It’s amazing how one email can end up being bombarded with spam emails. Most wonder how these emails get found in the first place? The thing is that over time email addresses can become prone to spam.
One of the ways this happens is automated software which looks at domain names and then automatically creates generic emails such as info@ , contact@ etc and they start to spam these. Even having these listed on your site could mean you email gets picked up by auto bots who spam you. So having unique emails such as your name does help.
Spammers can use databases holding vast numbers of email addresses. You could also get spammed because you:
– Post to a newsgroup
– Sign up for an internet service that asks for an email address
– Give out your email address on your own website
– Give your address to an online retailer
Another way is how you use your emails?
Here are some tips you can use to reduce spam.
Say you ended up on a page asking you to enter your name and email in order to download a gift. Some websites will honour the privacy policy but some may not, and they may share and sell your data, so be careful where you submit your emails. So limit the places you list emails.
Its also good to review any privacy policies of the websites where you leave your details so you know what they do with your data.
The best thing to do is have a few different email accounts, for example, only use your work email for work related activities. Have a private email, which is only for friends, family or people you want to allow to contact you. And then have a spam email, which you use only for sites where you submit your data, so you will have one inbox for all the junk. But bare in mind that over time this will become full up quick.
If you get newsletter, informative type of emails and you don’t want these, click the unsubscribe button and maybe even follow up with the sender to get your email removed. However if you do not recognise the email address DO NOT click any of the links, or unsubscribe or download or reply back, just delete it. Replying back just confirms you have an active email.
Don’t reply to spam and Don’t buy anything from a spammer. Don’t fall for scams
If you don’t recognise it don’t open it. Sometimes emails can be disguised as paypal or apple, so if you start to wonder what an email is about and anything that seems off , don’t reply to it.
If you want you could Run your emails via google or outlook. Even though you should be able to get an email address with your host and they have spam filters to reduce spam, having google, yahoo, outlook can reduce spam as they have very strict spam filters, from time to time even legit emails will fall into your spam/junk folders.
You could also Block images. Even if you don’t click any links, an image opening in your email can alert spammers to a live address, too.
Look at support desk softwares. If you are a small business you may want to just run your emails via a support desk program. You don’t need to use a web client as such. Using a cloud based support system could filter out unwanted messages too. You could bypass email altogether and tell your clients you can only support them vie a support desk so they have to login to submit tickets etc
Ensure you have junk filters switched on and filtering emails, once the junk folder fills up just delete it.
Adjusting the security settings in your web browser is also a good preventive measure. For a higher level of security, have your browser disallow:
– Accepting cookies
– Listing your name and other personal information in your browser profile
– Filling in form fields for you
As this will help reduce the amount of personal information transmitted to sites at the expense of full functionality, since many legitimate websites require you to accept cookies.
Anti virus live email scanning can help in pick up potential email treats, so do check your antivirus software. Do Detect and get rid of malware. It can be difficult to tell if a spammer has installed malware on your computer, but there are some warning signs:
– Your friends tell you about weird email messages they’ve received from you
– Your computer may operate more slowly or sluggishly
– You may find email messages in your sent folder that you didn’t send
Over all have a think about how your email may be used or is getting used online so use it wisely.
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