Qu'est-ce que le spam?

Le spam est un envoi massif de messages intrusifs, qui contiennent généralement de la publicité ou une offre de services. En même temps, le spam peut être à la fois inoffensif (par exemple, daily news from an online portal or a newsletter about discounts in an online store that you did not subscribe to) and dangerous (letters with links to phishing sites or malicious attachments). Cependant, all emails that can be called spam have one thing in common — you don’t want to receive them. Even worse, spam mailers frequently indicate fraud since they are attempts by senders to collect recipients’ personal information for use in their own marketing campaigns. Spam email can result in identity theft and raise the possibility of malware becoming unintentionally downloaded to your device.

Examples of spam emails

The majority of spam emails are frequently bogus. Scammers trick consumers in a number of ways. Here are some typical examples:

1. You need to obtain the gift card, reward, or voucher you received since you have won them.
2. A low-interest or interest-free credit card is presented to you.
3. You are entitled to a refund from a government organization, such as the IRS (US Tax Administration) or HMRC since extra money was collected from you (UK Ministry of Taxes and Customs).
4. For your security, your account has been disabled; to revive it, suivez ces instructions.
5. You can receive assistance in repaying student loans.
6. Unwanted information in your credit history might be removed for a cost.
7. Additional steps are necessary from you as a result of suspicious behavior being found in your account.
8. Your payment information has an issue, therefore you must take action.
9. Delivery Notification: In order to obtain the items, it could be necessary to alter the delivery interval or pay a delivery cost.
10. If you have not made a purchase or transaction, you are alerted and asked to do so.
11. « How to get rich fast » or « Become your own boss » messages, par exemple.

In order to provide a feeling of urgency, phony communications are written using phrases like « urgent measures are necessary » or « you have only 24 hours to reply. »
In order to get a prize or take full advantage of an offer, messages typically need personal information from you, such as your social security number, bank account information, or card data. En outre, the notice can instruct you to click the link to find out more about the issue. The link, cependant, takes you to a bogus website where, when you log in, the con artists will get your login information.

How do I find out if a message is fraudulent?

The techniques of scammers are becoming more sophisticated, they try to make their messages as similar as possible to the authentic ones. Cependant, there are several signs that allow you to determine whether the message is fraudulent.

• Unexpected contact. Remember how a certain organization usually contacts you. If the communication method is different from an email message, contact them directly and check if the message received is legitimate. Do not forget that real organizations do not contact customers without a specific reason, and do not ask to disclose personal or financial data by text message.
• Spelling and grammatical errors. If the message does not look professional, it is very likely a scam. Real organizations rarely make gross spelling and grammatical mistakes when communicating with customers.
• Is the message relevant to you? Par exemple, if the message says about the delivery of a parcel, do you expect the ordered goods? If the message says prizes, did you participate in the contest? If we are talking about a gift card, is it from the store where you used to shop?

The basic rule when detecting any type of fraud, en ligne ou hors ligne: if something sounds too good to be true, it is most likely a hoax.

Why do I receive spam mailings?

Spammers have many ways to get your email address and phone number to send messages containing spam and advertising.

• When using the technology of automatic number generation, automatic calls and automatic mailings are received even by the owners of brand-new numbers.
• Social networking sites sell data. Popular well-known social media platforms track users’ online activity and transmit information to advertisers. If you post your email address/phone number on social networks, there is a high probability that it will get into marketing databases.
• There are many reasons to indicate your email address/phone number on the Internet: when filling out online forms, participating in contests and loyalty programs, et cetera. Every time you specify a mobile phone number on the Internet, there is a chance that it will get to unauthorized persons.

En plus, if you have ever responded to spam messages, even by accident, your email address/phone number may have been marked as valid and may have been sold to other spammers, which increases the likelihood of receiving more unsolicited messages and SMS spam.

Use reliable and proven antispam protection.

PCs store a huge amount of personal information. To protect it, it is recommended to use Lave-courrier. It blocks scam emails and allowed you to avoid them in the future

What to do if you’ve got spam

1. Don’t answer.

   Do not reply to any spam messages in any case. This will confirm to spammers that you are a real person and a potential victim. Sometimes spammers are tricked into trying to get a response to a message. They send a text: « Send a STOP to be removed from the mailing list » or similar. Don’t be fooled. If you reply to such a message, you will receive even more spam messages and calls. It’s better not to answer at all.

2. Do not follow the links.

   By clicking on the link from the spam message, you will be taken to a fake website designed to steal your funds or personal information.

3. Do not disclose personal information.

   Remember that legally operating organizations, such as banks or government agencies, do not request personal and financial information through unsolicited text messages. Donc, watch out for the disclosure of your personal data on the Internet. Be careful with messages asking you to update or confirm your account details.

4. Go directly to the organization’s website.

   If you are not sure if the message you received is genuine, contact the relevant organization directly. You can search and go to their website from the search engine results page, or simply enter the web address directly into the address bar. You can also find out their real contact information and call to check if they have sent a message.

