Spam and how to avoid it - tips, anyone? I'm indulging in a rant

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@salmonmac suggested this thread and I’m interested in what experiences others have.

I don’t get much spam email or texts. My approach or parts of it might work for some. Years ago I deleted my Yahoo account and cut spam way back. Gmail had less spam most of the time. I found out though that Gmail really tracks you and uses AI to go through your emails - I don’t like that. I switched to Proton mail and eliminated spam almost entirely. In over a year I might have seen one or two spam emails. I use multiple email addresses for different purposes. If I do get spam it’s easier to figure out a possible why. What won’t work for many is ditching Microsoft and/or Apple. They’ve got spyware built in. I switched to LInux more than twenty years ago because it will run on a computer MS would laugh at and it works better for me. At the time it was was a Fry’s loss leader and I could actually pay for it. MS and Apple OS are now spyware machines. I don’t know if that generates more spam or not. I also run tracker and ad blockers. Ublock Origin is my main ad blocker. I also have Ghostery tracker blocker, Duck Duck Go Privacy, and Privacy Badger add ons for Firefox browser. Is that all? I think it might be. Tracker blockers keep data collectors from following you around or at least interfere with their process and that’s part of what generates spam. In Firefox I have the containers extension and keep Facebook boxed in it’s own container unable to access cookies or site history from anywhere else I go online; same with google which means youtube doesn’t track me. I used to be paranoid. Now I realize I was right all along and do all I can to block data collection and tracking. Big Brother is not my friend! I recently started using a degoogled privacy phone. A lot of apps won’t work on it because they have to phone home to google (not allowed!) and I can’t do FB on my phone. I can’t sign in using the browser and Messenger is a no no on a degoogled phone. Big loss, right? :sweat_smile: Trackers are what get us. I wouldn’t mind ads so much but simply blocking their trackers blocks the ads. Go figure.

IMHO Chrome browser, being a google product, is evil. Not long ago I saw a recommendation to use it which freaked me out at first. Then he went on to explain that using google sites in a google browser and nothing else really keeps google away from everything else. I might try it. My grandson who teaches computer stuff at UW helped me with an OS update not long ago. He recommended Ublock origin which I already had and that I keep the other stuff.

No ads and no spam. Now if I could knit cables without dropping down to fix the fix to fix the fix I made before I’d be in seventh heaven. I think this last fix might be the one. :crossed_fingers:

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Hey GG, this is really interesting.

I don’t do/use all the things you mentioned but I do agree regarding built in spyware, trackers and so on.

Microsoft also has built in software which breaks hardware, making a perfectly good computer, printer, and other bits of hardware (drawing tablet, Web cam etc) obsolete after miscrosoft updates.

I have also switched to Linux, this was about 17 or 18 years ago. I already knew about Linux and was being badgered by my brother to switch but, as with so many people, I was reluctant to make changes, my stuff worked… until it didn’t. I had some nice gear, a high quality printer (scanner photocopier, full colour, high quality print), an expensive drawing tablet, digital camera etc. My computer itself was getting a little old but it was a high grade for the time and everything was good. Then came along a Microsoft update, one that could not be ignored and I did the usual boring thing of going through the update. And wham, nothing worked anymore. I spent 4 or 5 days solid trying to fix my stuff. Reinstalling divers, reinstalling Microsoft etc etc, it went on and on, Microsoft and every computer shop or tech person said my stuff was too old and broken despite it having worked perfectly prior to the update. They even told me my monitor was out of date and I needed new. It would have been £thousands to replace all my stuff (not to mention the hassle of setting everything up and all that installing and updating!).

After about 4 or 5 days I ditched Microsoft and stuck a Linux disk in my machine. Woah! Computer like new (not old and broken) printer worked perfectly (not old and broken), everything worked and all the software free. Didn’t need to put in a single driver disk. Amazing. The hardware continued to work for many years. The monitor has never been replaced. It’s 20+ years old and works great.

In those days Linux took a bit of effort but now it’s so smooth. On occasion there is a small glitch in a bit of software but nothing like the errors in the Microsoft software, plus the vast majority of the Linux stuff is freeware. My little Mister has sooooo much software for free which would have been at a prohibitive cost otherwise. He has used editing software to make stop motion animations, there’s a fantastic music software for him to compose on, spread sheets, power points, photo editor, everything… thousands of £ worth of gear for free. He is in High school, his computer science teacher is amazed by little mister’s technical ability and what the teacher calls ‘natural gift’ but it’s just down to having access and opportunity to learn all these programmes.

I went off track a bit.

Another example of Microsoft being the cause of spam and scams. Little Misters dad made a Microsoft email account for little Mister when he was really young, little mister didn’t have the password until he was older, everything is supervised. Last year I noticed the password reset phone number was still set as his dad’s number and I suggested changing it to little mister’s own phone number. Little mister’s phone is text and calls only, only parents and one grandparent had the number, no one else, ever. Little Mister changed the Microsoft reset phone number to his own. Within the week he was receiving scam calls. Lots of scam calls.

Getting back to spam. I don’t get much. But when I do it will be a spate of them which have been brought on from a single Web address (that i have not put my email address into). For example looking at knitting patterns. It’s like catching a cold, I get a bunch of bad stuff for a short while, I report and block and after a few days it clears up.

I’ve had the same email address for over 25 years and it is quite treasured!

Interested in what your degoogled phone is. I saw you mention it on another thread.

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I wanted a smart phone but simply will not pay the money for an Iphone or the others. My phone is a Brax3. I stumbled across a video about it and got interested. I decided I could pay for it. Looking at different reviews of phones it looked OK and cost the least. So far I’m happy with it. My daughter would love for me to have an Iphone but the latest and greatest everything tech is nothing but very expensive surveillance devices people buy to be tracked and spied on. Not my cuppa, thanks just the same. I haven’t figured out how to make my printer do a couple of things but it’s an inconvenience I can live with.

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All good things you’re doing… but it’s worse than that. Check out Rossen Reports: https://www.youtube.com/live/SL72I_I9YxE?si=t1Qt7M-Q5X-iaaBZ

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I’ll save this link for later. I’m not sure I’ve seen this one. Flock cameras are evil. The surveillance state just keeps growing.

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:grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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That video was new, I found out. It’s always worse than we thought. I need new conspiracy theories, the old ones were pretty much spot on. I’m quite sure my phone’s bluetooth isn’t accessible by stores. It’s off by default and has other built in security.

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This is pretty much what I do too. I could add one thing: I have separate mail boxes for different tasks, like shopping online.

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