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What is Spam Email and How to Stop it?

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What is Spam Email

Have you ever wondered what is spam email? How does it work? Why do I get so much of it? In a word or two, email spam is junk email. Now that you are here, ask yourself: There is no straightforward solution to stopping spam emails from being lodged in your inbox, but it can be minimized. 

Having a constantly stuffed inbox can be frustrating. But unsolicited emails (useless and scammy emails) might also cost your business money in the long run.

Let’s look at what is a spam email and how you can stop it so that you can have your cake and eat it too.

What Is Spam Email?

Email Spam has been around for a long time, and it’s not going away anytime soon.

In July 2021, 283 billion out of 336.41 billion emails were spam, which was the highest level of spam from 2020 to 2021.

Email Spam is junk email that is sent to a large number of recipients, unsolicited, for advertising or phishing. Spam messages are often sent en masse by software that automatically generates and sends emails. However, spammers can also use “human spam” — real people who manually send out millions of messages per day.

The most common types of Email spam are:

  • Commercial Advertising – Messages that promote commercial products or services in exchange for compensation from the advertiser. This type of spam may include links to websites with similar content or offers for products and services not directly related to your interests.
  • Malware/Virus – Viruses are malicious programs designed to infect your system and steal personal information; malware usually refers to programs designed to damage computer systems without direct user interaction (such as viruses).
  • Lottery/prize spam: This type of spam claims you have won a prize, like a lottery, and asks you to provide personal details like your bank account number, etc.
  • Stock spam: It is about Stock or other investment opportunities. Spammers send emails promoting a “sure thing” stock or other investment opportunities.
  • Pump-and-dump spam: A type of stock spam in which the spammer promotes a stock through false or misleading statements to drive up the Stock’s price and then sells the Stock at a higher price.
  • Phishing – Fraudulent messages are designed to trick you into revealing private information about yourself or your financial accounts so criminals can use it for their own purposes.

Related Read: Phishing vs Spam 

Spamming has become a problem for email users because it can fill up inboxes with unwanted messages and clutter them with irrelevant information. 

Spammers often use automated programs (called bots) to send thousands or millions of emails at once — this means that some emails are likely to end up in your inbox even if you never signed up for any mailing lists or promotions from that company.

What Is Spam Folder in Email?

Email Spam is a term that describes unwanted emails; the folder where those emails go is called the spam folder. The Email spam folder stores all the unwanted emails, which are automatically moved to this folder by email client software such as Outlook, Gmail, etc.

An email spam filter is a software that helps filter out spam emails from your inbox and move them to the spam folder. It uses various filters like keywords, sender’s address, subject line, etc., to sort out spam emails from genuine ones.

This Is What Happens When You Reply to Spam Email

Replying to spam emails is generally not recommended, as it can confirm to the sender that your email address is active, which can lead to receiving more spam in the future. Additionally, replying to spam emails can put your computer at risk for malware or viruses.

Some other situations might occur when you respond to email spam:

  • The spammer sends more junk mail with similar subject lines and body text as before
  • The spammer uses more sophisticated methods to get around filters and block lists (like sending messages from Gmail addresses instead of Yahoo addresses).
  • Other spammers start using similar subject lines and body text as the original spammer because they know it works well enough that people open it up and click on links inside the email anyway.
  • The volume of unsolicited messages increases until it becomes overwhelming for anyone who receives even one or two pieces of junk mail per day — which is most people on Earth today!

What Is the Danger of Spam and Junk Email?

The dangers of spam and junk email range from high business costs to consumer identity theft.

Suppose you’re not careful about what you click on in emails from unknown senders. In that case, your computer could become infected with malware or viruses that can steal personal information such as passwords, bank account numbers, and credit card numbers.

You might even find yourself receiving phishing emails that look like they come from legitimate companies — but contain malicious links that take you to a malicious website where criminals try to steal your personal information.

How To Fight With Spam Email?

Email spam can be a major email security concern, as it can be used to spread malware, steal personal information, and conduct phishing scams. Spammers often use various tactics to evade spam filters, such as using images instead of text or real addresses that have been compromised.

Don’t worry — there are steps you can take to minimize email spam.

To combat spam and protect email security, several different methods are used:

Protect Your Domain With DMARC

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting & Conformance) is an email authentication system that helps protect your domain from phishing and spoofing attacks. It does so by verifying the origin of email messages that claim to be coming from your domain. If not, the protocol can then put instructions for the receiving server to take no action, reject or quarantine the spam emails.

DMARC is a security protocol that enhances email authentication by using two established methods, SPF and DKIM, to validate the authenticity of emails. 

