Dear Computer Lady,

I dearly love getting your newsletter and it helps me tremendously, so please keep up the good work.

I have some questions: l.  Lately, since about the last 6- months, I have been getting GOBS, like about 100 spam emails a day.  Is this because of a site a visited or what is causing it and how can I stop it? 

2.  Also in the last month I have been getting daily at least 12 notices from my server that an email I sent was UNDELIVERABLE. When I check it out there is an email address that I do not even know. How is this happening and how can I stop it?

This is driving me CRAZY and I need to stop it as I simply do not have time to wait for over a 100 spam emails to download everyday just so I can read my newsletters and emails from friends.  Thank you for your help.

Donna in Austin, TX 

Dear Donna,

These problems are probably all coming from the same cause. Somehow, your e-mail address has gotten on a spammers list and has probably been sold to other spammers. 

Your e-mail address could have gotten on a spammers list in a couple of ways, you could have filled out an online form that was really nothing more than a trick to collect e-mail addresses from people. Lots of places that tell you that you have won something will be nothing more than an attempt to collect your e-mail address.

Spammers also have software that will search the internet for e- mail addresses on web pages. So, if you signed a guestbook on a website, and your e-mail address is included, the software will pick up that e-mail address. That is why when you sign my guestbook, you have the option to not show your e-mail address.

Once they have your address, spammers not only send e-mail to your address, they also use it as a fake return address. That way, people can’t tell where the junk mail really came from. Since many e-mail addresses on a spammers list have closed, some of those e-mails bounce. The bounced messages are the undeliverable e-mails that you are getting.

Probably the best way to fix this problem, is to contact your ISP and change your e-mail address. Or, you can sign up for a spam filter like Spamarrest.

If you get a new e-mail address, don’t give it out on websites. If you want to fill out a form, or enter a contest, get a free e-mail account with yahoo or hotmail and use that address. When you get too many spam messages with the free account, just close it, and create a new one.

Elizabeth