Protect email addresses...
yours and your friend's
Translation tool

UCE (SPAM) stats

Have you ever sent or received an email that was also addressed to a number of other people? (i.e. There were more addresses than your own in the To: or CC: section of the header.) Even if you haven't yet, you probably will, so this document should be of great interest to you...

The purpose of this document is to show you a way you can keep your recipient's email addresses more private (and less available to the Spammers) while sending your message to more than one address at a time.

(For other matters of Email Etiquette, check here)

(Don't miss the section on Internet Hoaxes and Urban Legends below!)

First, some background info... Being involved with internet administration since 1991, my own email address is posted in many public places, and because of that alone, I get more "junk email" than "junk snail-mail". But then again, I also have a "listed" telephone number and tolerate the unsolicited phone calls. (And by the way, to stop the telemarketer in their tracks, just tell them to take your name off their list! By law, they must do so. New Yorkers can find additional help here! Also read EPIC's Telemarketing and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) page, and the FTC Do Not Call Page, or now http://DoNotCall.gov/.)

The problem with "junk email" is that much of it contains content and links that even the U. S. Postal Service would not allow to be sent. And once you start getting this trash, there is no way to stop it without changing your email address.

Anyone with an "un-listed" phone number does not appreciate their number being passed around and I'm sure that you wouldn't knowingly do so.

E-mail addresses should be considered just as private!
Remember, the Internet is NOT a Secure Super-Highway, it is more like
"a group of trusted dirt roads with limited traffic rules and NO traffic cops"!

The average email (or any internet packet of information including "http://www...") usually travels through AT LEAST a dozen different machines before reaching the final destination and virtually any "cracker" can be snooping and copying it as it goes.

Sending standard email is about like sending post cards with fully visible messages through the U. S. Postal System. There are ways to encrypt messages and files for secure transmission, but that's a different subject.

There are many obnoxious abusers of our time trying to make a "quick buck" on the internet doing all sorts of things to Find, Sell, and "Spam" legitimate email addresses. (Spamming defined is 'bulk-emailing' to thousands, or even millions of email addresses at once! For those of you who aren't plagued with Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE or spam) yet, here's an excerpt of one:
      > Subject:  Advertise To Thousands!
      >           200,000 E-Mail Addresses
      >  Clean, Guaranteed 100% deliverable!!!
      > HERE ARE THE DETAILS
      > If you want to make money on the Internet you must
      > send out large amounts of email, thousands to make
      > the big money and get a fast response.
        (snip)
      > Please send $15 dollars cash...
And another excerpt:
      > 100 Million fresh email addresses on CD-ROM
      >
      > LAST UPDATED: Feb/2002
      > All dead addresses removed, new ones added every 3 months.
        (snip)
      > 1. We bought virtually every other email directory on the
      >  Internet and put it through an extensive email verification
      >  process thus eliminating all the dead addressess.
      > 2. We use custom software which spiders through the web
      >  searching websites, newsgroups and many other online databases
      >  with given keywords like area codes, industries, city names etc..
      >  to find millions of fresh new addresses every week.
(Lest you think that spam doesn't pay, check here and here.)

By the way: old advice was to never respond to SPAM...
but now, especially if the unsubscribe link is a web site (http:...)
of a legitimate business, it MAY be worth the attempt to unsubscribe.

And if SPAM and Viruses were not enough, now we have SPYware to deal with: 


      > Subject: Catch a CHEATER - SPY on their PC !
      > Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 20:44:10 +0000

      >               Spy on Anyone by
      >     sending them an Email-Greeting Card!
      >
      >          Spy Software records their
      >       emails, Hotmail, Yahoo, Outlook,
      >          ACTUAL Computer Passwords,
      >        Chats, Keystrokes, PLUS MORE..
      >
      > Check up on your SPOUSE, KIDS, or EMPLOYEES!
      >         Follow This Link To Begin...
(So in addition to your Anti-Virus software, and personal Firewall software, you should seriously consider anti-spyware software.)

Please... do NOT send time-wasting 'Broadcast' emails to 'all' your friends!   But if you can't resist, DO NOT put those addresses in the To: or CC: field!!!   Instead, Put them in the BCC: field! Otherwise, you play into the hands of those inconsiderate schemers who would love to add all your private addresses onto the junk email lists!

