No matter what age group we belong to, we all have become so used to keeping up-to-date with technology that we cannot live without having a glance at our emails or IMs several times each day. Right from important official emails to messages about subscribed services, the first thing most of us do in the morning is to check our emails. So much so that for many, staying online has become like an addiction. However, that’s a point we may discuss sometimes late.

Let me focus on the primary aim of this article. One of the most annoying aspects of using email services these days is to receive an infinite number of spam emails flooding our inbox almost every day. Most of the times, such spam emails come from unauthorised senders whom we don’t even recognise. The constant disruptions caused by such spam emails tend to have a negative impact on our overall mental acuity as well as productivity.

 

One of the most straightforward solutions to put an end to these disruptions is to stop the inflow of spam emails permanently. Cutting ourselves from using the internet and its services might seem like the ultimate solution. However, we know that it is just not a practical solution. The ideal solution that we can try out is filtering these emails to our best possible efforts. Almost all email clients (including Gmail) aim at filtering out most unauthorised emails and moving suspicious emails to a separate folder; however, this trick is not entirely foolproof.

 

Most of the times, even legitimate messages referred to as “false positives,” end up going in the separate spam folder too. As such, you must look out for a permanent solution to put an end to receiving such spam emails in your inbox on a daily basis. However, to implement such a solution, you must first know how to differentiate spam emails from legitimate promotional emails.

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Spam Vs. Promotional Emails

There are times when most of us might get confused between spam emails and promotional emails. Spam messages are typically referred to as UBEs (Unsolicited Bulk Emails). You can consider the following points in understanding the difference between spam messages and promotional emails:

– Suppose that you have provided your email address to some company towards downloading some information or a piece of content. That particular company would then start sending you emails in the form of updates or notifications about their new products or blog posts. This cannot be considered spam. This is because while such emails might be unwanted, they are technically solicited by you once you give the company your email address.

– At the same time, if the original company sends your email address to some third-party or other company, then this could lead to the inflow of spam messages. This is because the emails that you receive from the other company are both unsolicited and unwanted because you have never provided your email address to the other company.

 

Ways to Reduce Receiving Spam Emails

Before moving on to the permanent method of stopping spam emails, you can also try out some of the remedial steps that can help in reducing the overall inflow. Here are some points to consider:

– Train the Email Filter: When you come across any spam email in your email inbox, do not delete it right away. Select the email, and make the email client know about the fact that the particular email or message is spam. How you would be doing the reporting would typically depend on the respective email client. For instance, when you are using Gmail for email services, you can click on the icon saying “Report Spam” in the toolbar section. You can also let the email client know about the possible false positives in your email account. By doing so, the trusted email client might come across a way of filtering only the spam messages.

– Never Respond to Spam Messages: This could be one of the biggest mistakes you might be doing when it comes to handling spam messages in your inbox. If you find some email or message as suspicious, experts recommend that you should never open it in the first place. If you do open it and realise that it is a spam message, you should close it. Do not click on any link or button prompting you to do so. You should also make it a point not to download any file from the message that you suspect is spam. Never try responding to spam emails at any cost.

 

– Make Use of a Third-Party Filter for Anti-Spam: Most of the useful Internet security packages come with a specialised anti-spam filter that is aimed at reducing the number of spam messages in your email inbox on a daily basis.
– Remember to Unsubscribe: Many items we think spams are subscription emails to services we don’t remember signing up for. Thus, once you stop finding a use for a particular service, remember to unsubscribe from it so that you don’t receive any more messages from them.
– Hide your Email Address: The higher number of people who have our email address usually has a direct correlation with the number of spams we receive. Do not make your email address public unless there is an absolute need for it. Even when you need to, try providing a different email address than the one that is your primary email address. You can try making use of disposable email IDs when you are not comfortable sharing the primary one.
– Change your Email Address: hough this might appear to be a drastic step on your part, if you have been flooded with spam messages from all over, you might as well consider renouncing your current email address and switching to a better one. While changing the email address, make it a point to inform all the legitimate contacts about the switch. You might have to consider keeping both email addresses functional for some time. However, once you get rid of the old email address, the number of spam messages will automatically get reduced. With the all-new email address, you can try remaining cautious when & where to share the same to prevent it from getting filled with spam emails.

How to Stop Spam Emails Permanently?

If you are looking for a permanent solution to stop the incoming spam messages to your inbox, you can take the help of third-party apps and extensions. Such apps and services capture spam messages as they travel between an email server and an email client. A few of the best spam blocking third-party services are mentioned below:

 

– Mailwasher – This is an effective and easy-to-use free spam blocking application. All you need to do is supply your email address, and this service applies a series of intelligent filters to identify unwanted messages. You can review the emails captured as spam online before they show up in your inbox.
– SpamSieve – This is what most macOS users recommend to be the best spam blocker app. It relies on a smart email filtering system that gains intelligence over time by recognising the messages you agree are spam or mark as safe. It will adjust to your preferences to only let genuine messages through.

 

– SpamCop – This free service works a bit differently. It lets you report spam senders to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) so that they can block such messages at their source. While it requires more effort, you can find help on the SpamCop websitebelow:

Conclusion:

Make sure that you do not receive additional spam messages or emails to remain safe from unauthorised access and cyber threats. Spam might be simply observed as nothing more than a simple nuisance. However, it is considered best to regard it as a distraction. By implementing effective steps, you can reduce the overall number of spam and promotional emails that you receive on a daily basis. You will not only protect yourself from the scammers around the world, but it will also help in protecting everyone’s overall productivity and valuable time.

Be safe!