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Stopping Spam Emails


​The good news:  email studies show that the volume of spam is slowly on the decline (down from about 65% of all email sent in 2014,  to about 55% today.)

The bad news:  that still means that over HALF of all emails sent are spam.  Estimates put the total number of emails sent-  every day –  at around 205 billion.  That leaves us with about 112 billion pieces of spam sent.  That’s enough to supply every man, women and child on the planet today with about 15 pieces of spam every day.  And if you’re like most people, you are likely getting more than your fair share.

Fighting spam is a never ending battle- and much of the advice that was around ten years ago still applies today:

– Use a spam filtering service to stop spam before it gets to your inbox.  This is a must in business environments-  just make sure to keep watch for false positives!  Know that while these services can greatly reduce the spam that you receive,  some spam will always get through.

 Do NOT click on any links or open attachments.  While some spam  is from legitimate companies-  often malware gets delivered via email that looks like email from real companies.

– Do NOT click on the ‘unsubscribe’ link–  this will not get the spammer to stop,  In fact, it confirms to the spammer he has a ‘live’  email account.  Which gets you even more spam.

– Don’t submit your email address to websites unless you know they are legit.  I also avoid giving my address to ‘box’ stores as well.  Many retail stores now ask for your email address when you check out-  giving it out will be a sure way to increase your spam count!

– Make sure your spam filtering service includes out-going filtering to protect you against malware or viruses sending spam out from your accounts.   Getting listed as a possible source of spam will result in your outgoing email being rejected and can take days to fully clear up.

While email continues to be an incredibly valuable tool for communication,  spam does not have to take over your inbox if you adopt these few habits.


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