online spam – talking points for children
Children are particularly vulnerable to spam, as they often don’t understand the full implications of what they’re being sent. Here is some advice which should give them a clearer understanding of the risks of spam.
• Don’t give your email address to people/websites you don’t know and trust.
• If you don’t know who an email is from, delete it – don't open it.
• Never reply to a spam email, as this lets spammers know you’re there.
• Never click the ‘unsubscribe’ or ‘remove from mailing list’ link in spam emails, as this can confirm your address, take you to explicit web pages, install malicious programmes, or even force your computer to dial premium rate phone lines.
• If you’ve got a MySpace or Bebo page, or similar, don’t put your email address on it.
• Don’t give out your email address in chat rooms or on forums.
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keeping your email address safe
With so many techniques for gathering email addresses, it’s unlikely you’ll ever be able to cut spam out altogether. But there are measures you can take, to minimise the chances of spammers getting hold of your email address. Here are just a few.
Orange free anti-spam service
Anybody who’s got an Orange email address can use our anti-spam service, free of charge. It automatically filters your incoming emails, and ‘tags’ any messages it recognises as spam – so it’s easy for you to delete them, without opening them up.
where to next?
For details on access to official information, and how to protect personal information, visit the Information Commissioner’s office.
For information on how to activate a fraud alert, click here.
For general tips on internet safety click here.
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in the news
How to avoid spam
McAfee anti-spam researcher Guy Roberts' tips on how to avoid junk email and the malicious software which may come attached. Read on (BBC Radio 4)
Spam King and the zombie computers
You have probably never heard of him – but you have almost definitely had a message from him land in your inbox. Read on (Times Online)
A death penalty for spammers?
A recent New Yorker piece suggested that there are more than 170,000,000,000 emails sent every day. Of these billions, most are spam: something between 100bn and 150bn spam messages are sent every single day. Read on (The Guardian)
