How to Report Spam to Spammers' ISP

Most people consider unsolicited mail to be an annoyance. Some think that their bulk mail folder is just something to be deleted in its entirety. Others still feel that all this junk mail is beyond contempt and needs to be stopped. Spam is very common in email boxes everywhere. All the messages are practically identical and you can wind up with dozens, if not hundreds, of the exact same message in your mailbox throughout the life of your email address. No Internet service provider (ISP) wants their servers to be used for spam. Any ISP would welcome a message from you reporting a spammer’s activity and abuse of their system. Here are some steps you can take to report spam to the spammers' ISP.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Internet access
• Email address

1. Read the header information on the spam email you receive. This will give you the spammer’s ISP information, so long as you know how to decipher it. If you are unsure about email headers, there are tutorials online that can help you.
2. Once you find the spammer’s Internet service provider, then the email to report them to is abuse@(add ISP name here).com. If this email bounces, you can always check out the ISP’s Web site and find where to forward spam messages.
3. Report spam to the spammer’s ISP through the regular postal service. Do this by printing out a copy of the entire spam message, and mail it to the postal address provided in the phone book or on their Web page.
4. Report spam to the spammer’s ISP by contacting a customer service phone number. Almost all ISPs have a 1-800 or 1-888 phone number for customer service listed on their Web site. If you want to be sure that the spam you are receiving in your mailbox is reported immediately, using this method is probably best.

Tips & Warnings

• For information about email headers and how to find a spammer's ISP using them, check out http://spam.getnetwise.org/action/header/
• Always include the header information when you are reporting spam email. This is the information the ISP requires in order to stop the spammer and clean up their service.
• Be cautious of the “from” field on a spammer’s email. This is very easy to forge and you could be complaining to the wrong people about the spammer’s activity.
• Do not contact a spammer directly to complain. This will let them know the email they have reached is a valid email and may result in more spam instead of less.