5. Report fraud.

   In the UK, you can inform your mobile operator about spam and automatic mailings by sending an unwanted text to the number 7726 (this means SPAM). Make sure that the original number is displayed in the message. This method works for major network operators. You may receive an automatic response thanking you for the information and, si nécessaire, with further instructions. There is no charge for sending messages to the 7726 nombre.
   You can also report spam in the messaging application you use. Choose the appropriate option for you to report junk mail or spam:

   • How to Report Spam or Junk Mail on iPhone
   • How to Report Spam or Junk Mail on an Android Phone

Blocking phone numbers

Blocking numbers and utilizing mobile spam filters are two quick ways to avoid receiving spam emails. Unwanted phone numbers may easily be blocked. Depending on the maker, brand, and os version of your mobile device, different instructions may apply. Cependant, scammers can send texts from different numbers each time and use bogus numbers, making the manual banning procedure time-consuming.

How to block spam emails on an iPhone

• From your iPhone or iPad’s home screen, select « Paramètres. » Click « Courrier » after scrolling down.
• À présent, as indicated in the picture below, scroll down and select « Blocked Sender Options. »
• Make sure the « Mark Blocked Sender » toggle is turned on here. You have the option of leaving emails from blacklisted senders in your inbox or having Courrier automatically transfer them to the trash bin. We’ve selected « Mettre à la corbeille » since the majority of individuals would prefer to throw these emails in the garbage.
• Allez à la Inbox after opening the default Courrier app. Choose any email sent by the sender you wish to ban that you have already received.
• Tap the Sender’s name here as seen below. This will provide further information. Tap the Sender’s name once more.
• Simply select « Block this Contact » at this time. Your confirmation of the activity will be requested.
• Fondamentalement, these are the only actions you need to take on the iPhone and iPad in order to ban a sender’s email address.

How to block spam emails on an Android (Gmail)

• Lancez le Gmail app.
• Find a message from the sender you want to block.
• Open the disputed message.
• For the relevant email, tap the Plus icône, which looks like three vertical dots.
• appuie sur le Bloquer [Name of sender] bouton.

Filtering messages from unknown senders

Another way to reduce the number of spam messages and automatic mailings is to use spam filters on your mobile device.

Filtering spam messages on iPhone

• Allez à la Paramètres et appuyez sur Messages.
• Select « Unknown $ Spam » then turn on « Filter Unknown Senders " option.
• Turn on the switch by sliding it to the right. All messages from numbers that are not in your contact list will be displayed on the « Unknown Senders » tab in the « Filtres » section.

Filtering spam messages on Android

• Tap on the 3-dots in the top-right corner of the Messages app’s screen.
• Aller à " Paramètres »Et sélectionnez« Spam Protection« .
• Scroll down to the « Enable Spam Protection » switch.
• Slide the switch to the right to turn it on.

Recommendations for spam protection

• Train your spam filter

  Try not just deleting unwanted emails from the Inbox, but always telling the mail client that they are spam. Par exemple, in Gmail, you can do this with just a couple of clicks by selecting an email and clicking on the « Spam » icon. Similar functionality is usually provided in other email clients. En plus, look through the spam folder from time to time in search of messages that are not really spam, and report errors (Gmail has a « Not spam » button for this). This way you can better « train » the spam filter in your mail.

• Never reply to spam

  If you see that the email is clearly unwanted, do not open it. If you opened the email and realized that it was spam, close it immediately. Dans tout les cas, do not click on links or buttons, and do not download attached files from messages from suspicious senders — they may contain malicious programs that steal your personal data and endanger your computer. Faites attention, such letters can disguise themselves as important ones, par exemple, notifications from large banks or online stores.

  How do you distinguish a really important email from dangerous spam? The first bell of suspicion should ring if money is demanded from you under any pretext. To check the email:

  1. Look at the sender’s address. Phishing emails are often sent from addresses similar to the real websites of well-known companies. It is important to be able to distinguish real addresses from fake ones: par exemple, google-web. site is clearly not a Google domain.
  2. If there is a link in the email that looks like a quite ordinary and familiar site to you — point at it (but do not click!) and look where it leads. Dans Google Chrome, the address is displayed on hover in the lower left corner. Attackers sometimes disguise another link under the guise of one.

  Do not reply to such a letter, even if you are in a bad mood and want to tell the sender everything you think about him. Crois moi, this is not the best way to deal with spammers. This way you will only show them that you pay attention to such emails, and there may be even more junk mail. If the spam came from a friend or colleague, contact him immediately via another communication channel (par exemple, by phone) and inform him that he was hacked.

• Create a separate mailbox for personal emails

Spam on the Internet works according to a simple scheme: the more sites know your email address, the more unwanted emails you will receive. It is best to have a separate e-mail for registrations on different Internet resources and trust your personal address only too familiar people and trusted sites.

• Do not publish your personal address in public places

If you have a personal website or a page on a popular online resource, it is better not to point your e-mail to them. Many spammers use programs that automatically visit websites and search for email addresses on them. In social networks or forums, it is usually possible to hide your e-mail from outsiders.

Spam communications annoy people and are frequently used in fraud. But avoiding issues requires both understanding and adherence to cybersecurity regulations.

Briefly about the main thing

résumant, we can say that it is probably impossible to completely eradicate spam — unless you stop using the Internet. En outre, spam is not just unpleasant content, but a potential threat, especially in the 21st century. Despite the fact that many services try to automatically filter all information for spam, we strongly recommend that you take care of your information security yourself.