Crosswords1 min ago
Inundated With Junk Mail...
5 Answers
...Hi everyone,can anyone help me with this problem.
For about 3 months now I get 50-60 Emails a day on topics like
Private medical cover
Funeral expenses
Life insurance
Bingo
Debt management
On line betting
Casinos
PPI search
Almost all of these come from sites in The USA. I've marked them as spam tried just deleting them ,clicked on the link to 'unsubscribe'. I don't know what to do or how to stop them, please help?
I use Chrome and BT Mail.
For about 3 months now I get 50-60 Emails a day on topics like
Private medical cover
Funeral expenses
Life insurance
Bingo
Debt management
On line betting
Casinos
PPI search
Almost all of these come from sites in The USA. I've marked them as spam tried just deleting them ,clicked on the link to 'unsubscribe'. I don't know what to do or how to stop them, please help?
I use Chrome and BT Mail.
Answers
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Let's start with some general thoughts about email and move on from there:
Spammers usually get hold of email addresses in one of two ways: Either they steal them from insecure websites or they simply guess at them. (e.g. if I send emails to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], etc, at least some of them will get through to real people).
So it's always best to use 'unguessable' email addresses, such as [email protected].
[We now have RULE NUMBER 1: Use 'unguessable' email addresses!]
However if a spammer has simply guessed at your real email address, they'll probably quickly give up sending mail to it unless you actually tell them that it's a valid address. That's exactly what you do every time you click on 'Unsubscribe'. (i.e. it shouts back to the spammer "Hey, I'm a real person. Please send me lots more spam!"). So you should NEVER, EVER click on 'Unsubscribe' when you receive unsolicited mails!!!!
[So that's RULE NUMBER 2: Never click on 'Unsubscribe' in a spam email].
However, as I've mentioned above, some spammers steal email addresses from insecure websites. (e.g. you could order something from superduperwotsits.com and provide them with your email address. If superduperwotsits.com then get their servers hacked, the email addresses of all their customers will be available for the hackers to sell onto spammers). So it's best to use a DIFFERENT email address for ordering goods (or for signing up to sites like this one) than the main one that you use for friends or business.
[i.e. RULE NUMBER THREE: Use multiple email addresses. Then, if one starts getting lots of spam, you can simply abandon it without causing you difficulties with contacting friends, etc]
Having got that lot out of the way, we're now left with your immediate problem. Regrettably, there's no easy solution but here's what I'd do:
1. Get a new email account here:
http://
2. Use the 'Mail Collector' facility to get mail sent to the old BT account forwarded to the new GMX one. (It will appear in a separate folder)
3. Start letting contacts know about the new address. (Remember that any mail sent to the old address will be forwarded to the new one, so important communications can't get lost).
4. Monitor what's going into the 'forwarded' folder of the new account. It will initially be the same mix of spam and legitimate mail that's currently being received in the old account but, as people get to know about the new address, it will gradually come down to just spam.
5. At that point, disable the mail forwarding facility and just use the new account (preferably with its facility to create 'aliases', so that you can use different addresses for different purposes).
Spammers usually get hold of email addresses in one of two ways: Either they steal them from insecure websites or they simply guess at them. (e.g. if I send emails to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], etc, at least some of them will get through to real people).
So it's always best to use 'unguessable' email addresses, such as [email protected].
[We now have RULE NUMBER 1: Use 'unguessable' email addresses!]
However if a spammer has simply guessed at your real email address, they'll probably quickly give up sending mail to it unless you actually tell them that it's a valid address. That's exactly what you do every time you click on 'Unsubscribe'. (i.e. it shouts back to the spammer "Hey, I'm a real person. Please send me lots more spam!"). So you should NEVER, EVER click on 'Unsubscribe' when you receive unsolicited mails!!!!
[So that's RULE NUMBER 2: Never click on 'Unsubscribe' in a spam email].
However, as I've mentioned above, some spammers steal email addresses from insecure websites. (e.g. you could order something from superduperwotsits.com and provide them with your email address. If superduperwotsits.com then get their servers hacked, the email addresses of all their customers will be available for the hackers to sell onto spammers). So it's best to use a DIFFERENT email address for ordering goods (or for signing up to sites like this one) than the main one that you use for friends or business.
[i.e. RULE NUMBER THREE: Use multiple email addresses. Then, if one starts getting lots of spam, you can simply abandon it without causing you difficulties with contacting friends, etc]
Having got that lot out of the way, we're now left with your immediate problem. Regrettably, there's no easy solution but here's what I'd do:
1. Get a new email account here:
http://
2. Use the 'Mail Collector' facility to get mail sent to the old BT account forwarded to the new GMX one. (It will appear in a separate folder)
3. Start letting contacts know about the new address. (Remember that any mail sent to the old address will be forwarded to the new one, so important communications can't get lost).
4. Monitor what's going into the 'forwarded' folder of the new account. It will initially be the same mix of spam and legitimate mail that's currently being received in the old account but, as people get to know about the new address, it will gradually come down to just spam.
5. At that point, disable the mail forwarding facility and just use the new account (preferably with its facility to create 'aliases', so that you can use different addresses for different purposes).
Mark then as spam and they should go straight into your spam folder.
But there appears to be very little you can do to stop this modern plague.
Register with the TPS if you like, but it won't do much good. Its about as much use as a chocolate teapot.
You can try changing your email address, and that will work for a while, despite the inconvenience to you.
But it won't be long before you are back at square one.
But there appears to be very little you can do to stop this modern plague.
Register with the TPS if you like, but it won't do much good. Its about as much use as a chocolate teapot.
You can try changing your email address, and that will work for a while, despite the inconvenience to you.
But it won't be long before you are back at square one.
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