Stop Junk Mail

What is Junk Mail?

Junk mail is unsolicited mail that usually tries to sell its recipient something. Coupon books, sales circulars, credit card offers, and magazine subscription postcards represent just a few examples of the junk mail we receive every day, and usually throw away immediately. Junk email (spam) serves the same purpose, and often meets the same fate, heading into the delete folder without much consideration. Unfortunately, both types of junk mail represent a real threat to your financial well-being, and minimizing their volume is an important step in protecting your vital information.

Why Junk Mail Finds You

Credit card companies, credit bureaus, and marketing firms compile lists of consumers based on their purchasing patterns, incomes, and other marketable qualities. Every time you buy a car, a house, or just about anything else, that transaction data becomes available for sale and distribution to another company interested in targeting people like you. Every time you register a product, donate to a charity, or otherwise give out your name and address for any purpose, your name ends up on a list of some kind. More often than not, that list will be used to reach you with sales material for similar items or services.

Junk email is even easier to distribute. Automated computer programs are capable of collecting email addresses, creating massive databases for distributing marketing emails. Every time you respond to an online offer—for a newsletter, catalog, or free gift of any kind—you might think that you are connecting with one company. But customer email lists are valuable commodities, and represent a good way for a firm to make a little extra income using information it already has. In truth, your original signup connects you with both the original company and anyone else who buys their email list. Whether the end recipient of the list is reputable or not is irrelevant; they very well could be. But the end result is the same: you will be receiving more junk mail.

How is Junk Mail Dangerous?

Data collected from credit bureaus leads to credit card offers, perhaps the most dangerous kind of junk mail from a credit protection standpoint. Leaving such offers in the open allows anyone to fill it out and have a credit card issued in your name without your knowledge, thus damaging your credit without warning. If you don’t check your credit regularly, it could be years before you even discover the damage, much less begin repairing it.

In addition, physical junk mail puts a strain on the environment. Estimates are that over 100 million trees are felled every year to make paper used for junk mail, and that Americans spend eight months dealing with junk mail over the course of their lives.

Electronic junk mail represents a serious, multifaceted threat. Should you open a piece of spam, you could be allowing criminals into your computer to wreak various kinds of havoc, including:

• Planting keyloggers, which record keystrokes and make your passwords and account numbers known
• Infecting your computer with viruses and malware
• Installing software designed to co-opt your computer, turning it into a “zombie” under another user’s control

Junk Mail Solutions

Completely eliminating junk mail is practically impossible; however, there are many steps you can take to reduce the volume that you receive. Among these steps are:

• Register to have your name removed from major mailing lists
• Contact companies that frequently mail you (e.g., companies that send catalogs, etc.) and ask them to stop sending you this material
• Be sure to check the “do not mail” and “do not sell my information” options any time you have the opportunity
• Ask if the company or organization you are dealing with sells their customer information; if they do, take your business elsewhere

Luckily, the vast majority of spam email won’t affect your computer if you don’t open the message or click on any of its links. The simplest solution for getting rid of junk email is to simply ignore and delete it. To reduce spam volume:

• Avoid giving out your email address online for any reason
• Make sure that all the spam filters in your email software are functioning properly
• Don’t respond to or forward chain emails
• Never respond to unwanted spam messages
• As with physical junk mail, make sure you choose “Do not Email” options whenever possible on the Web sites you shop on