Don't be fooled! Every day is April Fool's Day for Spammers.

FIGHT BACK AGAINST JUNK EMAIL (SPAM) WITH SOME HELPFUL TIPS TO AVOID BEING A SPAM TARGET

Sydney, Monday 31 March 2003

messagecare, an Australian company that provides Internet users with spam protection through its filtering service, SpamTrap, today warned all Australian Internet users to be alert to unsolicited email offers of chocolates, flowers, get-rich schemes and other products including porn-related solicitations around special occasions such as April Fool's Day, Mother's Day and Easter.

"Hoaxes and scams are circulating via email in their thousands every day. Online offers trying to catch unsuspecting email users are often more prolific around special occasions - but let's face it, spammers see every day as April Fool's Day," said Andrew Kent, messagecare CEO. "Always be alert and scan your email carefully for junk mail. Don't be fooled - ignore and delete anything that looks suspicious - no matter how good the offer looks as more often than not it's fraudulent. Fighting back against spam is easy with some of our simple tips on how to avoid annoying junk email."

SpamTrap, messagecare's spam filtering service, is currently capturing over 200,000 spam messages each day - with current customers' having 30% of their email being caught as spam.

"Using a spam filter like SpamTrap is a certainly an ideal way to reduce the number of junk emails arriving in your inbox. SpamTrap is a 'set and forget service' that's been designed for non-technical email users to help them fight back against spam," concluded Mr Kent.

A 30-day free trial of SpamTrap is currently being offered to users with any standard ISP account. To start the trial, users simply send an email to join@spamtrap.net.au to receive SpamTrap setup instructions customised to their email program. A 12-month subscription to SpamTrap can be purchased for $33 (GST incl.) after a trial user's 30 days free trial expires.

SPAMTRAP TIPS TO AVOID BEING A SPAM TARGET

1. Use a spam filter SpamTrap of course!
   
   
2. Never open or respond to spam messages Opening and responding to a spam message is a recipe for disaster. It only confirms to spammers that you have a valid email address. Resist the temptation.
   
   
3. Never try to opt-out of spam messages Don't be tempted to respond to a spammer's opt-out clause - even if it has a professional statement along the lines of "Reply to this message with "remove" in the subject line to be removed from our database". Why - because they're lying. It just verifies to the spammer that your email address is active and it can be resold to other spammers.
   
   
4. Choose an unusual email address - even an alphanumeric combination One of the common ways that spammers collect email addresses is by randomly generating name or dictionary combinations for ISP domains. The success rate on this method is very 'hit and miss' - but we can guarantee that they do collect millions of addressees this way. Our advice is to think carefully about what email address you choose. Keep your email address private - much the same way you do your home address.
   
   
5. Be careful about where you submit your email address If you decide to submit your email address to a website or a mailing list, check out their Privacy Statement or their Terms of Use. These documents should detail how they plan to use your information. You just want to make sure that your details are kept secure and confidential, and not resold to other parties. (And believe us, it's done).

SPAMTRAP TIPS ON ANTI-SPAM ETTIQUETTE

1. Never buy any products or services advertised in spam messages Buying products and services advertised in spam emails supports the spamming community. If no-one purchases the products and services offered in spam messages, then businesses will stop paying to advertise their products, and the spammers will lose clients and money. Also you may never see the product, as more often that not, it's a fraudulent operation.
   
   
2. Protect the email addresses of your family, friends and colleagues When sending mass emails to your contact lists, send them using the BCC field (blind copy). By doing this you are ensuring their privacy and protecting their email addresses from others. Encourage everyone you know to do this.
   
   
3. Avoid forwarding chain emails Often we receive emails that make us laugh, sad or even ask us to support a particular cause. Normally, it requests that you forward it on to your friends and family (and sometimes they even say you'll be granted a wish by doing so). Avoid the temptation and just delete it as it's likely to be a hoax. Spammers love these types of emails as it's a great way to capture lots of addresses.
   
   
4. Protect for viruses We recommend that you have anti-virus software installed on your computer. Often spam messages contain viruses, so SpamTrap will catch these. But viruses come in many forms - these days there are great risks in not having virus protection.