Spam messages can fall into one of two categories:
- Slightly annoying
- Downright dangerous
The problem with spam is that you never truly know which of these categories the message falls into until you click on it to learn more. Additionally, spam can start off as something innocuous that then transcends and evolves into a full-blown scam. It seems as though you can go months or years without receiving any spam, but then all of a sudden you’re hit with message after message.
Why does this happen, and can you put a stop to it?
Explaining Spam Messages
What is considered a “spam” message? Unlike scams, spam doesn’t have to be harmful and can be something as simple as promotional marketing emails from companies you’ve never interacted with. The general description, according to security experts Norton, is that spam is:
“An unsolicited, unwanted message that is often sent to many recipients in bulk.”
In other words, it’s a message that you’ve not agreed to receive, and it usually provides no value to you at all. Spam will typically be sent to thousands of people at the same time – and it tends to have one clear goal: to force you to interact with the message. Again, as noted earlier, this isn’t always harmful and the goal of spam marketing emails is often to try and coax you into buying a product or signing up for something.
Then you have genuinely harmful spam messages that fall into the scam category, and these are designed to hurt you in some way or another. Phishing scams are the most common type of scam spam, and this is where you get a message and are encouraged to click on a link of some description, but that link contains malware or a computer virus that’s designed to extract your personal information.
Why You Receive Lots Of Spam Emails & Texts
The reason you receive spam can come down to a few factors. As explained on bitdefender.co.uk, the common reasons for spam are:
- Getting your email added to a mailing list – you either do this consensually by mistake, or it’s added without your permission.
- You clicked on random spam in the past, and this alerted the spammers to your email or phone number, and they now send more messages to you.
- Your personal information has been sold by data brokers online, usually to spam companies.
- There’s been a data breach somewhere that’s leaked your information online, and it’s been picked up by spammers or scammers.
- Your email client has terrible spam filters.
It’s not always easy to figure out which of these things caused you to get loads of spam messages, but sometimes you can make a deduction. For example, if you recently signed up for a mailing list and suddenly receive spam marketing messages from other companies, there’s a strong chance your details have been shared. Also, you may receive an email from a company saying they’ve experienced a data breach, which then results in you getting spam or scam emails and texts in the coming weeks/months.
How To Put A Stop To Spam
The biggest concern with spam messages is that they’re difficult to stop. One might argue that the simple solution is to avoid joining random mailing lists so you keep your information under wraps. That’s easier said than done – and the fact remains that most spam emails come from data brokers or data breaches.
With that in mind, the main solution is to try to rid the internet of your personal information, which you’re entitled to do under data protection regulations. The issue is that this is difficult, as you need to track down any entity that has your information and get them to delete it. As explained on protectmydata.com, you can now do this automatically by using special software applications that contact sites with your information and remove it for you.
That now takes care of the biggest concern, in that there’s less of your personal information out there. It means data brokers can’t try to sell it to spammers, and data breaches won’t impact you as much because your information won’t be stored.
There are also two other things you can do to cut down on your spam messages:
- Be vigilant when clicking on messages in your inbox
- Set up better spam filters
Always think twice when you receive a message from a company, and they ask you to click on a link. Keep an especially close eye on messages that suggest there’s been a problem with something or that claim you’ve won a prize or are entitled to money. Check the sender’s details to see if they’re from a legitimate company – and then Google the message online to see if other people report spam/scams.
You can also start setting up spam filters to protect your online privacy, or use email clients that do this automatically. Gmail is much better than Outlook at filtering out spam – and all email clients will let you select senders and mark them as spam to prevent future messages from creeping through.
Why Spam Messages Shouldn’t Be Ignored
You might think that you can simply ignore spam messages and they’ll go away, but this isn’t something you should ignore. It’s become a serious problem that impacts your digital security and can lead to significant concerns. If you’re receiving spam, this means someone out there has your personal information – and who knows what else they’ll do with it? What starts off as marketing spam suddenly turns into the spammer selling your email address and phone number to a full-blown scammer. The next thing you know, you’re a victim of identity theft or advanced phishing scams.
It’s one of the worst aspects of online security, so it must be taken seriously. Do what you can to remove your personal information from the online world and prevent spam messages. The less spam you receive, the less likely it is that you’ll become embroiled in a costly scam.