BCC stands for Blind Carbon Copy. (It may be somewhat hidden, but I haven't seen an email program that doesn't have it. Click here for instructions on using BCC with other mail programs.)

You usually need at least one valid address in the To: field, so just put YOUR address in the To: field. Then place all your intended recipients in the BCC: field.

Even if you don't broadcast messages yourself, you may want to create a "signature" file so that the following text is appended to any and all messages that you send (hopefully the recipient will take heed and protect YOUR address):

   Please keep my email address private like an unlisted phone number.
   (Read http://Kropf.net/protect.html for details.)

For Tips for Avoiding Spam when an email address must be posted on web sites:
Unsolicited Commercial E-mail Research Six Month Report

Also... Beware of the Internet Hoaxes!
These Hoaxes and Internet Chain Letters entice unknowing victims to dump their whole "Personal Address Books" out onto the public Internet highway. This only makes it easier for the SPAMMERS to add your friends' and family's addresses to their "SPAM Lists"!

TrendMicro's commercial site listing Hoaxes - Search their databases of viruses
Barbara and David P. Mikkelson's Urban Legends Reference Pages

I hope you've found this informative and that it helps you utilize email more effectively and safely for both you and your friends.
Let me conclude with a bit of ironic humor... The following is quoted from a broadcasted email that was circulating to hundreds of individuals:
> WHEN YOU RECEIVE THIS LETTER, YOU'RE REQUESTED TO SEND IT TO
> AT LEAST 10 PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE PERSON WHO SENT IT TO YOU.
> ************************************************************
>
> Confidentiality Statement .
>
> "All information contained in this message is PRIVILEGED and CONFIDENTIAL.
> It is intended for use by recipient(s) only and not for distribution."

While this page is
© Copyright 1997-2024 by Kropf

You are hereby granted permission to pass this "http://Kropf.net/protect.html" page on to those from whom you have received multiple address messages as long as the Copyright notice is included.


For further information, browse:
Fight Spam CAUCE
JunkBusters
Another great source of information to...
"Avoid Getting Ripped Off By Internet Scams, Fraud, Misinformation and Hype"
Internet ScamBustersTM
"The Premier Publication On Internet Fraud"
Junkemail.Org - A site to Take Action and Report Fraud!
Email Etiquette
Golden Key Campaign
Jump to the Kropf.Net home page

