Spam Reporting and Tracing Tips - Hurt the Spammers!

     We do not send spam nor do we allow spammers to use our servers. Spam that claims to have been sent by us is certainly forged. We have a zero tolerance policy regarding spammers and will take immediate action whenever possible.

     We do offer a free webmail service and spammers occasionally try to send it from those accounts. They quickly find out that we have many limits and protections in place designed to stop spammers. Any of our webmail users who are trying to send spam will quickly find their account terminated without any notice or recourse. In addition, people responding to the spammer get a message as to why that account was terminated. This informs potential victims that to be alert for fraud.

     We have taken many precautions to prevent the use of CentralPets.com services by spammers as well as to protect our users from receiving spam. As a result, essentially all of the spam reports are for spam that contains sender information that was forged by the spammer (and has nothing to do with us). If you beleive that you received spam that did in fact come through our servers please send it to abuse@CentralPets.com and we will investigate it. Please always send the full message headers to us so that we can examine them to determine the source of the spam.

How to Hurt the Spammers: Report Them to Those Who Can Hurt Them!
     Spammers place a lot of forged information in their spam in order to make it look like the message was sent by someone else. They do not want bounces, complaints, etc. Mixed in with the forged information there is usually something that is real and it is usually the item they are advertising. If they are trying to get you to buy a product or visit a new website then those links will be valid. This is the key to fighting back. Most places where these websites are hosted have policies regarding spammers. Complaints to these companies often get the spammers websites shut down. If their site is gone then the effort they went to was wasted.

     This page is very helpful for understanding, tracing, and reporting spam (and spammers):
Tracing Spam - Who do I complain to? (opens in a new window)

     Here is a great page for determining who actually sent the spam. This site offers many tools to trace the origins of the spam you received and methods of reporting it. It even fills out a complaint letter and gives you the correct addresses to send it. We highly recommend it:
Spam Tracer (opens in a new window)

1. If you have a Central Pets webmail account turn on the junk mail protection in your configuration section. This is one of the best spam blocking systems available.
2. Do not post your email address online. If your email address appears on a web page anywhere it is certain that it will end up on spam lists.
3. Do not signup for any so called anti-spam lists! These lists are pro-spammer and you can be assurred that doing so will increase your spam.
4. Never use the "remove me" links in spam. These often only serve to confirm to the spammer that your email address is valid. Here is a page that fully describes this problem and lists some current scams:
   Spam Unsubscribe Services (opens in a new window)