Candid answers to CAN-SPAM questions (2024)

FAQs

What are the exceptions to the CAN-SPAM Act? ›

Once people have told you they don't want to receive more messages from you, you can't sell or transfer their email addresses, even in the form of a mailing list. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you've hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.

CAN-SPAM applies to messages transmitted to wireless devices. This includes those transmitted using Internet-to-phone SMS technology. Considering that most people use smartphones these days, such methods are pretty common. However, it doesn't apply to messages sent via phone-to-phone SMS texts.

Initiators of commercial email only have to identify the message as an ad in a way that is “clear and conspicuous.” The law gives you flexibility in how to do that effectively, but remember that deceptive subject lines are illegal.

Unless the recipient has provided his or her "affirmative consent" to receive commercial e-mails from the association, commercial messages also must include clear and conspicuous notice that the message contains an "advertisem*nt" or "solicitation." Under CAN-SPAM, "affirmative consent" means that the recipient has ...

You need to make it easy for people to unsubscribe from your electronic mailing lists. Under the Spam Act, every commercial message must contain an 'unsubscribe' option that: presents unsubscribe instructions clearly. honours a request to unsubscribe within 5 working days.

Overview of the CAN-SPAM Act

No false or misleading header information. No deceptive subject lines. Inclusion of an opt-out mechanism. Inclusion of the sender's valid physical postal address.

Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

While it was initially designed to protect consumer privacy and regulate telemarketing calls, it has since been updated to include SMS texts. Under the TCPA, marketers must receive express written consent before sending promotional messages to their customers.

Cold texting follows the same principle – reaching out to prospective customers you've never contacted before – but via text messages. Cold texting is illegal because it goes against global privacy laws, which demand that individuals give their consent and opt-in to receive this type of marketing communication.

Don't respond to smishing messages, even to ask the sender to stop contacting you. Responding to smishing messages verifies that your phone number is active and that you are willing to open such messages, which may lead to an increase in the unsolicited text messages you receive.

Text messages are considered transactions similar to phone calls, which is why they are covered under the TCPA. Under TCPA, sending spam text messages is illegal and can result in fines starting at $500 per infringement, and reaching as high as $1,500.

How are spam messages detected? ›

One of the first factors email service providers will look at when determining if an email is spam is the IP address of the sender. If a specific IP address has received many complaints in the past, email from that address is more likely to be identified as spam.

This law, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, states clearly that you must include a clearly obvious way for subscribers to opt out of your commercial messages: Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you.

DO NOT… respond or reply to spam in any way. Instead, use should mark the email as “SPAM” or “junk” in your email client, or work with your IT department to make adjustments to your SPAM filter to capture email from this sender in the future.

Spam has the potential to flood email systems, breach the privacy of others, and lead to "flaming" or abusing of the sender. Spam causes problems for Internet service providers and their customers. Xtra therefore prohibits spamming and other unethical marketing activities.

Congress passed the CAN-SPAM Act to address the problem of unwanted commercial electronic mail messages. The CAN-SPAM Act requires the Federal Communications Commission to issue rules with regard to commercial e-mail and some text messages sent to wireless devices such as cell phones—not email in general.

Spamming is used for sending fraud mail, phishing campaigns, identity theft, and for sending malicious executable file attachments, links to malicious websites and phishing websites for illegitimate activities.

The CAN-SPAM act requires that Commercial emails, whose primary purpose is to deliver commercial content, meet the following criteria: Accurately identify the sender in the header information. Use a subject line that accurately represents the content of the email.

Which of the following activities is NOT prohibited by the CAN-SPAM Act? Sending junk mail via the USPS.

The act prohibits (1) accessing a protected computer without authorization and intentionally sending multiple commercial e-mail messages, (2) using a protected computer to relay or retransmit multiple commercial e-mail messages with the intent to deceive as to the source of the messages, (3) materially falsifying ...

