What is UCE?

Unsolicited commercial email, or UCE, is any email you didn't ask for which attempts to sell you a product or service. UCE also applies to chain letter scams that offer 'gifting' programs to make you rich by sending your money to a complete stranger. Common examples of UCE might be Content: pornography solicitations, Viagra pitches, stock tip services, cable descrambler resellers, Make Money Fast chainletters, diplomas or certificate programs, work at home schemes, Find out Anything about Anyone, and...of course...spam programs and tools. ) Methods: Email sent in bulk (legitimate mailing list programs do this too), return address spoofed, falsified, dead or hidden, mail routing spoofed or open relays exploited, generic or blank addressees (also used by legitimate listservers). Opt Out: Any sales pitch that comes to you, even if it claims to be a "one-time mailing" that requires you to take action to avoid further solitications. These are all examples of UCE. However, an email from a company that has you on an opt-in list might not be considered UCE...technically. Oftentimes, when you use your email to register for goods or services, you may be implicitly granting permission to be added to marketing mailing lists. You need to be very observant when filling out online registration forms as to the options and disclosures of their email marketing practices.