I have a business email address from a local ISP that is used for online correspondence with other business traders and that email address is only printed on my business cards. It is safe from those atrocious spams, I thought.
However, in not more than half a year, unsolicited emails begin to trickle into my computer inbox whenever I log in to check daily emails. It is frustrating and a definite concern because those spams may contain links that will install spywares like key loggers, trojans, viruses unknowingly when you click on them. In its true nature, these spams are just pure blatant product solicitations but with the gaining popularity of electronic transactions, you can no longer simply turn a blind eye to these electronic trashes thinking online mishaps will not happen to you. Personally, one of my online accounts was hacked into just because of one moment of carelessness and that is for clicking on one of the graphic images.
Some reasons why spams must be stopped:
* Risks of online security,
* Risks of receiving undesired emails,
* Hogging of precious online bandwidth, and,
* Wasted time to clear and delete the spams and junks.
Having a strategy to deal with email spam is essential for any online events. Here are some of the things that you should practise.
* Extra email addresses If you need to sign up for any online accounts, always sign up with an email address that is meant for this purpose. You will never know whether your email addresses will be sold to spammers or not. Also, spammers may be able to use web bots to comb through internet for emails and please do not leave your email address on your website.
* Do not click on any links in spam emails Spam emails have been professionally tuned to increase its chances of being opened by recipients by using attractive email subjects. Even if you open the email, it is still safe but please try not to click on any of the links inside that email. You are really jeopardising yourself as malware will be insidiouly installed in your computer and this makes it a zombie terminal that can be controlled by spammers and hackers. Many harmful activities can happen when these parasites get into your computer. It is therefore important that you have a good online malware scanner working at all times.
* Do not ever reply to spams There is always an innocent looking 'remove me' link at the bottom of the spam emails. DO NOT CLICK ON THAT. This is because spammers may be testing out which email addresses are still active and through this, you are exposing your email to the 'active' list of the spammers.
* Install anti-spam software or online security programs In the market, there are a few good anti-spam software that allows you to block, filter or kill spams from going to your inbox. What this does is that it will scan your incoming emails for the spam keywords that you have added and if the software detects that your incoming mails have these keywords, they will be deemed as spams and blocked. Total online security suites are even better as anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spamming right up to firewall are built in for you so that you have a complete peace of mind. Remember to always update these software regularly for new security signatures.
If you put the above suggestions into practice, you should be well shielded from the ill effects of spams.
