Limit SPAM when buying online
March 15, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Deals on the Web, shopping
You can score tons of great deals online, but along with those deals can come a heaping helping of spam. Yuck right?
You don’t need to put up with spam though. Try this…
Set up a couple email addresses – one for personal use – i.e pals, work stuff, official business, and other important issues. Set up a second that you only use when you buy stuff online. Most online companies will add you to email lists, spam mailings, and more (even if they say they don’t) and you don’t need this junk coming to your personal email.
Sign up for better email – big ticket email providers have much better spam protection. For example, Gmail or Yahoo have better email filters that some lesser known email providers.
Use decent virus protection – decent virus protection usually has email functions that block spam. I like Trend Micro Internet Security but there are lots of virus and email protection options available.
Buy from reputable online companies - this sort of goes without saying but buying products from a shady looking site is iffy for many reasons. Excess spam and people sharing your email address with others is more likely as well. Read Online Shopping Tips: E-Commerce and You.
Keep your email private – meaning, don’t give out any of your emails at places like forums. If you do post your email in public, write it out like this ihatespam (at) soandso.com.
When you buy online, how do you keep yourself protected by excess spam.
[image via stock.xchng]
So true! I use my yahoo address to sign up for things.