What is spam?

Spam is any email message that contains commercial advertising. In most cases, spam is unsolicited, sent on an extremely large scale, and is a nuisance to email users. It is estimated that up to 95% of all email messages sent are spam of some kind.

Spammers, as the senders are called, often buy email recipient lists or collect email addresses from various places on the web, including information forms and public email list sites. In addition, spammers can also use computer programs that also “guess” email addresses at random.

Effects of spam

In addition to cluttering your inbox and being a waste of time and an annoyance, there are other reasons why spam needs to be controlled. First of all, spam is often a source of computer viruses. Malicious people who create viruses often disguise them as emails from legitimate advertising sources to entice users to open or download content. Second, spam is often used as a weapon of theft, fraud or scam. Emails that impersonate real companies asking for your login information, personal details, or payment information cost the lives of innocent consumers.

Avoid spam

The easiest way to protect yourself from the headaches associated with spam is to know how to avoid it altogether. These are some of the most effective techniques!

Use a spam filter: Most email accounts will offer some type of spam filter. However, it is up to the user to enable this feature and set its parameters. Take the time to make sure there’s a spam filter for all email accounts and review or adjust the settings to make sure it’s effective. Also, as an email shows up in your inbox that you identify as spam, take the time to mark it as spam instead of simply deleting it.

Create a disposable email address: If you must give your email to sources that will publicly list it, sell it, or are just questionable in general, it’s a great idea to have a disposable email account for this purpose. Basically, this is an email that is only used for spam or registrations, and not for important or personal emails.

Have a unique email address: As mentioned above, many spammers use programs that randomly generate email addresses based on “guesses.” These are usually commonly used emails (such as [email protected]). To prevent your account from being “guessed”, use a combination of letters and numbers and make it as uncommon as possible.

Drop out: When you sign up for various things on the web, you are often given the opportunity to uncheck a subscription box for email. Get in the habit of doing this for every record you make. Also, many online stores, merchants, and advertisers will have instructions at the bottom of emails on how to unsubscribe if you wish. Doing this will help remove your email address from many spam lists.

Hide your identity/email address: Many people become targets of spam because they post on the web, chat, and perform other functions online with their visible email address. When you comment on blog posts, post in forums, chat, or other communications that are public, do not post your email address, use it in a signature, or create a screen name that is identical to your email address. If you must tell someone your email address on a public site, use a disposable email address instead of your primary email.