email us

The following statistics show the number of Unsolicited emails
addressed to expired or bogus addresses that we automatically forwarded
to uce@ftc.gov on each day listed. (Weekly totals are in the far right column):
(Scroll down to see how SPAM is OUT OF CONTROL!)
Week of Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Weekly
Total
Sun. 2/17/2002 29 29 38 52 38 46 32 264
Sun. 2/24/2002 23 26 34 42 42 42 29 238
Sun. 3/03/2002 32 40 60 52 46 43 35 308
Sun. 3/10/2002 32 44 55 49 49 55 41 325
Sun. 3/17/2002 52 50 59 48 50 58 40 357
Sun. 3/24/2002 35 48 63 54 39 49 55 343
Sun. 3/31/2002 39 50 59 41 67 70 62 388
Sun. 4/07/2002 52 58 66 78 64 87 59 464
Sun. 4/14/2002 67 68 87 69 93 48 71 503
Sun. 4/21/2002 47 75 79 72 72 74 58 477
Sun. 4/28/2002 54 55 75 59 78 74 53 448
Sun. 5/05/2002 68 92 87 100 87 104 100 638
Sun. 5/12/2002 80 93 87 83 109 91 79 622
Sun. 5/19/2002 78 97 104 85 97 99 77 637
Sun. 5/26/2002 62 67 85 100 95 113 100 622
Sun. 6/02/2002 64 110 104 117 92 102 80 669
Sun. 6/09/2002 87 102 111 121 108 103 98 730
Sun. 6/16/2002 71 85 111 124 91 78 84 644
Sun. 6/23/2002 76 94 109 100 116 106 82 683
Sun. 6/30/2002 101 96 118 78 90 107 80 670
Sun. 7/07/2002 86 120 132 122 110 124 89 783
Sun. 7/14/2002 108 118 121 133 142 139 126 887
Sun. 7/21/2002 113 150 148 156 161 142 160 1,030
Sun. 7/28/2002 136 128 159 168 158 138 144 1,031
Sun. 8/04/2002 136 150 145 164 161 138 124 1,018
Sun. 8/11/2002 114 125 154 185 161 120 111 970
Sun. 8/18/2002 111 148 149 143 168 146 128 993
Sun. 8/25/2002 118 142 172 186 164 161 156 1,099
Sun. 9/01/2002 132 121 170 180 187 199 172 1,161
Sun. 9/08/2002 139 170 200 143 205 207 170 1,234
Sun. 9/15/2002 143 203 209 176 211 238 189 1,369
Sun. 9/22/2002 188 198 236 228 248 267 245 1,610
Sun. 9/29/2002 220 269 275 245 263 246 239 1,757
Sun. 10/06/2002 197 219 245 265 257 240 205 1,628
Sun. 10/13/2002 195 221 277 245 242 235 214 1,629
Sun. 10/20/2002 173 229 251 229 247 260 237 1,626
Sun. 10/27/2002 197 244 268 267 316 254 223 1,769
Sun. 11/03/2002 166 262 258 275 254 265 210 1,690
Sun. 11/10/2002 179 204 274 294 254 257 250 1,712
Sun. 11/17/2002 209 248 280 275 303 279 251 1,845
Sun. 11/24/2002 207 293 289 284 206 237 249 1,765
Sun. 12/01/2002 239 263 301 235 233 305 196 1,772
Sun. 12/08/2002 204 276 235 262 273 282 220 1,752
Sun. 12/15/2002 209 229 271 294 275 305 253 1,836
Sun. 12/22/2002 230 226 216 152 196 227 210 1,457
Sun. 12/29/2002 205 230 268 181 222 260 203 1,569
Sun. 1/05/2003 218 224 305 277 297 289 261 1,871
Sun. 1/12/2003 241 274 334 331 312 334 262 2,088
Sun. 1/19/2003 236 288 342 339 374 276 221 2,076
Sun. 1/26/2003 241 292 376 329 329 296 257 2,120
Sun. 2/02/2003 236 314 353 374 332 319 170 2,098
Many emails were "unsubscribed" from between 2/5 and 2/12/2003.
Sun. 2/9/2003 174 251 156 209 180 209 159 1,338
Sun. 2/16/2003 >86 >96 >104 >116 >179 260 243 >1,084
> Some were not logged sufficiently between 2/16 and 2/20/2003, therefore the true count is higher.
Sun. 2/23/2003 155 187 217 209 304 290 219 1,581
Sun. 3/02/2003 211 267 291 275 265 268 235 1,812
Sun. 3/09/2003 194 240 296 295 312 210 275 1,822
Sun. 3/16/2003 244 313 308 266 322 324 270 2,047
Sun. 3/23/2003 276 293 397 300 380 371 343 2,360
Sun. 3/30/2003 309 384 355 377 379 383 355 2,542
Sun. 4/06/2003 289 324 400 381 403 359 353 2,509
Sun. 4/13/2003 324 378 433 430 368 420 334 2,687
