How to get rid of email spam

by Katie Ritchie

The best scam email I’ve ever gotten read as follows:

Dear beneficiary,

I have been mandated to inform you that, “Yvonne Wachendorfer” has come to let us know that you are dead, but before you die you instructed her to come to us and claim your $970,000 which has been deposited a long time ago in your name.

Reply back immediately if you are still alive, otherwise, forever hold your peace.

I printed out and kept the message because it’s not every day you’re told you’re dead – by email, no less!
One silly email like the one above isn’t much of a hassle, but it’s never just one. Here are a few tips for cutting back on spam.

1. Don’t open or respond to spam. If it looks like spam, don’t open it. Never click links/buttons or download files from anyone you don’t recognize. Links and file downloads from unknown senders are usually viruses.

This lets scammers know your address is real and monitored, so the problem gets worse. If you get a spam message from a friend or colleague, contact them immediately. Letting them know their email account is compromised will save others from infection.

2. Unsubscribe to newsletters you don’t want. If you don’t remember signing up for a mailing list or no longer want the emails, click the “unsubscribe” link. Unsubscribe is usually at the bottom of the email. Sometimes the link will prompt you to confirm your decision. Pay attention to the options offered.

3. Try Unroll.me. If you’ve let your email run rampant far too long and don’t want to manually unsubscribe from hundreds of newsletters, look at https://unroll.me/. The 3rd party service scans your inbox for mailing list emails and lets you unsubscribe in bulk.

Next week I’ll share more tools for clearing out your inbox.