Why you should never, ever delete your spam email

Spam and phishing emails are a frustrating part of everyday life that everyone likely recognizes and finds irritating. These unwelcome messages frequently fill up your inbox and necessitate tedious deletion or filtering. Even worse, those who act carelessly risk becoming targets for scammers. However, as odd as it may seem, spam emails can actually provide valuable information to the potential victims that scammers are after, which is why they shouldn’t be deleted.

Reasons to keep spam emails

All major email services are increasingly relying on sophisticated and adaptive spam filters that are improving in their ability to differentiate between desirable and undesirable emails. An essential requirement for this learning process is that the software must have practice data, and spam mails serve exactly this purpose.

Rather than simply deleting spam messages, we suggest you take the following actions:

• If you utilize an email client such as Outlook or Thunderbird: Please manually mark relevant messages as spam (or “junk”) if your email application hasn’t already categorized them. This practice will help train the software’s spam filter, hopefully resulting in fewer annoying spam emails in the future as the automatic filter becomes more effective.
• If you check emails via a web browser: Depending on your provider, there are various ways to mark unwanted messages as spam. You only need to take this action if the junk emails appear among your regular emails in the inbox and aren’t already in the spam folder. You can select such messages in the inbox (by ticking the box) and send them directly to the spam folder using the “Spam” or “Junk” option in the menu. This can also be done with individual (opened) emails, where the option to move them to the spam folder may be found via a “Move” button above the message text.
• These practices, both personally and professionally, can lead to less junk mail in the long run. It can also result in faster blacklisting of the senders of such messages. If you use a shared mail server at work, you might be doing your colleagues a favor by preventing them from dealing with the same scam emails that you’ve already identified and marked as spam.

Helpful Tip: Junk mail is typically automatically erased from the associated folders after a 30-day period. Therefore, concerns about storage space are rarely an issue, even if messages aren’t manually deleted. If your junk folder doesn’t automatically clear, consider emptying its contents yourself once a month.

Warning: Avoid unsubscribing from spam emails

Numerous email providers and clients now offer a simple method to unsubscribe from unwanted promotional emails, newsletters, and similar content with a quick click right in your inbox. This feature is helpful if you want to remove yourself from mailing lists without the hassle of deleting manually or if the advertising does not interest you.

However, this well-meaning feature carries a risk, particularly with fraudulent messages. By using it, you inadvertently notify the sender that your email address exists and is actively monitored.

Spam scammers send out millions of emails daily, often indiscriminately targeting randomly generated email addresses. They typically do not know whether the accounts they contact are valid or if anyone reads their messages—until someone clicks the unsubscribe link. When users do this, it indicates a request to stop sending emails to that address, prompting scammers to do the exact opposite.

Some useful suggestions

By following a few straightforward guidelines, you can enhance your protection against spam and scams online.

• Exercise caution: It may seem like a simple piece of advice, but it could have saved many from becoming victims of cybercrime. Whenever you have doubts about a sender or the content of new messages, it’s wise to be skeptical and, if uncertain, to assume that a scam is underway. This especially holds true for requests involving payment or personal data.
• Stay composed: If someone urges you to act swiftly (and thus hastily) in an apparently urgent email, you should raise your suspicion. Reputable companies do not pressure customers and do not immediately threaten reminders if requests are not complied with promptly.
• Steer clear of links in emails: If you are instructed to click on a link in a message, it may be wiser to navigate to the relevant websites yourself. You can either type the URL into your browser (if you know it) or use Google to locate the page you need.
• Do not open attachments from unknown sources: Steer clear of suspicious emails with attachments. Malware can be embedded in Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, or even image files. Executable files (EXE) or archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.) should be avoided as well. HTML files should also be treated cautiously since they may link to insecure sites.
• Digital protectors: Using anti-spam and anti-virus software keeps you safe. Spammers and scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Even seasoned users can fall victim to these bold criminals. To enhance your protection, consider utilizing professional software, which complicates matters for online wrongdoers.

Spam emails are more than just a nuisance. A spam email consists of unsolicited bulk messages sent online without regard for the recipient. These emails may seem to come from friends or organizations but are actually fraudulent and harmful.

The most prevalent type of spam email is phishing scams. These attempts aim to extract personal information such as social security numbers, usernames, and passwords. The emails might appear to originate from your bank, credit card company, employer, or other well-known brands (like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, etc.).

Spam can also entail offers for products that the recipient has no desire to purchase (like diet pills). However, similar to phone numbers, if you wish to engage in any online activity, you must provide your email address.

How to handle spam emails:

To reduce the effects of spam, refrain from opening messages that seem off. Avoid clicking on suspicious links or attachments. Be cautious with links in emails, even from expected sources. Unsubscribe links can sometimes be dubious. Always check the URL by hovering over it or searching for the website and accessing it directly. Attackers may use .org instead of .com, or insert .com in the middle of a URL, obscuring the true domain.

Furthermore, never open unexpected attachments as they might harbor malware. If in doubt, reach out to the email sender before accessing the content.

If you suspect an email from your bank or credit card company is questionable, verify through multiple channels. For instance, if you receive an email asking for sensitive information or payment, call using the number on the back of your credit card (not the one in the email) to confirm its authenticity.

How to prevent a hack on your email address: To shield your emails from unauthorized access, create pass-phrases—a memorable sentence that includes numbers and special characters—as your password. Pass-phrases can be as robust as traditional passwords but easier to recall. Just ensure you don’t use the same pass-phrase across different platforms. Whenever possible, enable two-factor authentication. It is one of the most effective security measures you can employ to safeguard your account against breaches. Lastly, do not replicate passwords or variations for other online accounts.

Avoid utilizing public Wi-Fi, particularly when conducting financial transactions or using social media accounts. If public Wi-Fi is necessary, consider employing a virtual private network for an additional security layer. Another excellent security measure is to use a VPN to prevent hackers from tracing your computer’s location.

Stay alert about your online activities. Phishing scams can capture all the information a hacker needs to access your accounts, so you must never engage with suspicious links. For example, it’s typical for hackers to send emails that appear to come from a trusted company, requesting your password or other personal details.

If you discover that your email has been compromised or observe unusual activity, take immediate steps to protect your personal information and other accounts.