The sending of unsolicited commercial electronic messages in bulk is covered under the Spam Control Act, and is not regulated by the PDPC. If you are receiving unsolicited emails, consider taking the following steps: Check that you have unsubscribed from the emails.

What is the primary objective of the Federal Can Spam Act of 2003? ›

The goals of the act are to: Reduce spam and unsolicited p*rnography by prohibiting senders of unsolicited commercial e-mail messages from disguising the source and content of their messages.

If you are being bothered by unsolicited spam text messages, you can take legal action. Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), you may be eligible for compensation of $500 to $1500 per unsolicited text, which can be trebled if the violation is knowing, willful, or intentional.

As a phrase, “dry texting” is relatively recent in the grand scheme of things. It refers to people who reply with one word, or don't carry the conversation and just say things like “lmao” and “wyd” until the receiver wants to tear their hair out in frustration or boredom.

Cold texting is reaching out via SMS to a contact without their prior consent or permission. It's similar to cold calling and cold emailing. Some examples that would lead to cold texting include: Purchasing a contact list from a third party.

In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates the use of text messaging for commercial purposes. According to the rules of the FCC, it is illegal to send unsolicited commercial text messages to consumers without their prior express consent.

Under the federal Wiretap Act, it is illegal for any person to secretly record an oral, telephonic, or electronic communication that other parties to the communication reasonably expect to be private. (18 U.S.C. § 2511.)

Making a written threat via text is not only prohibited by state law but also by federal statutes. Under 18 U.S.C. § 875 transmitting through any type of communication a threat to injure a person is illegal.

“A good general rule of thumb for a text from someone you don't know is to just ignore it or delete it,” says Stephen Cobb, senior security researcher at ESET, a company that makes antivirus and Internet security software for businesses and individuals worldwide.

First, replying to a phishing email provides the scammer with a copy of your company's email signature, which might include phone numbers and other information. This signature could enable them to craft more convincing spearphishing templates, as well as giving them more potential targets.

Why am I getting spam text messages? Spam texts are both intrusive and pose a security threat. If you are getting spam texts, it's more than likely that whoever is sending you a spam text message is trying to get access to your personal information—bank accounts, passwords, social security number, online IDs and more.

Is spam a form of harassment? ›

Spam is unsolicited content. Harassment is hateful or threatening speech. If you see either of these types of content, mark the entry as spam or as harassment so we can remove it from the community.

The CAN-SPAM Act does not give consumers who have received spam email standing to file a private lawsuit for damages. Instead, private citizens must rely on the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") or state attorneys general to sue on their behalf to recover damages, impose civil penalties, or impose injunctions.

Directly replying to a spam text message lets a spammer know that your number is genuine. What happens next They can sell your phone number to other spammers who might bombard you with false promises of free gifts and product offers. Instead, it's best to block and report the number.

In Google Mail, messages are permanently deleted 30 days after they are placed in the Trash or Spam.

The text message is unsolicited (scammers will always contact you out of the blue). The text sender has a long phone number (10 or 11 digits). The phone number is “spoofed” (i.e., it looks like it's coming from someone you know or trust). The text includes a link that is most likely shortened or scrambled.

It's important to note, however, that you will never be able to stop all spam mail. Since sending spam is so easy, many scammers will never stop using it, even if it often doesn't work. Still, if you take the right precautions, you can trim your incoming spam emails to a manageable amount. Here's how.

Don't ever click the “unsubscribe” option in spam

By clicking the unsubscribe link you are doing exactly what the spammer wants—you are showing your account is valid, that it's active, that you are giving them attention, and that they were able to convince you to click on what is potentially a dangerous link.

But here's the thing: rushing to click the 'Unsubscribe' button is not the right way to make sure all those unwanted emails don't come back ever again. As counterintuitive as it sounds, unsubscribing will make you receive even more spam in some situations.

