We have included a small sampling of free spam avoidance tips to help educate our clients.
Why do Spammers Send Spam?
Spammers send unsolicited email because it is cheap and effective! People often click on email advertisements and purchase products from fake websites.
“However, not all spam has the sole purpose of selling products; some spam emails attempt to collect private information from email users or even infect the computer system with malware.”
Malware can give the ability of an anonymous remote attacker to invade a single computer or an entire network without physically being present. Depending on the goals of the attacker, the damage of the security breach can expand until IT security intervenes.
How to be on Guard
A basic rule to follow is: if the claims sound too good to be true, it probably is not true! CNM consultants are always willing to answer questions about general practices or a specific instance.
If you are interested in signing up for our spam filtering service, please contact us by email or phone 985.580.3040 or 512.770.4505.
General Tips:
1. If the email address or company looks unfamiliar and it is requesting account information such as user names and passwords, delete the email! The email is trying to trick you into divulging confidential account information. This type of scam is called phishing.
2. If the email address looks unfamiliar, the subject line advertises a product or service, or claims to be from an unknown relative leaving a fortune in a far-away land, delete the email.
3. If the email contains an unsubscribe button and you never subscribed to the mailing list, delete the email. Attempting to unsubscribe from mailing lists to which a user never subscribed confirms to a spammer that your email address is valid.
4. If you receive a file attachment that is not recognized by the associated software program and not from someone you know, delete the email! It is most likely a virus and the spammer has changed the file extension to make it look legitimate. Even if the document looks legitimate, an attacker can program a macro or script to run when you open any office document such as an Excel, Word, or PowerPoint document.
5. Setup a junk/disposable email account if you have to sign up for contests, promotions, trials, etc. However, be careful not to give out personal information – especially if it sounds too good to be true.
6. Do not post your email address on websites. If it is your website, use a contact form or an alternative email display such as: substituting the @ symbol with the word ‘at’ or spelling out ‘.’ as ‘dot’ (example: ‘sampleemail at securetips dot com’). If you must put an email link or post your email anywhere on a website, then you could also setup a separate email account, although it will probably experience high spam volume.
Spammers are always evolving, so if you find you are still receiving unwanted mail please contact us to see if our spam filtering solution can assist you.