Sun. 4/20/2003 344 394 407 428 449 459 437 2,918
Sun. 4/27/2003 422 473 508 523 521 478 473 3,398
Sun. 5/04/2003 374 441 479 527 565 575 514 3,475
Sun. 5/11/2003 452 539 555 511 507 550 544 3,658
Sun. 5/18/2003 478 567 585 592 571 595 543 3,931
Sun. 5/25/2003 457 505 563 531 611 513 424 3,604
Sun. 6/01/2003 459 506 533 587 543 494 449 3,571
Sun. 6/08/2003 459 486 524 563 582 554 504 3,672
Sun. 6/15/2003 457 549 634 616 585 566 488 3,895
Sun. 6/22/2003 453 601 551 682 584 613 478 3,962
Sun. 6/29/2003 546 574 593 544 550 501 419 3,727
Sun. 7/06/2003 438 523 549 570 603 643 566 3,892
Sun. 7/13/2003 523 513 624 616 588 624 578 4,066
Sun. 7/20/2003 586 673 722 720 635 703 641 4,680
Sun. 7/27/2003 571 618 630 742 633 697 578 4,469
Sun. 8/03/2003 615 702 651 656 726 603 473 4,426
Sun. 8/10/2003 555 589 535 575 444 456 527 3,681
Sun. 8/17/2003 467 522 544 642 668 592 666 4,101
Sun. 8/24/2003 631 737 652 713 737 726 741 4,937
Sun. 9/01/2003 697 607 677 672 709 745 678 4,785
Sun. 9/07/2003 634 758 854 839 820 791 726 5,422
Sun. 9/14/2003 761 782 831 892 8 1,591 732 5,597
The ftc.gov site was not accepting email for most of 9/18 due to Hurricane Isabel.
The backlog was accepted on 9/19.
Sun. 9/21/2003 721 899 920 850 1,047 1,057 1,068 6,562
Sun. 9/28/2003 991 1,096 1,253 1,172 1,189 1,185 1,078 7,964
Sun. 10/05/2003 1,014 1,165 1,295 1,311 1,509 1,394 1,302 8,990
Sun. 10/12/2003 1,277 1,434 1,390 1,452 1,385 1,387 1,389 9,714
Sun. 10/19/2003 1,527 1,538 1,454 1,496 1,460 1,426 1,369 10,270
Sun. 10/26/2003 1,383 1,653 1,648 1,766 1,694 1,660 1,503 11,307
Sun. 11/02/2003 1,444 1,518 1,679 1,685 1,731 1,659 1,233 10,949
Sun. 11/09/2003 1,308 1,684 1,764 1,804 1,760 1,726 1,700 11,746
Sun. 11/16/2003 1,656 1,757 1,929 1,953 2,035 2,106 2,081 13,517
Sun. 11/23/2003 1,836 2,160 2,076 2,035 1,940 1,781 1,921 13,749
Sun. 11/30/2003 1,843 2,165 2,102 2,222 2,002 1,935 1,936 14,205
Sun. 12/07/2003 1,848 2,062 2,064 1,933 2,021 2,143 1,818 13,889
Sun. 12/14/2003 1,824 2,052 2,203 2,330 2,374 2,316 2,317 15,416
Sun. 12/21/2003 2,214 2,383 2,319 2,148 1,761 1,919 2,008 14,752
Sun. 12/28/2003 2,030 2,311 2,268 1,853 1,455 1,575 1,842 13,334
New US anti-spam law went into effect January 1st, 2004. See note 3 weeks later...
Sun. 1/04/2004 1,882 1,822 1,944 1,962 2,054 2,220 2,100 13,984
Sun. 1/11/2004 1,908 2,187 2,083 1,814 2,145 2,300 2,165 14,602
Sun. 1/18/2004 2,024 2,338 2,332 2,374 2,358 2,386 2,362 16,174
3 weeks after new anti-spam law went into effect, measured spam hits an all-time high!
The lame US anti-spam law is NOT working!!! "Can-Spam Act Can't Can Spam"
Sun. 1/25/2004 2,409 2,605 2,461 2,305 2,399 2,448 2,625 17,252
Sun. 2/01/2004 2,617 2,589 2,711 2,458 2,508 2,366 2,518 17,767
Sun. 2/08/2004 2,267 2,522 2,657 2,625 2,672 2,593 2,374 17,710
Sun. 2/15/2004 2,497 2,705 2,671 2,645 2,439 2,365 2,356 17,678
I directed some domains to another server with a new email filter.
Therefore, the following numbers do not represent the actual total, until I add both together:
Sun. 2/22/2004 2,332 2,332 2,298 2,301 2,363 2,508 2,508 16,642
Sun. 2/29/2004 2,190 2,484 2,630 2,560 2,252 1,842 1,676 15,634
Sun. 3/07/2004 1,662 1,732 1,728 1,839 1,947 1,889 1,721 12,518
Sun. 3/14/2004 1,779 1,836 1,994 2,172 2,290 1,981 1,905 13,957
Sun. 3/21/2004 1,632 1,848 1,905 1,912 1,961 1,917 1,880 13,055
