What is spam? Identify and prevent these emails

Spam is unwanted emails, often sent in bulk, which usually contain advertising, fraud attempts or malware. They are distributed automatically and target random or purchased email addresses. Their goal is to generate clicks, steal personal data or infect systems.

What is spam?

Spam (also called junk mail) designates thesending unsolicited and unwanted electronic messages.

Spam messages frequently contain advertising, attempts to phishing or malware. They reach recipients without their consent and saturate inboxes around the world. Most are unsolicited mass emails (UBE, Unsolicited Bulk Email), such as chain emails or unwanted commercial emails (UCE, Unsolicited Commercial Email). The goal is usually to trick recipients into purchasing a product, disclosing personal information, clicking a website link, or opening an attachment.

What are the different types of spam?

Spam is not limited to emails, but it is through this medium that it is most widespread. The authors, called spammers, use automated programs like spambots or automatic email address collectors (email harvesters). Many spam emails contain advertising for questionable products, false information, links to phishing sites or even malicious programs.

The most common forms of spam fall into four categories:

• Advertisement : Some sellers of fake luxury watches, unauthorized medicines or illegal content online use spam to promote their products. Advertising spam usually contains links to so-called free offers that turn out to be subscription traps, or to supposedly lucrative commercial schemes that actually only benefit the spammer.
• Fake news : Many spam messages carry appeals, warnings or made-up stories. In English, these messages are called hoax. The content is most of the time misleading, exaggerated or twisted to attract attention. Taken seriously and shared, they spread quickly by word of mouth.
• Phishing: This type of spam pretends to be a legitimate business, such as a bank. Victims are asked to provide personal data like account or credit card credentials. The links in these spam emails go to fake websites imitating those of official banks. Any data entered is then directly recovered by cybercriminals.
• Malware: a lot of spam serves as a vector for malware such as viruses, worms, Trojan horses or spyware. By opening an infected file, link or attachment, these programs enter the system and can only be removed with antivirus or specialized tools.

Why do we receive spam?

Many users wonder why so much spam arrives in their email box. In most cases, there isn't much you can do. Spam bots and email harvesters systematically scan the Internet looking for addresses. When they find one, it is saved for future spam mailings. Hacking the email accounts of friends or acquaintances can also lead to your address being passed on to spammers, since the address book of the compromised account is included in the recipient list.

Many users also become targets through negligence. During a registration for a competitionit is often specified in the general conditions (CGV) that the organizer can use the email address provided for advertising purposes. Many competitions only aim to collect addresses for sending spam. Furthermore, if you publish your address on a website, in a social network, a forum, a chat or a comment, it becomes an easy target for email harvesters.

It is impossible to completely protect yourself against receiving spam, because too many spammers and spambots spread their messages every day. However, some methods and tips allow to reduce spam volume :

• Only provide your primary email address when it is truly necessary. Never use it for dubious contests or to register on unknown websites.
• Create a secondary email address for less important Internet services that you don't use for your primary activities. This protects your inbox from spam.
• Avoid publishing your primary address on websites. If you must communicate it, make sure it is through secure portals or online communities.
• Provide your email address in modified form, for example using (at) Or AT instead of @. You can also replace the period before the top-level domain with point Or POINT. Another option is to display your address as an image with text.

Use a spam filter

A spam filter is software designed to identify and block unwanted messages. These filters are built into most service providers and professional email programs. Many work through automatic analysis of email content or blacklisting. This is based on a list of typical spam words, phrases and sentences.

Besides using a blacklist, other techniques exist to detect spam. However, no method can guarantee 100% reliable automatic recognition. It even happens that certain filters mistakenly classify desired emails as spam, or that spam manages to slip into the normal inbox. Despite these limitations, it is essential to ensure that a spam filter controls your emails.

IONOS spam filter

IONOS offers built-in anti-spam functions that effectively filter unwanted emails. The filter automatically analyzes incoming messages according to different criteria, such as the subject line or technical data in the headers. Suspicious emails are thus identified even before their distribution and can be, depending on the settings chosen, marked, moved or directly blocked.

IONOS customers can activate and customize the spam filter. Webmail users can also activate anti-spam directly in their browser.

If spam has not been automatically filtered, you must identify it yourself. Only one careful management spam guarantees effective protection.

Tip 1: Mark received spam as such

Most spam can be spotted just by reading the subject line: win notification, suggestive content or overly tempting offers. If such a message escapes the spam filter, then mark it as spam. By moving it to the dedicated folder, the filter learns and can block this type of messages more effectively in the future.

Tip 2: Do not open unknown links

Never click on links or open attachments in suspicious emails. Unknown senders or strange objects often hide dangerous content.

Tip 3: Use an antivirus program

If malicious content is still opened, only one antivirus program can still protect the computer. This software detects known viruses, Trojans, worms or spyware. When a malicious program tries to act, it is blocked by the antivirus. However, because it only recognizes threats that have already been identified, no antivirus guarantees absolute protection. However, it remains an essential basic measure.

Tip 4: Keep the operating system up to date

Always install the latest operating system updates to close security gaps and ensure system stability. Many attacks exploit vulnerabilities already fixed in recent versions. Regular updates, ideally automatic, ensure security patches are applied quickly. This reduces the risk of infection by spam and malware.

Tip 5: Create a Backup

It is recommended to regularly back up important computer data to external media via backup. So even if the system is damaged by malware, you have a copy of your files. To protect yourself effectively, it is essential to combine a spam filter, an anti-malware program and a backup solution. Finally, caution remains the best protection: do not give out your email address lightly and avoid opening suspicious emails.