Unfortunately, we’ve probably all experienced the annoyance of opening your inbox only to be greeted by a long list of unwanted emails. Having your inbox clogged up with email spam can be very frustrating; reading through and deleting each message individually is neither time nor work-effective, and is also likely to put you in a terrible mood!
Not only that, but viruses carried by spam emails can be harmful, and may allow internet hackers to access your personal or financial information. If you’re running a business, keeping on top of your email security is crucial. But, how do you know if you are doing enough to prevent spam? Here’s a simple checklist to abide by:
Set up email spam filters
Establishing your email server’s spam filters should be your first point of call. Most servers such as Microsoft Hotmail and Google Gmail will have basic filters, designed to help users customise their inboxes and make their email experience better. Enabling these is a good first step, however there are various limitations with free filters. Just remember that using these alone won’t be enough to protect yourself against spam.
Block and report spam email
Internet hackers are becoming more and more intelligent, and are finding ways to bypass basic spam filters. If setting up your email filters didn’t stop every last message from slipping through the cracks, make sure to flag them as ‘spam’. This should stop any future emails being sent from the same address, and will keep the existing ones out of your way.
Never reply!
You should never, ever reply to spam emails. Most fraudsters have to guess email addresses to target, and sending a reply will only confirm to them that you’re a real person. Once they know that you aren’t a bot the emails will most likely become more persistent, and your email address may be shared with other scammers.
Keep your email address private
It can be difficult to keep your email address private when you’re running a business, but try to only share it with potential clients or employees. Don’t use your email to sign up to anything on websites which you don’t trust, or which you would be using for personal reasons. If necessary, set up a couple of different email addresses for different uses. It may seem time consuming, but saying goodbye to internet spam will make it worth it!
Invest in a good spam email filter
If you really want to protect yourself against spam, the best option is to invest in a trusted filter. At MailCleaner, our anti-spam gateway offers a high level of protection and eliminates up to 99% of spam, so you can rest assured that your inbox will stay neat, tidy, and free from any harmful viruses. No matter how many precautions you take against spam, installing professional software is undoubtedly the most effective method – especially if you’re running a business.
Interested? Contact us today to see how we could help you.