Sun. 3/28/2004 1,690 2,011 1,908 1,994 1,903 2,080 1,827 13,413
Sun. 4/04/2004 2,047 2,172 2,240 2,254 2,093 2,199 2,009 15,014
Sun. 4/11/2004 1,814 1,881 1,933 2,199 2,216 2,140 1,988 14,171
Sun. 4/18/2004 1,994 1,936 2,170 2,164 2,002 2,063 1,929 14,258
Sun. 4/25/2004 1,835 1,978 1,957 1,998 1,965 1,822 1,747 13,302
Sun. 5/02/2004 1,829 1,923 1,982 1,845 1,804 1,748 1,679 12,810
Sun. 5/09/2004 1,615 1,831 1,887 1,868 1,913 1,983 1,786 12,883
Sun. 5/16/2004 1,666 1,130 1,111 1,120 1,145 1,243 1,186 8,601
Sun. 5/23/2004 1,074 1,208 1,251 1,328 1,267 1,238 1,158 8,524
Sun. 5/30/2004 1,068 1,166 1,221 1,224 1,330 1,318 1,256 8,583
Sun. 6/06/2004 1,108 1,215 1,249 1,294 1,378 1,274 1,167 8,685
Sun. 6/13/2004 1,169 1,150 1,166 1,249 1,187 1,151 1,079 8,151
Sun. 6/20/2004 1,037 1,185 1,237 1,193 1,182 2,826 2,772 11,432
Sun. 7/11/2004 1,927 2,045 1,995 2,021 2,157 2,175 2,091 14,411
Sun. 7/18/2004 1,990 2,094 2,198 2,293 2,237 2,145 1,981 14,938
Sun. 7/25/2004 2,042 2,107 2,191 2,014 2,125 2,061 1,757 14,297
Sun. 8/01/2004 1,776 2,076 2,117 2,049 2,173 2,233 2,116 14,540
Sun. 8/08/2004 2,176 2,411 2,377 2,292 2,171 2,174 1,927 15,528
Sun. 8/15/2004 1,978 2,186 2,135 2,168 2,242 2,212 2,093 15,014
Sun. 8/22/2004 2,069 2,101 2,278 2,134 2,405 2,276 2,048 15,311
Our new Kropf.com virus/spam filter is coming on-line, and causing a major decline in spam forwarded to the FTC as we're rejecting thousands of spam each day:
Sun. 8/29/2004 1,829 2,183 2,182 2,112 1,980 2,016 1,730 14,032
Sun. 9/05/2004 1,809 1,557 1,383 1,577 1,704 1,534 1,366 10,930
Sun. 9/12/2004 1,339 1,517 1,588 1,577 1,549 1,485 1,416 10,471
Sun. 9/19/2004 1,433 1,407 1,512 1,273 1,166 1,130 978 8,899
Sun. 9/26/2004 994 984 1,034 940 1,009 1,057 981 6,999
Sun. 10/03/2004 863 966 1,128 1,207 936 975 942 7,017
Sun. 10/10/2004 836 946 1,095 1,100 1,096 1,012 860 6,945
Sun. 10/17/2004 879 1,133 1,068 1,051 1,039 898 1,021 7,089
Sun. 10/24/2004 996 971 1,098 1,004 997 1,096 987 7,149
Sun. 10/31/2004 828 905 939 1,133 977 884 760 6,426
Sun. 11/07/2004 743 824 815 902 869 839 602 5,594
Sun. 11/14/2004 648 784 921 911 932 954 770 5,920
Sun. 11/21/2004 689 851 827 933 863 890 811 5,864
Sun. 11/28/2004 725 880 909 891 898 952 906 6,161
Sun. 12/05/2004 855 932 849 963 771 873 792 6,035
Sun. 12/12/2004 791 791 900 875 925 773 706 5,761
Sun. 12/19/2004 702 754 913 903 874 739 649 5,534
Sun. 12/26/2004 704 665 782 870 881 763 684 5,349
Sun. 1/02/2005 918 908 774 1,120 896 812 734 6,162
Sun. 1/09/2005 847 883 992 1,005 1,011 992 911 6,641
Sun. 1/16/2005 1,027 885 894 973 1,016 926 1,044 6,765
Sun. 1/23/2005 938 1,306 1,214 1,331 1,067 1,147 958 7,961
Forwarding spam to uce@ftc.gov has been discontinued.

The stats above do NOT include spam blocked by our mail server,
nor spam sent through to legitimate addresses!!!

Those that were blocked were about 500 the week of 4/27/2003,
1,077 the week of 6/22/2003, 2,342 the week of 7/13/2003,
4,548 the week of 10/19/2003, and 6,721 the week of 2/1/2004,
which brings the spam total for that week to 24,488 = 3,498/day, 145/hour!!!

Albert Einstein was quoted as saying:
"It's become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity!"
(If he could only see it today!)

Written, updated, and Hosted by...
Kropf.Computer Services, Inc.
Internet Registered since 1991 and
"Keeping business plugged in...
 ...to the Whole-Wide-World!"