Fighting Back
Spammers use clever techniques to avoid getting caught, such as IP spoofing, using drop boxes and free email websites, finding open relay servers, and using spamming tools. So you may not be able to find out who is spamming you, but you can always find out enough to do something about it. Spam mail headers come to the rescue as they can reveal useful information about the spammer. You can reach the mail header by choosing the e-mails properties.

The mail header usually tells you the route that the mail has followed to reach you. In this, look for the IP addresses or domain names in the "Received" lines. There are two to three such lines that show which ISPs have relayed the message. The first line will say "Received from <domain name or IP address> by yourISP.com. Ignore the second address as thats your own ISPs domain. The first will be the ISP who relayed this message to you. Next look at the second "Received" line. This will most likely be the ISP where the spam originated.

Once you know the ISPs who relayed spam to you, the next step is to lodge a complaint with them about the spammer. You need to find out the ISPs contact information like email ids and phone numbers. The most effective way of doing so is by using tracing tools. These track the entire path used by an email to get to your mailbox. They can also give complete information about all ISPs found in this path. This information can include the ISPs complete name, whos it registered to, phone and fax numbers and the contact email id. There are also some free websites that can give you this information. Many ISPs provide a separate email id that you can use to send them headers of all the spam mail youve received through their servers.

While the process is simple, it may not be easy to execute, simply because theres too much spam. Therefore, this process is better suited for companies who can use dedicated staff for the job, rather than individuals wasting time on it.

Also take measures to avoid getting unwanted subscribers. They can send an email to new subscribers to check if theyve actually subscribed or not. This mail should mention that only after the subscriber responds to the mail would they continue sending newsletters in the future. Those who dont respond would be removed from the list.

Anil Chopra
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in

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