Is Internet Fax Technology Utilized By Spammers?
When internet fax first became available to the masses, it was initially picked up by the spamming community as a tool for the mass distribution of advertising and obscene information. This was quite a while ago, and certainly times have changed. Since the introduction of the Anti-Spamming Law in America (and in most countries around the world), spammers have looked to other methods which are harder to trace - because internet fax is one of the most obvious and public ways of going about it.
Since these developments, coupled with the increased emphasis on beefed up security and monitoring of products such as internet fax, the incidence of abuse has certainly dropped. However, it has not completely vanished. Let's take a moment to look at whether or not internet fax spam remains a significant problem, or whether there is very little risk in using such a software product.
How Can It Be Used For Spam?
What most people don't understand is exactly how internet fax can be used for spamming purposes. Basically, the spam sender chooses a whole list of fax numbers - sourced from the black market or even straight out of the regional phone book - and they then proceed to enter this in to the faxing software.
With the ability to save these numbers for use later on, the spammer is able to collect a progressive list of fax numbers, and hence send rubbish advertising and information to that recipient - time and time again.
Hence, it may not be the fault of the end user for having a fax machine and fax number listed. Instead, it is the internet fax technology which allowed the spammer to perform such a task.
It's Not All Bad News.
Don't go ahead and throw your fax machine in to the rubbish bin just yet. Remember, the above was simply an explanation as to how some spammers were able to target businesses in the past. Nowadays, there are a range of safety measures which come installed with internet fax software.
Some of these include:
1. Limits on the number of faxes you can send at once.
2. Costs for sending multiple faxes together.
3. Ability for authorities to see how many faxes you have sent.
These 3 options are available to internet fax software manufacturers, and in actual fact this entire area is covered under special laws. Hence, internet fax is much safer and less manipulative than it used to be.
