February 12, 2015
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The World of E-Mail Spam
I was following up on an inquiry for a change in tracking and invoice number for a shipping company. They told me they sent the details to my personal e-mail, but it's not going through. The case has been resolved since they told me the info over the phone. I went ahead and checked my junk/spam folder and it got me thinking about e-mail spam.
It was only 17 years ago when I created my first e-mail and online accounts. It didn't take long for companies to monetize it. About a quarter of my e-mails go to the spam and junk folder. The rest come from digital store flyers, coupons, job openings, and social media notifications that I subscribed to. I tiny portion are e-mails from friends and relatives.
I currently have multiple filters for ruling out junk and spam. Everything else is white listed and sent to their specific folders. This only applies to e-mail that comes through the e-mail client. Others are filtered out online. I'm also only talking about one e-mail account. This does not include Yahoo or G-Mail. Those accounts have their own spam filters, which I'm grateful for. Other than that, some of them always find a way to get through. Here are some of the annoying junk and spam I get:
- Subject: RE: HELLO
hello my name is Sonali, how are you , hope to hear from you soon. Don't know who this person is and I don't know the address. Other people online have encountered the same message. - Subject: Super pretty single moms
Local hot moms near you are searching for men that they can sleep with.These hot moms, also known as MILFs, are not old. They are young and ready to have a good time.Press here to see the hot moms that live near you
[Link omitted]Get ready to have the best time ever with a MILF!
I can't take these e-mails seriously. Too funny. - Subject: [Name of someone I know or something random sent by someone I know]
[Nothing or something random]These emails are tricky if you don't know what they are. The sender name shows as someone you know. However, if you check the actual address, it's gibberish.
So what do you do to avoid these? First things first, try not to use your person e-mail address and hand it out to just anyone. Some companies sell your e-mail to third parties. That's how they get to send you junk mail. If you must, you can set up an e-mail specifically for subscriptions to digital store flyers, coupons, sales, job openings from job boards, etc. It's also better to use G-Mail from experience. Their spam detector/junk filter is updated frequently and blocks most spam e-mail for you. Yahoo and Outlook seem to do their job as well. Other than that, just be diligent on who you share your e-mail to online (including social media).
I'm done.
- Subject: RE: HELLO
Comments (2)
The junk/Spam mail I've been getting lately (that luckily goes into the spam folder to be deleted) is mostly asking if I want such and such insurance, or reminding me the date to sign up for the Federal plan.
I think the funniest stuff I used to get was asking about viagra, or male enlargement, when I most definately am not a balding male.
Also it's so obviously spam when I get someone writing how we "Used to chat on Facebook". It's usually claiming to be a woman, always flirtatious, and always has some link to click- for her private website or photos. Well, that might work for some horny male wanting a thrill, who will ultimately get a virus, or more likely charged to see anything. Personally, I never chat with anyone on FB, so even if it were some hot dude saying the same things to me, I know the scam would fail.
I'm sad I can't have spam anymore..