When set to enforcement mode, the implementation of DMARC office 365 can provide a strong defense against impersonation attempts and direct-domain spoofing, providing a high level of protection to Office 365 users without relying solely on Microsoft’s integrated security filters.

Don’t Share Your Email Too Widely

If you give out your email address to someone, they can use it to send you spam. To avoid getting spammed this way, only share your address with people you know well and trust — or better yet, don’t share it!

Block Spam Email Addresses

Use an email service that allows you to block certain addresses from sending you emails. For example, if someone sends you spam from a certain address every day, add that address to your blocked list so it won’t appear in your inbox again.

Steps to Block Spam Emails on Gmail

  • Open Gmail > Inbox.
  • Click More in the top right corner.
  • Click Block [Sender].

Steps to Block Spam Emails on Outlook

  • Choose the messages or senders that you wish to block.
  • Select Junk > Block (or Spam > Block) from the toolbar in the upper-right corner.
  • Choose OK.

Scrutinize Messages

Scrutinize messages before opening them or clicking on links inside them. Suppose an email contains spelling mistakes or looks like it was written by someone who doesn’t speak English well. In that case, it may be a scammer trying to lure you into handing over personal information or clicking on links that could harm your computer (for example, by installing ransomware).

Final Words

So here’s everything about what is spam email.

The best way to handle spam email is to prevent it from getting into your inbox in the first place. Always be wary of sending out your personal information through forms anywhere on the web. Be sure to regularly remove yourself from any available mailing lists you do not wish to receive emails from.

  • About
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Ahona Rudra
Digital Marketing & Content Writer Manager at PowerDMARC
Ahona works as a Digital Marketing and Content Writer Manager at PowerDMARC. She is a passionate writer, blogger, and marketing specialist in cybersecurity and information technology.
Latest posts by Ahona Rudra (see all)
  • What is Spam Email and How to Stop it? - January 25, 2023
  • How to Fix the “DKIM Signature is Not Valid” Error? - January 24, 2023
  • European Commission recommends DMARC for Email Communication Security - January 20, 2023
January 25, 2023/by Ahona Rudra
Tags: this is what happens when you reply to spam email, what is a spam email, what is email spam, what is spam email, what is spam folder in email, what is the danger of spam and junk email
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https://powerdmarc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/What-Is-Spam-Email-and-How-To-Stop-It.jpg 404 594 Ahona Rudra https://powerdmarc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/black-powerdmarc-logo.png Ahona Rudra2023-01-25 02:30:572023-01-25 16:19:31What is Spam Email and How to Stop it?

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Last Modified Date: 20th Jan 2020

Privacy Policy

We understand that your privacy is important to you and that you care about how your personal data is used. We respect and value the privacy of all of our customers and will only collect and use personal data in ways that are described here, in our Cookies Policy and in our Terms of Use, and in a way that is consistent with our obligations and your rights under the law.

This policy together with our Terms of Use and any other agreement between you and us and sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed.

1. What does this Policy cover?
This Privacy Information explains how we use your personal data: how it is collected, how it is held, and how it is processed. It also explains your rights under the law relating to your personal data.

2. What is Personal Data?
Personal data is defined by the General Data Protection Regulation (EU Regulation 2016/679) (the “GDPR”) as ‘any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified in particular by reference to an identifier’.

Personal data is, in simpler terms, any information about you that enables you to be identified. Personal data covers obvious information such as your name and contact details, but it also covers less obvious information such as identification numbers, electronic location data, and other online identifiers.

The personal data that we use is set out in Section 4, below.

3. What are my rights?
Under the GDPR, if you are a resident in the EEA, you have the following rights, which we will always work to uphold:

The right to be informed about our collection and use of your personal data. This Privacy Notice should tell you everything you need to know, but you can always contact us to find out more or to ask any questions using the details in Section 10.

The right to access the personal data we hold about you. Section 9 will tell you how to do this.

The right to have your personal data rectified if any of your personal data held by us is inaccurate or incomplete. Please contact us using the details in Section 10 to find out more.

The right to be forgotten, i.e. the right to ask us to delete or otherwise dispose of any of your personal data that we have. Please contact us using the details in Section 10 to find out more.
The right to restrict (i.e. prevent) the processing of your personal data.

The right to object to us using your personal data for a particular purpose or purposes.

The right to data portability. This means that you can ask us for a copy of your personal data held by us to re-use with another service or business in many cases.

Rights relating to automated decision-making and profiling. We do not use your personal data in this way.

For more information about our use of your personal data or exercising your rights as outlined above, please contact us using the details provided in Section 10.

