Spam Protection

It can often seem that you receive more emails advertising Viagra or get-rich-quick schemes than from people you actually know.

Unfortunately this perception is probably accurate.

Spam emails that you didn’t ask for, and certainly don’t want, account for around 80% of emails sent worldwide every day. This equates to about 6.5 billion daily.

Spammers sometimes send the same email to as many as 50 million people and get addresses by buying lists, searching websites or abusing facilities on a web browser.

Under UK legislation, senders are sometimes allowed to send marketing emails unless the recipient chooses to opt out. However, most spam originates outside the UK, which means the senders are not subject to UK law.

Vital to have a spam filter

The US is the largest source of spam with a quarter of spam originating there. China is second with 20%, while South Korea is third.

Not only are these emails annoying but sometimes they can contain viruses. So it’s worth trying any tactic possible to stop them clogging your business inbox.

When you’re running your business it’s vital to have a spam filter and to keep it up to date.

Spam protection comes with most free online accounts, although you may decide to try one of the many other anti-spam programs on the market. The Review Centre has a useful consumer review section.

Spam software scans all emails sent to your mailbox, filtering unsolicited commercial emails so that you can decide whether to delete them or not. It is important you have this option, because the software can sometimes filter legitimate emails.

Ways to protect yourself:

Never make a purchase via a spam email, or even register an interest. Any details you give are liable to be passed on to other spammers – resulting in more junk mail.

Never subscribe to anything via a spam email, even if offers a link for you to unsubscribe. Clicking on it might not unsubscribe you, and instead confirm to the spammer that your email address is active.

If you see an email in your inbox and you don’t recognise the sender or the subject – delete it. Although most spam is merely annoying, some contains a virus that is activated when the email is opened.

Never publish your email address on the internet, such as on websites or public forums.

Consider having secondary email addresses. For example, if you fill in an online form and it asks for an email address, then supply them with a secondary address so that your main address is protected.

Finally, don’t use the preview mode on your email viewer. Most spammers can track when a message is viewed and lets them know when you receive their messages.