spam-mailbox

 

Everyone hates spam.  You know, those unsolicited emails that are sent to us and sometimes infected with viruses. Unfortunately, most of us receive them often. Spam has actually become an epidemic in the online world.  It represents over 80% of the emails received on Gmail, according to company data.

Fortunately for us, there are a variety of anti-spam filters out there. They block these annoying emails and therefore nullify their negative effects. Since this is something that many people have to deal with on a daily basis, it’s good to know how these tools work and how you can get rid of spam.

5 Methods You Can Use To Eliminate Spam Today

1. Use a Temporary Email Address

One of the easiest things you can do to stop spam is to create a disposable email address (also known as a fake, temporary, or alias email). Most individuals use their primary email addresses to sign up for accounts online.However, only a handful use a different email address to filter out spam.

A temporary email address will allow you to receive an email address (and an inbox too) for a couple of hours. This is great for those opt in offers in which you have to “click to verify.” With this email, you will be able to click the confirmation link, gain access to the offer, and never return to that email address again. Websites such as https://temp-mail.org/ allow you to do this on your web browser. It’s really easy.

2. Encrypt Your Email Address

Another way to protect your privacy on the web is to use an email encryption program, such as Enigmail. These tools allow you to encrypt your primary email address and offer you a variety of security upgrades that will protect your personal data. We do advise that to use these tools, you may need to be a bit tech-savvy. So it may be best to hire a pro.

3. Use a Secure Email Provider

There are many email providers out there that provide first-class security for free or for a small fee.  Most offer a safe VPN for browsing the web, smartphone email protection, and USB key e-mail entry.

4. Filter your Spam

If you are one of the many people who hate having an inbox full of spam, then you can create various filters that will place specific emails inside different inboxes.

This technique is great for organizing your email as well.  Not only will you put spam in its place, but you can separate important emails too (such as bills).

Here’s how spam filters work:

They function based off of keywords. So when you place specific keywords such as: “offer”, “buy now”, it will immediately transfer this email to a spam folder. Now, if you want to get fancy, you can use spam management software.  These programs evaluate the whole message. They analyze the server sending the email and the content itself.  IP addresses and email addresses that have been previously recognized as spammers are automatically blocked by these filters and sent to your spam folder.
Another way that spam is identified is through the message format.
Here are some things the filter looks for.

  • Fonts that are too big
  • Fonts that are too small
  • All capital letters
  • Colorful text
  • Text that contain excessive characters
  • Excess space
  • Email content that contains only an image.
  • Words such as “free”, “porn”, “viagra”, “buy now”
  • And so much more.

5. Unsubscribe

The methods above can seem overwhelming. And if the above steps are too much of an effort for you, then the simplest thing you can do is unsubscribe from newsletters and other forms of emails that stuff your inbox. All marketing emails come with a “remove from list” or “unsubscribe” button at the bottom. When you click this button, you are taken to a website where you will opt-in to an unsubscription list. Upon completion, you will stop receiving emails from that recipient.

Final Thoughts

After taking these steps, it is also important to review your actions. When you receive a very tempting offer, a very miraculous promise or see a friend “teaching you” a way to change the background color of your favorite social network, do not click on these strange, unknown, and unverified links.  After all, spammers are always innovating and presenting new ways to infect your computer and personal data.

What do you think about this article?  We’d love to hear your thoughts below.