Reporting spam emails is a wise act since it can prevent the same messages go through others’ inboxes. However in order to do it there are several steps that you will need to take.
First, save the entire header of the spam email. It contains some information that can be used to trace the source of the email. If you use Outlook Express, in order to see the internet headers of a message, just right-click the email, click “properties”, click “Details” and then click the “Message Source” pushbutton.
The next step to take is to save the entire header and send it to the ISP of the spammer. Note that normally a spammer will camouflage the “from” address so that you need to observe the header to find out the originating ISP. Also do not forget to forward it to spam reporting agencies such as www.spamabuse.org and spamcop.net. Both are third party reporting agencies.
It is also wise to forward it to FTC (Federal Trade Commission). Although FTC may not take action on individual incidents, they will add the spam to a database reffered to as UCE (unsolicited commercial email). By visiting www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/, you can read useful information about the law enforcement actions that have been taken against deceptive mailers and those who do not honor opt-out requests from email recipients.
If you get a spam related to stock fraud, you can email the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Just visit their website to find the email address intended for this purpose.
- How to reduce the amount of spam in your mailbox by 95% or more.
- In case you provider does not provide adequate spam filtering.
Tags: ftc, report spam, sec, spam abuse, spamabuse, spamcop, uce