On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:31:07 +0100, Mike Clarke wrote:

Paul Matthews wrote:

I don't open unexpected attachments but I'll just bet there would be a
request for my bank details in there. Any other self employed members
had one of these (yet)?

I am permie employed and got one.

Whether you're self employed or not is irrelevant, this sort of spam is
never targeted, the spammers just spew the stuff out to all the
addresses they've harvested. They neither know nor care anything about
the recipients.

I always use spamtrap addresses on Usenet, sometimes different ones for
each group.

The spam definitely comes in bursts, and it's always obvious when it's
been harvested.

I have a .co.uk domain which allows me to make up any address at that
domain on the spot - the mail from any of those addresses gets forwarded
to a specific mailbox so I know to be wary.

Certain addresses are allowed straight through, but you'll never see one
of those on the web.

It's very cheap to set up - a couple of pounds a year and if I change ISP
I just have to change where it's redirected to, nobody else needs to know.

Alternatively most ISPs offer several email addresses on the same
account, so you can set one of those up as a spamtrap to use on Usenet.