4. What Personal Data do you collect?
We may collect some or all of the following personal data (this may vary according to your relationship with us:

Name;
Address;
Email address;
Telephone number;
Business name;
Job title;
Profession;
Payment information;
Location information;
Information provided by third parties;
Information about how you access and use our services (e.g.: pages visited, referral website);
Information about your device (e.g.: anonymized IP address, type of device);
Comments and opinions that you express when you contact us via email, phone or chat.

5. How is my personal data used?
Under the GDPR, we must always have a lawful basis for using personal data. This may be because the data is necessary for our performance of a contract with you, because you have consented to our use of your personal data, or because it is in our legitimate business interests to use it. Your personal data will be used for the following purposes:

Providing and managing your account (legal basis: contractual).
Supplying our products and services to you. Your personal details are required in order for us to enter into a contract with you (legal basis: contractual).

Personalising, improving and tailoring our products and services for you (legal basis: legitimate interests).

Communicating with you. This may include responding to emails or calls from you (legal basis: contractual and legitimate interests).

Supplying you with information by email or post that you have opted-in to. You may unsubscribe or opt-out at any time by updating your communication preferences in the user profile page of your product or by clicking the unsubscribe link in our emails to you (legal basis: legitimate interests).

With your permission and/or where permitted by law, we may also use your personal data for marketing purposes, which may include contacting you by email or telephone or post with information, news, and offers on our products and services. You will not be sent any unlawful marketing or spam. We will always work to fully protect your rights and comply with our obligations under the GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, and you will always have the opportunity to opt-out.

6. For how long will you keep my personal data?
We will not keep your personal data for any longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected. Your personal data will therefore be kept for the following periods (or, where there is no fixed period, the following factors will be used to determine how long it is kept):

We will use and store your personal data for as long as it is necessary to provide our service to you and for the purpose of satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements. Thereafter we will only keep data in anonymised form so that it can no longer be associated with you to help improve our products and services;

if you are not a customer and we have your personal data for the purpose of communicating with you we will use it and store it until either you let us know that you no longer want to receive communications from us or for a period of up to 24 months;

7. How and Where do you store my personal data?
We may store or transfer some or all of your personal data in countries that are not part of the European Economic Area (the “EEA” consists of all EU member states, plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein). These are known as “third countries” and may not have data protection laws that are as strong as those in the UK and/or the EEA. This means that we will take additional steps in order to ensure that your personal data is treated just as safely and securely as it would be within the UK and under the GDPR including:

Having a GDPR-compatible Data Processing Addendum with sub-processors in third countries;
Making sure that such sub-processors have adequate security procedures in place.
The security of your personal data is essential to us, and to protect your data, we take a number of important measures, including the following:

· Encrypting your data while it is in transit;
· Where possible, encrypting your data when it is stored;
· Yearly independent reviews of our security processes and procedures via our ISO27001 certification.

8. Do you share my personal data?
We may sometimes contract with the following third parties to supply products and services to you on our behalf. These may include payment processing, delivery, and marketing. In some cases, those third parties may require access to some or all of your personal data that we hold. You can check the list of sub processors here.

If any of your personal data is required by a third party, as described above, we will take steps to ensure that your personal data is handled safely, securely, and in accordance with your rights, our obligations, and the third party’s obligations under the law.

We may sometimes contract with third parties (as described above) that are located outside of the European Economic Area (the “EEA” consists of all EU member states, plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein). If any personal data is transferred to a third party outside of the EEA, we will take suitable steps in order to ensure that your personal data is treated just as safely and securely as it would be under the GDPR, as explained above in Section 7.

In some limited circumstances, we may be legally required to share certain personal data, which might include yours, if we are involved in legal proceedings or complying with legal obligations, a court order, or the instructions of a government authority.

9. How can I access my personal data?
If you want to know what personal data we have about you, you can ask us for details of that personal data and for a copy of it (where any such personal data is held). This is known as a “subject access request”.

All subject access requests should be made in writing and sent to the email or postal addresses shown in Section 10.

There is not normally any charge for a subject access request. If your request is ‘manifestly unfounded or excessive’ (for example, if you make repetitive requests) a fee may be charged to cover our administrative costs in responding.

We will respond to your subject access request within 21 days and, in any case, not more than one month of receiving it. Normally, we aim to provide a complete response, including a copy of your personal data within that time. In some cases, however, particularly if your request is more complex, more time may be required up to a maximum of three months from the date we receive your request. You will be kept fully informed of our progress.

10. How can I contact you?
To contact us about anything to do with your personal data and data protection, including to make a subject access request, visit the contact us page

11. Changes to this Privacy NoticeWe may change this Privacy Notice from time to time. This may be necessary, for example, if the law changes, or if we change our business in a way that affects personal data protection.

Any changes will be made available here and where applicable we might also notify you via email and/or in our products

Version 1.0, 15 January 2020

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