Spam Email: causes and solutions

What is spam, why is it so widespread and how can it be avoided?  It is a practice which involves the sending of mass electronic mail messages using a range of email addresses. These messages (which are generally falsified so as to mask their provenance) have increased in number over the last twenty years to the point where they now constitute two thirds of total email traffic.

For what purposes are these messages sent? The first reason is definitely business-related, aimed at promoting products and services which are ‘spammed’ to as many users as possible. Considering that in many cases people have not given their consent to receiving these emails, it is surely illegal to send them.

Another good reason for sending out spam is connected with selling email addresses: there is a real market for this including price lists, and it can be very profitable. Among the other causes there is also phishing:  the technique by which senders put pressure on the recipients and oblige them to supply sensitive date in order to avoid risks which in reality do not exist.

But what can be done to protect against spam? Very little, because in any case, even if we avoid divulging our own email address and we use it with the greatest caution, sooner or later we will start to receive unwanted emails. According to some, it is the providers themselves who sell our addresses, but there is no concrete proof to back this theory.

One strategy to reduce the chances of falling into this trap consists of activating anti-spam filters present in your electronic mail systems.  These have the function of selecting and isolating or deleting any unwanted messages, thereby reducing their number.  The problem is that it is very difficult for such a system to distinguish which emails are of interest and which, on the other hand, are not.

Among the most popular strategies used is this option:  setting an anti-spam filter to medium, which allows most of the real messages to go into the correct inbox while the others are sent to a separate folder. This folder should be checked regularly and when you find some bona fide emails in it the filter settings can be modified.

So these are our tips for avoiding spam: useful suggestions which probably won’t eliminate the problem completely, but will considerably reduce it.

Translated by Joanne Beckwith