As technology has expanded to the point where computers are in almost every home and almost everyone uses at least one email address, almost everyone encounters spam on a regular basis. Spam is that unwanted junk mail that accumulates on your email account every few times or even every time you check your email. While there are plenty of anti-spam filters and software on the market, many people still have to deal with frequent spam as they have not yet installed anti-spam software or the filters that they are using do not work. In this article, we will talk about spam and several programs that use both traditional and nontraditional methods to eliminate spam from your email account.
What is Spam
Spam is the electronic version of junk mail and accumulates on your email account unless you repeatedly delete these unwanted messages. Most spam comes from signing up for something that has a newletter or some other type of mailing list. Some spam is generated by you signing up for one thing but then that company sells your email address to someone else. Yet still other spam messages come from people just sending their messages out to random email addresses. One or two junk messages is not a problem but spam has a way of building up and overloading your email account with numerous unwanted messages. While many email accounts come with filters that automatically block thousands of junk messages, half a dozen or more spam messages can still get through to your inbox daily if additional preventative measures are not taken. The following programs are designed to eradicate and block spam without deleting any of the precious emails that you want to keep.
SpamAgent
SpamAgent is designed for both businesses and home users who have too much unwanted spam. SpamAgent comes with over 1,500 preset filters but also allows you to customize your own filters based on things like email addresses, subjects, keywords, and more. SpamAgent allows you to make as many customized filters as you feel necessary and also allows you to plug-in other spam-filtering features from other sources. Moreso, SpamAgent allows you to create a friends list that ensures that emails from your friends and family are never blocked, whether they pass through your filters or not.
Cloudmark
Cloudmark is a company that revolves entirely around “messaging security”. Cloudmark can be used to block not only spam but also viruses and “phishing” messages (messages that lure you to a false webpage in which you are encouraged to enter your financial information) from your email account, instant messaging software, and social networking accounts.
ChoiceMail
ChoiceMail focuses itself on the fact that if a spam filter can not block 100% of spam while also making sure that you get 100% of your emails that are not spam, then it has not solved your problem. ChoiceMail allows you to set rules to decide how you receive information and also makes sure that emails coming from your friends and family are never blocked. ChoiceMail also sends an electronic query to the sender and if they do not respond, their email is not delivered to your inbox.
Sendio
Sendio is a new and unique approach to spam filtration. Rather than blocking emails, Sendio simply revolves around “communities” of emailers. When you initiate a Sendio account, you are creating a community in which the people you know must belong to in order to email you. When someone sends you an email, they will receive a message asking them to join your community. If they do, their original message will be delivered to your inbox as well as all future messages. If they do not, however, their email is lost to the abyss of cyberspace.
AlstraSoft Anti-Spam
AlstraSoft Anti-Spam works a lot like many of the other anti-spam programs listed above, although it is designed as more of a reseller program for businesses and costs $145. When someone sends you an email, AlstraSoft Anti-Spam sends them a verification link and all they have to do is click on it for the email to go through. Once they do this, they will also never have to click on the verification link again. If they do not click on the verification link, their email is deleted before it ever reaches your inbox. If the spammer in question happens to click on the verification link and you do still get spam, you can flag it as such and the sender will be blocked. Likewise, any messages from someone who is blocked will never reach your inbox and you will have no idea that they even tried to email you.
