|
Spam
is something most e-mail user encounter on a daily basis,
and it is easy to see it as simply a fact of life. However,
if spam is seriously annoying you, it is a good idea to
report spam and do something about it, especially if the
content is of an offensive nature or is abusive.
Even
if the spam is merely annoying, according to the Can Spam
Act of 2003, it is illegal for someone to spam you without
your consent. The spammer is required to provide a place
on the e-mail where the recipient can demand that no more
spam be sent to him or her.
Most
spam e-mails do not have this, and do not comply with
the Can Spam Act, therefore, you have every right to complain
to the authorities or to your e-mail servers about spam.
The sad truth is that so many people are overwhelmed with
spam, and do not feel like reporting every incident. It
often happens that a person is phished, or a scammer pretends
that they are representing a bank or another trusted organization
and asks for a password or account information.
If
this happens once, the recipient is likely to be upset
and to report it to the bank or the organization the phisher
is imitating. However, spammers and phishers then overwhelm
the victim with so many e-mails that they become exhausted
into submission; it no longer seems worth it to report
scamming and phishing, since the behavior is constant.
Also,
the organizations often are so overwhelmed with complaints
that it is difficult to deal with them all. This may make
spam or phishing victim wonder if there is any point in
reporting spam at all.
However,
the only way to ensure that there will be improvement
in internet and spam regulation in the future is if more
people make their voices heard. You do not have to report
every single instance of spam in order to do something
effective; try, whenever you can, to make reporting spam
your special cause.
Different
kinds of spam can be reported to different organizations,
depending on the nature of the spam. When someone phishes
you, or tries to imitate PayPal or your bank in order
to get information, it is best to report the incident
to the bank.
There
are also Federal and State agencies that deal with spam
complaints, since most spam is illegal and doesn't follow
the guidelines stated by the Can Spam Act. (Spam is not
inherently illegal, but most is, because few spammers
provide their recipients with the option to refuse future
e-mails, as outlined in the federal law).
Investment
related scams should be reported to the Securities and
Exchange Commission. These investment scams, which encourage
recipients to buy stock only to have the spammers sell
the stock and bring down the price, have been around for
more than a century, but the net is now the new media
for spreading these aggressive investment "tips".
If you see that prescription drugs are being sold illegally,
report it to the Food and Drug Administration. Child pornography
can be reported to the National Center for Missing and
Exploited children (no message containing child pornography
should even be opened, since it is illegal to own such
content).
Internet
fraud should be reported to the FBI, and the cases of
the Nigerian fund scam, in which someone from Africa promises
you a fortune as long as you give a deposit or bank information,
should be reported to the US Secret Service. Pyramid schemes
and get rich quick scams can be reported to the Federal
Trade Commission.
The
spam problem might seem overwhelming, but if you make
your complaints heard, you can do your part in improving
public control of spam. Get others involved in your effort,
and do something about this growing problem.
|
