Junk mail, unsolicited email, bulk mail, and email spam are the number one concern when it comes to email. In spite of mail filters and other anti-spam measures in place, a lot of them still manage to make it into your email.

Don’t you just hate spending a lot of time trying to figure out which emails are real and which ones are spam? Often, you will have to go through every single unread email just to determine real ones from spam. Spam is a serious problem.

As much as everybody hates spam, there is still no kill switch to stop it. Spammers, or the people that send out this spam continuously find ways to bypass anti-spam filters.

Avoiding Email Spam

Don’t you wonder how spam finds its way into your inbox? Well, there are a lot of ways, and it is somehow your indirect fault. Here are some tips to avoid getting spam.

Avoid publishing your email address

A lot of us use forums and websites voluntarily publish email addresses, especially in public websites. Spammers make custom programs that harvest these email addresses that are posted, and surprise! Spam! If you really need to post your email address as a means of contact, then obfuscate it. For example, your email is johndoe@yahoo.com, type it as johndoe[at]yahoo[dot]com, or something similar. It is still readable to humans, but automated scripts or programs won’t detect it.

Avoid Free Email Offers or Services

The word “free” is really catchy. It is an effective marketing strategy when one says the service is “free”. Of course there is always a catch, and sometimes, it’s at your expense. This does not mean that every free service will send you spam or sell your email address to spammers. It is just a matter of being careful. When signing up, make sure you read the fine print first before signing up. Sometimes you “allow” spam by not minding the details of the service and just signing up.

Create Multiple Email Accounts

Never use your personal or office email when signing up for something, especially free services. Even if you found nothing suspicious with the agreement, the company may get hacked or secretly sell your email to spammers. There are a lot of services that offer free web-based email accounts. Create an account and use that when publishing your email on websites or when signing up for services. You may not avoid getting spam in there, but at least it is not in your main email account.

Spam often spoofs or disguises itself as a legitimate sender. However, there are telltale signs that an email message is spam.

• The word “Free” is used.
• It says you won something (money, gadgets, cheap watches, etc.), even if you don’t remember signing up for a promo.
• It contains something to do with sex or anything of adult content, prescription drugs, and jewelry.
• Bad grammar or spelling.
• Uses weird and random characters or letters.
• Job offers from either well-known companies but you don’t remember applying, or dubious or never-heard type of companies.
• Discount or wholesale items being sold dirt cheap.

When you see such messages in your mail, never open them, and definitely never reply to it. Spam is mass-mailed to lists, and replying to it will prove that your account is active. When that happens, more spam is sent to you.

The Dangers of Email Spam

Spam is not just a ridiculous marketing attempt and a nuisance in your email. Spam can also contain viruses, spyware, or other types of malware that can put your security and privacy in jeopardy.

Identity theft, phishing, and spyware use unsolicited emails to reach their victims, so it is possible that there is at least one spam message in your email that may compromise your computer. (Learn how to detect spyware.)

Though email providers are doing their best to lessen the volume of spam received, you still have to do your part in protecting yourself from the threats that spam can bring. Knowing that this threat can do so much damage, you really must be very careful by practicing safe Internet usage or surfing. For more information regarding this article, read how to get rid of Email Spam.

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