Spam
Why do I get spam?
A spammer got your email address.
How did they get my address?
Have you filled out a form online?
Spammers buy lists from online vendors
Is your email address on a website?
Spammers search the web for email addresses
Does your computer have virus/pop-ups?
Virus stole your email address
Does your friend’s computer have virus/pop-ups?
Virus stole your email address from your friend
How do I stop spam?
Can’t, but you can curb most of it. This really depends who you get your email from. Big companies use expensive spam software to curb spam. Smaller companies usually can’t afford to use the expensive filters. The good news is that Outlook and other email clients are coming with junk email filters built in to help keep your inbox cleaner. Free services like Hotmail, Gmail, etc. are including these expensive filters for free.
My work email gets only a few emails in my junk email folder but my home gets a lot. Why?
Most email companies will not delete your emails even if they are spam, but will place it in a spam folder for you to delete. However, some companies opt to delete the spam; while others delete some and let some through. This usually depends on how sure the program is that the email is spam.
My mobile phone gets spam, what gives?
If you receive email on your mobile device, you may be at the mercy of the email servers’ spam filter because most cell phones do not have that junk email filter built in. This may change in the future. Note this is different than a spam SMS (text) message.
You may get a SMS (text) message spam. Usually cell phone SMS spam is not as apparent because most cell phone providers are applying technologies for avoiding spam. Plus it is much harder to get away with spam on cell phone networks.
Someone got an email from me but I did not send it!
What stops you from writing your neighbor’s return address on an envelope and dropping it in the corner drop box? Email was modeled after regular mail with no security in mind. However new technologies on email servers are helping to curb this.