Spam: The Stuff You Love to Loathe

If there is one thing that everyone that uses the internet knows, it’s spam. It appears everywhere and especially in your e-mail. But do you truly know what it is? Spam is a sent message, many times without being asked for, that has the potential to be a harmless fluff message about some absurd deal or a dangerous malicious message that can cause significant problems to your computer and software. As such when dealing with spam, it is best to be cautious and take no chances with any message from an unknown sender. There is also a high variety of the quality of each piece of spam. Some are extremely simple that are obvious hoaxes or false advertisements. There are some, however, that are very official looking and plastered with fake copies of government or company seals. The key to tell the difference between a true government email and one that is fake and possibly spam is an important thing to learn.

Spam: Nuisance or Menace?

Many people who think of spam tend to think of them as worthless mass of emails that can cause no damage or harm in looking at them. This view, however, is wrong. Some spam messages are capable of immediately installing harmful malware that can seriously harm the function of your computer. In some cases, they could even make your software completely unusable. The following post from Jatheon.com gives you a fair amount of insight into the dangers of spam. http://jatheon.com/the-dangers-of-spam/

Some messages are harmless indeed and could provide a fair chuckle if they were to be looked at. Despite the harmlessness of them, it is better to just not take the risk of any possible malware and avoid opening the message all together.

Spam: What Can You Do?

It is always important to use caution when dealing with spam, no matter how serious it might be. The follow tips should always be taken into consideration:

1. For e-mail spam, it is best to delete any spam messages that appear in your regular inbox. If something looks suspicious, then it most likely is spam and should be deleted.
2. Always be careful when dealing with “official” spam. Any message delivered from a supposed government or corporation should be looked over with the finest attention to detail. Be sure to look for any official seals of approval. If any official e-mail is asking for any sort of money or supposed fine, there is an extremely high likelihood that is spam and should be deleted.
3. Most e-mails thankfully are able to differentiate between regular e-mails and spam. They are automatically sorted into the spam section. It is wise to continually empty the spam section whenever possible to prevent a large buildup.
4. Look into the tools section of your web browser or site. Most likely there is a program that will help to prevent spam from harming your computer.
5. If you click on a message and it immediately asks you to install or access your computer, deny and delete the message immediately. Remember what file it was trying to access and take care to make sure there are no immediate remnants from the message.

Here are a few additional tips to prevent spam: