I have been getting a lot of porn spam. I'm not interested in porn. I prefer the real thing. I try to unsubscribe, but the unsubscribe site is often bogus.

I can't figure out how they got my real email address. When I join groups, I only give out my hotmail email address.

So, how do I stop getting porn spam and how do I avoid getting more?

Once you start getting it, it will never stop. The spammers sell your email address over and over again. It's widely accepted that the "Unsubscribe" links do nothing more than confirm that your email account does indeed exist.

The best strategy is to use a free email account that's only to catch spam. Use that one for sites like this, and whenever you register software or anything else. Use a different one for your friends.

Also, Yahoo's email is infinitely superior to Hotmail when it comes to filtering spam, and they have a tool you can click to report any spam you do receive back to Yahoo.

Something I find interesting is that I've been getting a lot of "Escort Service" spam in the email account that I have tied to my whore message board accounts. Either some loser is harvesting emails on his own, or bots are getting them.

Most known "email harvesters" can be blocked or redirected via an .htaccess file, but I don't know if Hombre implements one or not.

-Superman-

Hotmail is terrible. You don't even have to subscribe to porn sites. Even my GF in Thailand when she opened her new account pretty soon she's flooded with porn email named Britney Spears etc with vagina shots when you open the mail.

I use angelfire, no spam. Too bad they don't accept any new accounts.

My hotmail is set to automatically delete all junk mail. Still alot of junk.

Ditto to the above. Give up on your account and open a new one.

I have several accounts, one for each group of people I deal with (business, consulting, personal, boards, etc), including a hotmail account that's just for catching spam. NEVER respond to spam emails, it just makes it worse. FIlters help, but not much.

One trick that helps a bit to misdirect the bots which harvest emails off of forums (although that's not the only way the spammers find you) is to always post your email with a bit of misdirection - mynameNOSPAM@mydomainNOSPAM.com. Real people who want to ail you know to leave the NOSPAM off, bots don't. Actually, by now "NOSPAM" is so well known that bots filter it out. Use something else (SPAMTRAP, NULL) or even just *'s. Anyway, posting my email address like this has cut down considerably on the amount of crap I get. Also be aware of dictionary spam attacks - let's say you have an accoutn at "mymail.com" a spammer will send mail to adam@mymail.com, andy@mymail.com, etc, etc, just guessing at the names. When they get a response from any of these emails (like your unsubscribe requests), then they know that the address is legit and distribute your adress to everyone and their grandmother. Just ignore spam, delete it immediately, and when it gets too mcuh, open a new account.

BS

It's funny but my Hotmail account gets almost no spam at all. Maybe a couple a week and that's it. Even the filtered part rarely has more than 2 or so a day. The Yahoo account(s) are blasted. One account was going off the wall but has lately calmed down. My main one has around 10 or more a day that the filter gets and 4 or so that still get through. I have a number of specific word filters which sometimes work and other times don't. Anything with the word "free" is supposed to be trashed but it doesn't always work. Lately I am gettng almost daily crap about ink jet cartridges. The funny thing (not) was that last month I bought a new printer from one of those NYC discounters. The assholes probably sold my address when I wouldn't buy any of their over priced accessories.

Porn spam is simple to deal with. Just go to the web site, find a contact e-mail address and send an e-mail claiming to be an irate parent because they just sent porn spam to your minor child and you are putting them on notice that the e-mail address belongs to a child and if they send any more porn spam to your child after they were informed that it is a childs e-mail address, then you will call the FBI and report them as knowingly sending pornography to children. Usually this empty threat will inspire a real person to go and remove your e-mail address from all of their lists. Make it a form letter and just send it out every time you receive porn spam.

For all you guys that really care, go to dea.spamcon.org

This site issues "disposable email addresses" (DEAs) that you can give out.

Once you start getting spammed, disable the account and move on the the next.

You get three for free, more costs you.

I use one for "frequent" stuff, like web postings, where I've seen that the spam-return isn't too high. I use another for "questionable" stuff, like subscribing to mongering boards, where I don't (yet) know and trust the operators. The third, of course, is for when I have to close one of the others.

Hope this helps,

Dem Gnomes