How To Protect Yourself From Spam MailĪlthough spam mail can be difficult to avoid, you can greatly reduce and even eliminate the amount of spam clogging your inbox by using proper anti-spam software. This will help you weed out contests and offers that seem iffy. In most cases when handling a spam message, the best course of action is to simply delete the message immediately.Īs a rule of thumb, if you want to avoid spam messages, it is important to remember that if something is too good to be true, then it probably is.
In the worst-case scenarios, you could even be charged with crimes you weren't aware you were helping the spammer commit - such as being involved in money laundering or handling stolen items. There are many reasons to avoid interacting with spam mail, but the some of the truly troubling scenarios include the possibility that you'll be putting yourself at risk for identity theft or allowing an attacker to load viruses and malware onto your computer. The most common methods spammers use to build up their email lists include: purchasing lists of addresses, tricking users into handing over their information through fake contests and false freebie offers, or using email-harvesting programs to extract addresses from websites. It commonly is a single message which contains advertisements and is sent to a variety of recipients who never agreed to receive such messages. "Spam" has been an Internet buzzword since the dawn of email, but what is it, exactly? Basically, spam mail is a form of junk email, unwanted by the recipient.