Stopping Junk Mail. How Can You Beat Spam?

Some Mac users get hundreds of junk mail messages each day (me). The problem is worse than ever and there’s no end in sight.

How many junk messages do you get each day? How do you stop spam? What are some the worst messages?

My original intent was to share some of the crazier and more ridiculous junk mail messages I’ve received recently. So, I kept less than two days worth of junk mail. Almost 500 messages in all.

Then, I thought it would be beneficial to see how other Mac360 readers handle junk mail messages and compare success rates.

If the problem bothers you as much as it bothers me, maybe you’ve got a better way to handle junk mail. Hence, our annual reader poll on junk mail.

As I sorted through the 474 junk mail messages, I was astounded at how many were drug related, mortage related, and free software (or cheap software) related.

I have multiple messages from the guy in Nigeria who wants me to hold a few million dollars for him. As long as I send him money first.

Trust me, I don’t need Viagara. Or a mortgage. Or Rolex watches. Or “dates” with young girls.

And no amount of email is going to get me to try a Dell computer, so stop trying already (yes, I know; no one’s listening).

How Do You Handle Junk Mail On Your Mac?
Simple enough, right? The pop-up reader poll has three basic questions, with multiple responses for each one.

The sheer volume of incoming junk mail each day is astounding. How about you? How many junk mail messages do you receive, home or work, each day? I get between 200 and 300; some days more than others.

OK, here’s the Reader Poll on junk mail. How Do You Handle SPAM On Your Mac?

There’s three questions. The first is “How Much Spam Do You Get Each Day?” Less than 30, up to over 200 junk mail messages a day.

The second question is, “Do You Use A Built-In Email “Spam Filter”? You know, like Apple’s Mail application’s Junk Mail filter. I used to use it. That would also include Entourage’s built in junk mail filter, or any other built-in filter.

The final question is, “Do You Use A 3rd Party “Spam/Junk Mail” Filter? This would be a filter like SpamSieve, AntiSpam X, or any other.

Right now, I’m using SpamSieve (again) and it’s doing a pretty good job. The only problem with any kind of filter, is you have to check two places for incoming email. Once in the inbox, and once in the junk mail (Spam) box. There’s no way around it, I guess.

To take the Junk Mail Poll (3 questions) Click Here.

To see the results on votes by other readers, just Click Here.

Got a unique solution for junk mail? What do you do to kill spam? Share your experience and thoughts with other readers. Click the Comments link below.

Check out the daily list of our 9 Word mini-Reviews at NoodleMac, and Kate's daily in-depth Mac software reviews at PixoBebo.

Off Topic #23 & #18 - Want to speed up your Mac? Try Kate MacKenzie’s approach to the $7.99 speed increase. Do you have a back up system for your Mac? Kate’s PixoBebo shows you how to use Time Machine with SuperDuper! for the ultimate Mac back up. And she doesn’t even charge Mac360 readers to visit her site.

Off Topic #72 - Need to save a few dollars on Mac software? Click Here to save almost $10 on the new version of Photoshop Elements, and almost $20 on the new Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac from the Mac360 Store (it’s really Amazon). Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage and more-- barely $50 more than Apple’s iWork ‘08.