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Robert Garment
Director of Marketing
What To Do About All That Spam?
March 12, 2008
by
Robert Garment, Executive Editor
Unless you're one of the luckiest guys or gals on the planet, like everyone else, you get a ton of spam every week.
This spam is generated by armies of "zombie-comps" or "spam-bots" These are computers infected by malicious spammers with a program that uses your computer as a "host" to send out -- totally without your knowledge -- hundreds or thousands of spam emails.
Most of the spammers are penny-stock "pump and dump" scammers. By sending out messages that "XYZ Stock is going to explode tomorrow! Price today $0.14, target price, $0.80! Super-strong buy, get in now!!!" by the millions, there are enough greedy fools in the world who will be suckered by this spam and buy, pumping-up the price. Then the scammers sell the stock, and the price falls -- often way below its initial price, and the suckers get burned.
The problem is, this spam-bot programs randomly generate so many variations on 'almost-believable' subjects lines, that legitimate business email now sounds the same. So your messages get dumped by your customers before they're opened. The other trick they use is to hide the message inside the email inside a picture, which spam filters can't see.
Unfortunately, there are no new spam filter programs that can defeat this junk as yet. So what can you do? Try putting your company name in the subject line of all emails. Your customers are more likely to open them, and when they see they are real, they will trust you in the future.
Because email is vital to DOTmed's business, we're keeping a close eye on this issue. If someone is able to stop this "spam-a-lot" garbage, we will be the first to let you know.
Good luck and good day.