How to Eliminate Spam

Check the sender. Spam often comes from unknown senders or is sent from unfamiliar email addresses. However, not every unfamiliar email is spam. Notifications, website administration emails (password resets, verification requests, etc.), and other content can also be sent from addresses you don’t recognize.

Check the links. Only click on links from trusted senders. The ultimate goal of spam is to get you to click on a link. If an email contains a link and you cannot identify the sender, it is likely spam. Hover over any link to check its destination in the browser or on the email client's status bar.

Check for spelling errors. Spam often contains typos or unusual word choices, including odd capitalization and punctuation. In many cases, they also include nonsensical text at the end of the message.

Read the email content. Any email claiming you have won a contest you never entered, offering you unclaimed money, or promising free electronics or pharmaceuticals is illegal. Emails requesting your password are also suspicious (legitimate websites always have automated password reset programs). Ignore any requests from strangers.

• Many email services have a preview feature, allowing you to read the content without opening the email.

Check attachments. Malware and viruses often disguise themselves as attachments. Never download attachments from senders you do not trust or do not expect to receive emails from.

Avoid publicly sharing your email address online. “Robots” (programs designed to harvest email addresses from websites) can quickly collect thousands of email addresses from sites where they are publicly displayed. Additionally, people sometimes use email addresses on websites to sign up for free items (iPods, ringtones, TVs, etc.).

Ensure your email address cannot be easily scraped. If you must provide contact information, do so creatively (e.g., me[at]yahoo[dot]com). There are many ways to display your email address that make it difficult for automated spam programs to exploit, such as using images for your email or employing dynamic JavaScript to display the address.

Do not use your email address as your username. Usernames are often public, and in such cases, determining your email is as simple as identifying the correct email service and appending the domain. This is even easier with services like Yahoo! Chat, where all users have @yahoo.com addresses. Avoid using chat rooms linked to your email address.

Use multiple email addresses to identify and eliminate spam sources. Create a primary account and then set up different accounts for various purposes (one for friends, one for entertainment sites, one for financial services, etc.).

• In Gmail, you can add a "+" to your address. For example, you can register for news updates using [email protected] if your email is [email protected].
• Set up forwarding to your primary account for all these addresses. This way, you don’t need to check multiple email accounts.
• If you start receiving spam on one of the secondary accounts, you can identify its source and easily resolve the issue by deactivating that account.

Never respond to spam. Replying or clicking on an “Unsubscribe” link will result in more spam, as it confirms your email address is active. The best approach is to report the spam and delete it using the steps below.

Block and report spam in Gmail. Most spam is automatically detected and moved to the Spam folder, where it is deleted after 30 days. If you believe there is spam in your inbox, select the box next to the email and click the “Report Spam” button in the toolbar above.

• If you accidentally report a legitimate email as spam, you can click the Undo link at the top of the page to restore it.
• Each time you report spam, Gmail’s automatic filtering system improves.
• If a valid email appears in your Spam folder, select it and click the “Not spam” button. Only do this if you are certain about the email.

Block and report spam in Yahoo! Mail. Yahoo! has a robust spam filter, and most spam is automatically moved to the Spam folder. If you believe your inbox contains spam, select the box next to the email and click the “Spam” button in the toolbar above.

• You can add senders and domains to the Blocked list. However, this may not be very effective, as spammers frequently change addresses or use temporary domains.

Block spam in Outlook. Outlook provides a Junk Filter, which is set to Low protection by default. This only blocks the most obvious spam and moves it to the Junk folder. You can increase the filter’s protection level by selecting the Home tab and clicking on Junk. Choose “Junk E-mail Options,” then go to the Options tab and set the filter to your desired level.

• Each protection level is explained. The High level may move legitimate emails to the Junk folder, so you should check it regularly.
• Install third-party spam-blocking software. There are many options for spam-filtering utilities for Outlook provided by third parties. These tools offer advanced filtering and anti-spam updates. Popular options include DesktopOne, SpamAid, and Spam Reader.

Report Spam. Before deleting, forward your spam to: [email protected]. This is the spam mailbox of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Emails sent here are investigated. If the email is indeed spam, the sender could be fined $500 per email. The more emails from the same spam source are reported by different users, the higher the chance the source will be investigated.

• You can also report spam to anti-spam organizations like SpamCop or KnujOn. These organizations report spam sources to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and government agencies.