Junk Mail Problems

Junk mail is a common problem for e-mail users around the world.

There is nothing worse than opening your email box and downloading messages only to realize that much of it is unsolicited messages and advertisements for products and services that you may care nothing for or, worse, find offensive. Understanding what junk mail is and how it gets to your mailbox will help you deal with and prevent future junk mail.

Definition

Junk mail, also called spam, is unsolicited mail. As long as someone has your e-mail address, they can send you junk mail. As the name implies, junk mail often has no value to the recipient. The content of junk mail varies greatly and is dependent on the person or organization sending it. Junk mail often contains advertisements for adult-oriented sites, get rich quick or other suspicious scams.

Recognizing Junk Mail

Junk mail is often generated by programs called bots and usually contains certain characteristics that give it away as junk mail. Bots often use nonsense strings of letters and numbers to create their email user names. Bad grammar and misspelled words are also very common. Junk mail may also contain one or more links, which may also be made up of nonsense strings of letters and numbers.

Dangers

Junk mail can contain links that send you to a site that can download malicious information to your computer in the form of adware, spyware or even viruses. Always read any suspicious e-mail carefully and remember that a legitimate company will never ask for your personal information, including passwords, over e-mail.

Protecting your Email Address

Before giving your e-mail address out, online or otherwise, check to see what the person will be using your e-mail address for. Companies will usually allow you to choose whether you want to receive e-mail from them regarding offers. Check also to see whether or not the company agrees not to sell your information to a third party, otherwise you run the risk of receiving unsolicited mail from anyone they sell your e-mail address to.

Spam Filters

Many ISPs and web mail providers have spam filters on their mail servers to help catch and delete junk mail before it reaches your inbox. You can also install spam filters on your computer's e-mail client. Be forewarned that spam filters may occasionally mark legitimate mail, so it is a good idea to review your junk mail folder regularly to make sure you are not deleting any legitimate messages.

References

• Federal Trade Commission: Spam

Resources

• Fight Spam on the Internet