What to do: Ignore untrusted emails. While you should breathe easy about unsubscribing from legitimate emails, you are better off ignoring anything questionable that lands in your inbox. Henderson suggests deleting untrusted emails or blocking them for good by marking them as spam or junk.

It's very difficult to stop spam, mainly because it's often almost impossible to trace its origin. But this doesn't mean that it's an impossible task. In general, a good anti-spam software is enough to block most unwanted messages.

How do you defend against spam? ›

Which of the following is not a type of spamming attack? Explanation: Spear phishing is not an example of a spamming attack. Hidden text & links, double-tags, cloaking, blog & wiki spams, image spamming, and page-jacking are types of spamming attack.

While it might have been dangerous to open and respond to an infected email in the past, victims can have some peace of mind knowing they won't automatically get a virus when replying to an email. These days most viruses are activated when a victim opens an attachment or clicks on a link.

Spam antagonizes potential customers.

Lots of people become nervous when they receive unwanted emails considered as spam. It's due to the fact that they get hundreds of emails every day which they have to look through and they don't want to waste their time and effort on useless information coming into their inbox.

It can be dangerous – especially if it's part of a phishing scam. Spam emails are sent out in mass quantities by spammers and cybercriminals that are looking to do one or more of the following: Make money from the small percentage of recipients that actually respond to the message.

The name of the relevant statute says it all: the (you) CAN SPAM (Act). This often surprises people. So to reiterate: It is legal in the U.S. to send an unsolicited commercial email.

In the act, Congress sought to criminalize the transmission of material harmful to minors. But the Court ruled that the act burdened the speech rights of adults. Nearly 40 states have passed laws regulating spam.

Finally, if you believe that a company is still sending you unwanted e-mails after you've notified them in writing to stop, you can file a complaint with the FTC by going to FTCComplaintAssistant.gov, and contact the Attorney General's office in your state to learn about local anti-spam laws and your rights.

The Spam Act applies regardless of how possession is obtained – either express (expressly consenting to receive marketing communications) or inferred (clients where it is reasonable to believe they would expect to receive marketing from your business).

Respect opt-out requests right away: You must comply with a recipient's request to unsubscribe within ten business days of receiving it. Include your physical address: A physical address where you can receive mail should be included in your email.

Who enforces Canspam? ›

Congress passed the CAN-SPAM Act to address the problem of unwanted commercial electronic mail messages. The CAN-SPAM Act requires the Federal Communications Commission to issue rules with regard to commercial e-mail and some text messages sent to wireless devices such as cell phones—not email in general.

Physical address. According to the CAN-SPAM Act, including your physical address when sending commercial emails is mandatory. It benefits you in two ways. First, it keeps your message out of the spam folder, and second, your customers will know that you are a legitimate business.

One reason the law hasn't been that effective is because it doesn't apply to spammers in other countries. The U.S. is the world's largest spammer, but its share of spam has dropped dramatically since CAN-SPAM was passed. In February 2004, the United States was responsible for 56.7% of the world's spam.

The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited p*rnography And Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act of 2003 is a law passed in 2003 establishing the United States' first national standards for the sending of commercial e-mail. The law requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce its provisions.

Anti-spam techniques can be broken into four broad categories: those that require actions by individuals, those that can be automated by email administrators, those that can be automated by email senders and those employed by researchers and law enforcement officials.

The CAN-SPAM Act does not give consumers who have received spam email standing to file a private lawsuit for damages. Instead, private citizens must rely on the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") or state attorneys general to sue on their behalf to recover damages, impose civil penalties, or impose injunctions.

The name of the relevant statute says it all: the (you) CAN SPAM (Act). This often surprises people. So to reiterate: It is legal in the U.S. to send an unsolicited commercial email.

The one-click unsubscribe email law (sometimes referred to as the “one-step unsubscribe rule”) is part of CAN-SPAM. The CAN-SPAM unsubscribe rules include that a recipient be able to effectuate their opt-out with a one-click unsubscribe, whether that is by replying to the email or by visiting a single web page.