Unfortunately there are some less
desirable aspects of using the Internet. We hope the following information will
keep you informed of what you can do to protect yourself and how to report those
who misuse or abuse the Internet. Our AUP (Acceptable Use Policy) team look into
any reports of abuse and try to ensure that none of our customers abuse the system or fall victim to abuse.
The most common issue that the AUP team receive reports of is Spam.
Spam is the jargon term for UCE (Unsolicited Commercial
Email). It can be compared to credit card flyers and other such bulk mailings
that we all receive through the post. With email it is much easier to send large
amounts of mail very cheaply!
Probably the most common question from customers is - "how do they get my
address, I haven't given it out ?"
We do not sell, pass on or give out any of our customer details.
There are various ways in which a 'spammer' can get a mailing list: 'Spammers' can auto-generate mailing lists by using simple algorithms and a dictionary of names. They generate a list of names which will look like: paul.a@ paul.b@ paul.c@ etc. Once they have this list they attach a domain to it eg. Virgin Media. In most cases, the majority of the addresses on this list will be invalid - however a proportion of these addresses will be valid and will reach their destination.
Another way of getting a mailing list is to trawl newsgroups or bulletin boards
for e-mail addresses. If someone is vocal on the newsgroups then probably
their address has been taken from here. It is advisable to use an alias e-mail
address when posting to the newsgroups, e.g. bob.jones@nospam.virgin.net (in
order to use this address - senders must remove the nospam section).
The majority of spam is a scam of some kind for example get rich quick;
porn sites; and pyramid selling to name but a few.
So,
what do I do if I have been spammed?
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