What is spam?
Anyone who has an e-mail account has certainly already received a spam e-mail. The consumer center explains what exactly these emails are and what makes them so dangerous. The most common type of spam mails are the so-called phishing mails. Here, the “spammers” use fake names, logos and websites to pretend to be reputable banks, for example. The aim of the emails is to get at users’ confidential data, such as passwords, PINs or credit card data. Another type of spam mail is malware mail. Such are infected with malicious software such as viruses, worms or Trojans. This malware mainly affects the functioning of the computer and the Internet access. You should also watch out for dialer programs that make the rounds by e-mail. Chain letters and hoaxes are intended to trick unsuspecting recipients into forwarding them.
How do you recognize spam?
Spammers often use false information in the subject line, such as “class reunion” or “your registration”, in order to tempt them to open it. In addition, these can be recognized by fake sender addresses. If a file is attached to the e-mail, you should pay particular attention to endings such as “.exe”, “.com”, “.pif” or “.scr”, as these are often used for spam e-mails.
What is the best way to deal with spam?
First of all, preventive measures should be taken. With the help of virus protection programs and anti-spam filters, many spam mails and their effects can be prevented. Also, including special characters or numbers in your email address can help because it makes it harder for the bots that spammers use to find the email address, Techbook explains. It also helps if the e-mail is only passed on to others when this is really necessary. The more “secret” the e-mail address, the less likely it is that unwanted people will get to it. If you have received a spam e-mail despite preventive measures, you should not necessarily delete it immediately. Most e-mail operators work with spam filters, as Techbook notes. And these filters can learn. If you move an unwanted e-mail to the spam folder in the inbox, the spam filter learns better and better to store such e-mails directly there.
E. Schmal / Editor finanzen.net
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