Techniques That Help to Maintain a Spam-Free Inbox

Handling spam is a big concern for all email users because it hampers the use of the email account in more ways than one. Spams crowding the inbox are a big nuisance because de-cluttering the inbox and keeping it spam-free is no easy task as it eats into your valuable time. Besides being annoying due to its irrelevant content, spams are so imposing that you cannot afford to ignore it as it makes your inbox cluttered and hard to work with. 

Using spam filters help to control the flow to some extent, but there is no way to stop spam as senders keep sending it relentlessly by using some automated process.  To protect your personal information and reduce the flow of spam, it is better to use a temporary email address when interacting with some unknown or doubtful entity.  Since this email address does not contain any personal information, you need not worry about its misuse.  

Spams are Not Only Bad but Dangerous

There are three disturbing aspects of spam. Firstly, spams are an irrelevant and unsolicited emails that disturb and distract the recipients, causing many discomforts when using the email account. Secondly, spams infringe on the privacy of the recipients due to its intrusive nature, which is also a reason for disliking it. Thirdly, spammers have a hidden agenda of stealing personal information by luring the recipients to click on it and, in the process, steal personal information without the recipient’s knowledge. Although it is a criminal act, it is never easy to book spammers for their wrongdoing because they can conceal their identity and evade the long arm of the law.

Need for Identifying Spams 

Although using a disposable email address can help counter the threat to personal information and even reduce the flow of spam, it is never possible to stop the flow of spam completely. To check the spam that reaches your inbox, the email service providers use spam filters to identify spam and direct it to the spam folder. Yet, some spam would still escape the net and reach your inbox. If you can spot the spam and mark it once, the email system’s filter would take care of such emails in the future and prevent them from going to your inbox.

Also Read: How to Configure Spam Filter Settings on SBCGLOBAL Email

How to Identify Spams

There are several ways to identify spam by looking at the sender’s address, the subject line, the quality of content, etc.

• The Sender’s Address – Email addresses usually follow some typical pattern that every email user is aware of. All senders want to reveal their identity to know who the sender is and find reasons to open the email quickly. Therefore, the prevailing norm is inserting the name or the initials in the email address for easy recognition. But most spams have queer and complex addresses that do not make any sense. For example, bstfnu286@moy.com or lgmtdeals@rmi.com could be spam as it deviates from the usual norm of email addresses and might have some dubious entity behind it.  

• The Subject Line – Anything that seems too good like prize money and gifts, an advertisement for some odd medications of different types, threats to block your email address, or promises a tour into the private lives of celebrities are spam. 

• No Real Name – If your name finds mention in the email, check the correctness of the style and spelling because any mistake in the name indicates that it is from a dubious source and nothing but spam. Even if the sender fakes the email address of a genuine company, the wrongly spelled name should make you doubtful about the genuineness of the email.

•  The Content – Even if the subject line might seem trustworthy, the quality of content can prove that it is spam because of the spelling and grammatical errors that are pretty glaring. Creating an impressive message is the objective of any genuine sender who tries to maintain a good standard of writing by avoiding any mistake. However, spammers are more interested in making users open the email to fulfill their ulterior motives of stealing personal data or engaging in some other damaging activities like identity theft. 

• Sharing Personal Information – Although spammers use sophisticated means like phishing to extract personal information that can compel users to share their personal information, many others would even directly request confirmation of some of your details. If the email asks you to confirm your credit card details, social security number, or any other sensitive information that genuine authorities would usually not ask for openly, this message is typical spam.

Even without going into minute details of every aspect of the email, if you feel that it sounds too good to be true, you should definitively mark it as spam.  It will help you filter your emails.

Share