5 Ways to Fight Spam and Protect Yourself
Introduction
Email is one of the easiest and most convenient channels for transferring information and sharing data with others. However, you often receive information or emails that contain malicious attachments or suspicious messages. Some email service providers filter such suspicious emails by adding the word “SPAM” to the subject line of the email to give the recipient junk or suspicious content. It is sent from the sender to a large number of recipients. Clicking on such a spam email link could lead the recipient to a phishing website or a website that downloads malware to the victim’s computer.
It’s not surprising that most of us find a lot of spam emails in our inbox, and believe it or not, your online behavior contributes to the spam messages you receive. Here are five easy ways to fight spam and protect yourself online.
1. Don’t Publish your Email Address
Remember that anyone can easily click to access the internet. This means that spammers are also lurking on the Internet, always looking for available email addresses to send spam emails to. Publishing your email address can allow others to spam you or, worse, hack your account if you use a weak password.
2. Think Before Clicking
Email service provider’s automatic email filters can mistakenly mark legitimate emails as spam emails due to their content (for example, emails contain -Mail hyperlinks). However, in most cases, emails marked “SPAM” or redirected to the spam folder in your mailbox will be sent by spammers. Spam messages typically include the availability of cheap prescription drugs, advertisements for new drugs, the status of packages from shipping companies etc. Carefully check the content of the spam email before opening the attachment (even if it looks like a harmless text or image file) or clicking on a hyperlink. Please refrain from downloading the content of such emails that have been blocked by your email service provider.
3. Don’t Reply to Spam Messages
Almost all spam messages are malicious emails of unknown origin. These sources could be hackers who want to hack the victim’s computer. Please do not reply to spam messages. When you reply, the spammer is notified that your email address is active, increasing the chances that your email will be constantly attacked by the spammer.
4. Downloading Anti-Spam Filtering Tools and Antivirus Software
Anti-spam filtering tools and antivirus software help you scan incoming emails to detect malware. If the email you receive contains malware, the malicious content will be quarantined and cannot be opened. This reduces the chance of malware infecting your computer via email. Therefore, to reduce the problem of decrypting email content, choose anti-spam filtering tools and antivirus software with such features.
5. Avoid Using Personal or Business Email Addresses
Do not use personal or business email addresses when registering for online contests or when registering for services such as job applications, transaction renewals, etc. Many spammers monitor these groups or email lists to collect new email addresses.
Conclusion
There are many ways to avoid being a victim of spam messages. But the most important thing is to be careful when opening an email. Always make sure that the email you open is from a trusted source and doesn’t seem suspicious. Follow such simple steps to ensure that your email and contents stay protected from all sorts of cyber attacks.
