[Michael G.]

I hear there Is there a "Black List" that must people are on where most scam e-mails and junk are created??

[larcha]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Every time you use the unsubscribe button, you send a ping back to the sender acknowledging that you are an actual person who can be reached. Spam senders, bots, and AI programs all love that, it means they can send you more. It also teaches the AI programs the patterns of the ones you reject, so they can become more intelligent and try different types of e-mails that you haven't rejected (yet). That means eventually they'll hit on one that you open.

The only things you should do with spam e-mail:

1. move to spam box/mark as spam
2. use "delete all" or "empty" to empty the spam box once a month
3. if you suspect one of them is actually malicious and appears to be from a legitimate company, forward it to that company's web security department (most people won't do this step but it's an option).

That's it. Don't open them, don't read them, don't respond to them, don't ask your mail service to send them a message to unsubscribe.

Email programs usually show a preview of the messages received. Does this constitute "opening" the email? Should the preview function be turned off?

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by larcha

Email programs usually show a preview of the messages received. Does this constitute "opening" the email? Should the preview function be turned off?

It likely depends on the mail program you are using (web browser, outlook, other standalone tool, etc). You can try looking online for recommended security settings for the tool you use.

The concern is that fully loading a message can automatically follow links and retrieve content that could be harmful to your computer. Some tools and configurations might retrieve the entire message when it is received while other will only show the subject line or the text-only portions of a message until the user allows the rest of the content.

Look in your settings for something along the lines of "Privacy and Security." Disable anything that involves automatically retrieving content or allowing remote content or allow images. You should think hard about enabling anything that sounds like the tool is making it easier for content to get onto your computer.

Some steps that I take:
- Disable any automatic retrieval
- Enable automatic SPAM filtering (I never open anything in the SPAM/JUNK folder)
- If the subject is obviously a scam, delete the message without even looking at it, even before a preview if that's possible
- Don't allow the tool to retrieve any images or content until I'm comfortable the message is legitimate
- Only if I trust the sender and the subject and if I really need to images do I allow the tool to retrieve those - if I can get the gist of the message without the images then I don't need to take that risk
- RARELY do I open emails containing forwarded jokes

[Regorp]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

When I start to get a large number of spam emails, I have used the spam button and the unsubscribe button. Some people will say to not use the unsubscribe option, because it can have the opposite effect. But, sometimes, it allows you to unsubscribe from multiple senders, and it seems to have some effect. I cannot determine which option is better. Also, is the spam button supposed to prevent future emails from that sender, or does that depend on the email provider? I still use AOL, but I know I am out-of-date.

Delete, delete, delete!!!

[OhioBuckeye]

I agree, unsubscribe it & don’t open it, because as soon as you do they’ll know they have a live person. Delete it or unsubscribe it, just don’t open it. Then they’ll never know if you got it, just don’t open it!

[Velvet]

///

[midiwiz]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

When I start to get a large number of spam emails, I have used the spam button and the unsubscribe button. Some people will say to not use the unsubscribe option, because it can have the opposite effect. But, sometimes, it allows you to unsubscribe from multiple senders, and it seems to have some effect. I cannot determine which option is better. Also, is the spam button supposed to prevent future emails from that sender, or does that depend on the email provider? I still use AOL, but I know I am out-of-date.

Well.... here's the deal. From a cybersecurity persepctive, IF you are going to hit unsubscribe you are best to do that using a different technique. Use your smartphone, leave the email in junk folder because you well see the link not the button, and also be on a VPN when you do it. For 100% of the cases this will eventually (5-10 days ) get rid of 80% of the junk. Worst is mint mobile, unsubscribe can take almost a year to finally catch.

As for all those that do not have an unsubscribe hyperlink - delete these you click on anything in that email and annoying things will start happening. In some cases you can block them off, some not, this depends on yrou email client and service. Best to find a way to block them off.

Also just because it's in your inbox doesn't mean it's not junk, many are sliding by these days, and we see the numbers increasing weekly. These are best to mark as junk and then follow the above instructions.

Lastly ALWAYS do everything behind a VPN, and preferably not Nord, etc. We use proton. it's far better than any one here. Reason is USA VPNs must keep logs, so your P in VPN is a lie.

be careful when doing this, it is the only way to actually get rid of them without them 'picking up your scent'

[mhballard73@icloud]

Think you are talking about a PC, what would you do on a Mac?

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by midiwiz

Well.... here's the deal. From a cybersecurity persepctive, IF you are going to hit unsubscribe you are best to do that using a different technique. Use your smartphone, leave the email in junk folder because you well see the link not the button, and also be on a VPN when you do it. For 100% of the cases this will eventually (5-10 days ) get rid of 80% of the junk. Worst is mint mobile, unsubscribe can take almost a year to finally catch.

As for all those that do not have an unsubscribe hyperlink - delete these you click on anything in that email and annoying things will start happening. In some cases you can block them off, some not, this depends on yrou email client and service. Best to find a way to block them off.

Also just because it's in your inbox doesn't mean it's not junk, many are sliding by these days, and we see the numbers increasing weekly. These are best to mark as junk and then follow the above instructions.

Lastly ALWAYS do everything behind a VPN, and preferably not Nord, etc. We use proton. it's far better than any one here. Reason is USA VPNs must keep logs, so your P in VPN is a lie.

be careful when doing this, it is the only way to actually get rid of them without them 'picking up your scent'

Yes, I noticed that about VPN, the iPad seemed to always know the regular address. I remember the good ol’ days when on the mainframe you could rout through computers around the world and no one could find you. But for identifying sources of scam I can see the current situation as useful.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by mhballard73@icloud

Think you are talking about a PC, what would you do on a Mac?

I don't know. I have never used a Mac.

[bp243]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

I hear there Is there a "Black List" that must people are on where most scam e-mails and junk are created??

You may be referring to the Dark Web. Occasionally I’ve received an email from a creditor like Chase who claims that my email is on the Dark Web. In this case, it’s very important to change your email password to stop the trail of junk mail because your email has been confirmed as legitimate.

In general, the rule of thumb is to mark junk email as Spam and Unsubscribe from email that you simple wish to stop forwarding ads or information.