ANTI-SPAM POLICY

Mint-Tree.com and its subsidary and third parties have strict anti-spam policy. We do NOT in anyway condone spam and the act thereof. We, therefore, have set up this guide to further explain what spam is and what others can do to combat spamming.

1. What is Spam?

Taken from http://Spam.abuse.net:

Spam is flooding the Internet with many copies of the same message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it. Most Spam is commercial advertising, often for dubious products, get-rich-quick schemes, or quasi-legal services. Spam costs the sender very little to send—most of the costs are paid for by the recipient or the carriers rather than by the sender.

There are two main types of Spam, and they have different effects on Internet users. Cancelable Usenet Spam is a single message sent to 20 or more Usenet newsgroups. (Through long experience, Usenet users have found that any message posted to so many newsgroups is often not relevant to most or all of them.) Usenet Spam is aimed at "lurkers," people who read newsgroups but rarely or never post and give their address away. Usenet Spam robs users of the utility of the newsgroups by overwhelming them with a barrage of advertising or other irrelevant posts. Furthermore, Usenet Spam subverts the ability of system administrators and owners to manage the topics they accept on their systems.

Email Spam targets individual users with direct mail messages. Email Spam lists are often created by scanning Usenet postings, stealing Internet mailing lists, or searching the Web for addresses. Email spams typically cost users money out-of-pocket to receive. Many people—those with measured phone service—read or receive their mail while the meter is running, so to speak. Spam costs them additional money. On top of that, it costs money for ISPs and online services to transmit Spam, and these costs are transmitted directly to subscribers.

In essence, Spam is the transmission of unsolicited bulk email (UBE), unsolicited commercial email (UCE), or commercial postings to inappropriate newsgroups.

For a Spam glossary, please see http://www.turnstep.com/Spambot/glossary.html.

A. Why do spammers send Spam and why is Spam bad?

Spammers send Spam as a form of free advertising, which is illegal in most cases. It is similar to a telemarketer calling you collect. No other kind of advertising costs the advertiser so little and the recipient so much. It can cost the recipient additional time and money spent on the Internet to view and/or delete Spam. The recipients are not the only victims—ISPs are also taken advantage of. Many ISPs promote their free trial offers to the public, which prompts spammers to 'sign-up' and give the free service a try. The spammer then uses this opportunity to send Spam to numerous email addresses, both valid and invalid ones. Then they abandon the trial account, forcing the provider to rectify Spam complaints and monitor Spam/abuse issues.

B. How did you get on their email list?

If you do any of the following, there is a good chance you can end up on a spammer's email list:

• Post on an online bulletin board


• Post in a Usenet newsgroup


• Participate in chat rooms


• Including your email address in an online service's member directory


• Large email providers such as Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail hold user accounts that have common usernames, such as 'Smith,' 'Dave,' 'webmaster,' 'info,' etc.

• If you can identify the source of the Spam, contact the spammer's ISP or email service provider


• Send us a copy of the full email and include all headers (see item #7 for an examples). Please send one email only to abuse (at) mint-tree(dot)com.

• Do not respond to removal instructions. Responding to any REMOVAL instructions pose more problems than resolutions


• Threaten the spammer with violence or vandalism


• Mailbomb the site where the spammer is from


• Mailbomb the alleged spammer, who may be an innocent third party


• Ping-storm or SYN-flood the site


• Hack into their site


• Do not use Spam to fight Spam
  

• Upgrade your service to a package that include our SpamShield Pro or Total Protection
• Filter out unwanted emails (see items #4, 5, and 6)


• Simply delete unwanted emails


• Use one email account for personal use and another one for commercial use

• Click Options on the main navigation bar


• Click the Email Rules link; your current list of filters will appear


• Click Add Filter


• Set the conditions for the filter by completing the If-Then statement


• (Optional) Click Match Case to enforce case sensitivity; if the box is unchecked, the filter will match the phrase regardless of what case the text is


• Click Add Filter when you are finished; your new filter will appear in the Filter Description list

• In the 'To' or 'CC' and 'From' lines: Enter any invalid email addresses (i.e. sdfsgfsa@sdfsdg.com) or email domains (i.e. @whatever.com)


• In the 'Subject' line: "Make Money Fast…," "…Guaranteed…," etc.


• In the 'Text Body' line: "Remove," "Removal," "Call Toll Free," etc.

6. How to set your other email account filter:

Please consult your email service provider for assistance in setting up the email filters for your other type of email account.


7. An example of full email header information:

If you want to learn how to read the full header information in order to trace the origin of the Spam, please visit http://www.stopspam.org/email/headers/headers.html.


8. How to show full headers:

Using common email account:
Once logged in to the Inbox section, click "[ Show Full Headers ]".

Using other types of email account:
Most mail readers do not show the full header because it contains information that is for computer-to-computer routing. The information you usually see in the header is the subject, date, and "From" or "Return" address. The only thing in an email header that can't be faked is the "Received" portion referencing your computer (last received).

You will need to look at the headers on the message as follows:
Claris E-Mailer-Under 'Mail,' select 'Show Long Headers'
Eudora (before v3)-Select 'Tools,' 'Options,' 'Fonts & Display,' 'Show All Headers'
Eudora (3.x, 4.x IBM, or Macintosh)-Press the 'BLAH' button on the incoming mail message
Hotmail-Click 'Options' on the Hotmail Navigation Bar on the left side of the page, on the Options page, click 'Preferences,' scroll down to 'Message Headers' and select 'Full'
Lotus Notes 4.6.x-From the menu bar, select 'Actions,' then 'Delivery Information'; copy the information from the bottom box into your email report at the top of the Spam
Lotus Notes R5-From the menu bar, select 'Actions,' Tools,' then 'Delivery Information'; copy the information from the bottom box into your email report at the top of the Spam
MS Outlook-Double click on the email in your inbox to bring the message into a window; click 'View,' then 'Options.' You can also open the message then choose 'File,' 'Properties,' 'Details.'
MS Outlook Express-Press 'Alt-Enter' or 'Alt-F,' then 'R'
A more detailed guide to copy and paste headers in Outlook Express:
1 - Press 'CTRL-F3'
2 - Press 'CTRL-A'
3 - Press 'CTRL-C'
4 - Press 'Alt-F4' (At this point, the message has already been copied)
5 - Open a new message, right click and 'Paste' or select 'Edit' and 'Paste'
Netscape 3-In the Netscape Mail window, click 'View/Document Source'
Netscape 4.xx - Double click on the email in your inbox. Click on View - Headers - All.
Yahoo-Select 'Options,' 'Mail Preferences,' then 'Message Headers' (all)
PINE-Turn on the 'Header' option in set up, then hit 'H'

Programs that do not comply with any Internet standards (like cc-Mail, Beyond Mail, VAX VMS) throw away the headers. You will not be able to get headers from these email messages.

If your email program is not mentioned above, please visit http://familyinternet.about.com/

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