer!

What can you do to fight back?

Whether this problem occurs via reading your email
or if you are trapped into it while visiting a web site,
there are a few things you can do short of ripping the
power cord out of the wall.

First of all, the Federal Trade Commission, FTC,
http://www.ftc.gov/, takes a very dim view of anyone
that tries to force you to view any material you do
not wish to view, be it advertising or pornography.

In a recent action by the Federal Trade Commission, they
"asked a U.S. District Court Judge to halt a Internet scam
that clones everyday Web sites and uses the copycat sites
to barrage unsuspecting consumers with pornography.
According to the agency, the scammers copy existing Web
sites and insert coded instructions in the copycat sites
which automatically redirects unwitting consumers to
adult sites operated by the defendants. Then the scammers
disable the browser's "back" and "exit" commands so that
Internet surfers trying desperately to escape the pornographic
images face screen after screen of similar material and
advertisements for other adult sites."

"These operators high-jacked Web sites, 'kidnapped' consumers
and held them captive," said Jodie Bernstein, Director of the
FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "They exposed surfers,
including children, to the seamiest sort of material and
incapacitated their computers so they couldn't escape.
They copied as many as 25 million Web pages from sites
as diverse as the Harvard Law Review and the Japanese
Friendship Garden. When consumers used search engines
to find subjects as innocent as 'kids on the net,' 'news
about Kosovo,' or 'wedding services,' they risked being
exposed to a torrent of tawdry images. This scam is
outrageous and we want it off the Internet. We're confident
the court will help us arrange that."

The Federal Trade Commission is a powerful regulatory agency
and they will accept complaints from consumers on both SPAM
and also a Web Page or Web Sites that are using deceptive or
terroristic tactics.

You may forward unsolicited commercial e-mail (spam) to the
Commission, by sending it directly to them at:
mailto:UCE@FTC.GOV

I would suggest you not bother them with ordinary run of the
mill SPAM but rather limit your complaints to email like the one
I described above that literally takes control of your computer.

You may also file a complaint with the Commission online by
visiting their web site at: http://www.ftc.gov/

Scroll to the bottom of their web site where you will see the
link to "File A Complaint Online".

On a more immediate basis, it is important to know at least a
few of the handy Windows "Shortcut" commands that
will allow you to regain control of your computer without
the need to shut it down all together.

For a more extensive list of Window's Shortcuts delivered
to you FREE via Auto-Responder, send a blank email to:
mailto:shortcuts@emailexchange.org

Perhaps one of the best commands to know by heart is:
ALT + F4 = Quitting the open program

That command comes in very handy when you have a
window open that takes up your entire screen area and
does not show the customary Minimize/Restore/Close
boxes that are found in the upper right hand corner of all
Window's programs.

Another good one to keep in mind is:
ALT + SPACE = Display of the System Menu that allows
you to Restore-Move-Resize-Minimize-Maximize or Close
a window.

And as a last resort, if nothing else seems to be working,
you can always try:
CTRL + ESC = Opens the Start Menu from which you can
properly shut down your computer.

Until the powers that be take direct action to stop SPAM
at every possible opportunity, we will all have to put
up with the nuisance of deleting junk email from our
inbox. But at least we do not have to tolerate the invasion
of our computer with code meant to make us a hostage
on our own desktop and in our own homes.
About the Author
A.T.Rendon is an entrepreneur and published writer.
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