How To Junk Your Junk Email

Spam is considered unsolicited emails and junk mail sent electronically. Many people think these spam or junk email messages are a nuisance, but not harmful. These messages can be harmful though, because they sometimes contain viruses or include a link to a page that has a virus on it. The only thing the recipient can do is learn how to stop those messages.

 

The first thing people need to realize is that they should never respond to the message. Even if the message includes an option to “opt out” or remove themselves from the mailing list, they shouldn’t use that option. The sender has no idea if their emails are going out to real people or not because they usually buy the lists from sellers. By clicking on the opt-out option, they let the sender know that a human received the message. This usually results in even more junk mail appearing in their inbox which makes it difficult for companies who specialize in archiving emails to create filters.

 

A good rule of thumb is to delete email from an unknown sender, or mark it as spam. Most email accounts now have this option including Yahoo! Mail and g-mail from Google. Simply click the box next to the email and check the button that says “mark as spam”. This sends the message and any future emails from that same address directly into the bulk or junk mail folder.

 

If the situation gets out of hand, or if the recipient just grows tired of seeing their inbox fill with spam mail, they can report the sender. Most companies, including Time Warner, Comcast, and Insight Media, respond to customer complaints regarding spam. Customers should look on the company’s website for the contact us form and fill out a report about the spam. They should include the sender’s email address and any other identifying characteristics.

 

Those receiving a lot of junk and spam mail can also respond to the FTC or Federal Trade Commission. This group is devoted to protecting Americans from scams and offer alerts on specific issues currently facing citizens. They are especially interested in those scam emails that ask for money such as the famous Nigerian scam. Any emails of this sort should be reported to them.

 

Some may also want to consider reporting the junk mail to the U.S. Department of Justice, with the link listed below. The Department of Justice wants citizens to report any solicitous junk mail. This includes the messages that ask for personal information like bank account numbers. This may be indicative of a greater threat or problem.

 

For more information on protecting against junk mail check out:

 

How to Protect Against SPAM Podcast

Fight SPAM On the Internet

Report Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail to the Department of Justice

Report SPAM to the FTC

Report SPAM Websites to Google

How to Report SPAM

How to Protect Against Spam Scams

How to Protect Against Spam

Stop Spam

Do-it-yourself: Stop junk mail, email and phone calls