How to maintain spam-free email

With the widespread usage of the internet today, an email address is essential to prove identity and sign up for any application. From a business standpoint, it is necessary to maintain a clutter-free inbox containing only the most important emails. Spam emails are commonly received in any ordinary email account. These are unsolicited emails usually sent for promotional purposes. If you have signed up for any newsletter, you may receive emails from those companies as well. Spammers collect email addresses from different sources and use them in their databases. There are a number of ways for gathering these email addresses from the databases. When a mailbox is clogged with emails, it becomes difficult to differentiate between the necessary and unwanted ones. Deleting each spam email one by one will consume a lot of time. This not only leads to wastage of time and effort but also has a negative impact on productivity. Few email security threats include trojan horses, zombies, phishing emails, lottery scams, and fake offers. These spam emails can also be dangerous, resulting in the theft of our personal information. We must be extremely cautious when a spam email is received because opening any unwanted attachment from any unknown sender could result in data theft.

Differentiation of authentic from fraudulent emails requires consideration of certain key points. Let’s discuss them.

Ways to spot spam emails

✉ Suspicious subject line
Subject lines are recommended to be made attractive and clickable to users. It works the same way for fraudulent emails as well. Users may be persuaded to open the email if the subject lines are written in a way that looks appealing to them. If you unintentionally open the email, be cautious before clicking any other link or attachment given in the email.

✉ Deceptive sender’s address
Spammers can use brand names of top companies and fool you into trusting their email. One technique to recognize these spammers is that they often add words before the primary email address of well-known companies to make it appear authentic. Beware of emails that appear to be from a trustworthy source.

✉ Incorrect grammar and spelling mistakes
A fraudulent spammer is definitely going to miss out on something. Check for grammar and spelling mistakes. These are commonly found in deceitful emails. Even if there is a lot of information, there is a good probability that the content will contain spelling mistakes.

✉ Requesting sensitive information without encryption
Emails or websites that are secure definitely will have encryption. Do not trust any source that does not ensure protection for your personal information. These emails may include buttons like ‘CLICK HERE TO KNOW MORE’, when clicked, navigate to another website asking your personal details such as debit or credit card information.

✉ Emails received without subscription or participation
You may not have signed up for any newsletters or participated in any competition. However, you receive an email informing you that you've won a lottery or a jackpot offer from a competition you have participated in. Such emails can make anyone feel enthusiastic for a short time, but they can subsequently lead to dangerous situations.

✉ Demand money
In the initial stage, these scammers will trick you into opening their links and filling the information one by one. Later on, they might ask you to make a payment for proceeding to the next step. If you find yourself in such a circumstance, be cautious because it is definitely a scam.

The Solution

1. Email filters
ENTP provides an email filter known as SpamAssassin to identify and report spam. It identifies spam using several methods such as text analysis, internet-based real time blacklists, statistical analysis, and internet-based hashing algorithms. This tool runs on a server and filters spam before it has reached the mailbox. Also, when you block certain email providers, you stop receiving emails from those addresses.

2. Disposable address
If you sign up for any newsletter and need those emails for a particular time or you want to verify your identity and want to prevent any future emails. Using a disposable address is advantageous in such situations. One can set a maximum time limit of up to 24 hours and it could be reduced or extended as per the requirement. For this particular duration, a disposable email address can be generated which remains active until the set time limit and gets deleted on its own. Whenever the spammer or company tries to send you an email in the disposable address, it will display that the email address does not exist. This is a nice trick to save your inbox from getting spammed with unwanted emails. Be rest assured, because the emails received during the set time stays in your mailbox and those sent after the set time does not reach you. This means, your mailbox will be saved from future spam.

3. Avoid responding to spam emails
Whenever you suspect a spam email, make sure to not respond or take any action on it. You should not open the email in the first place, if you respond to it, then the spammer will know that it's an active email account and spam you with more and more spam emails. Unsubscribe from the email subscription or restrict the email address from sending you any emails.

Points to remember when creating an Email Signature

Although there is no 100% guarantee for securing your email from spam, there are a few features provided by ENTP Mail for smooth functioning of your work. ENTP Mail displays inbound as well as outbound spam counts alerting the user to delete unwanted emails. Deleting unwanted emails free ups space and makes room for sufficient storage. As already discussed, it also has a SpamAssassin filter and disposable address feature.

For more details on ENTP Mail, check ‘ ENTP Mail, a premium email solution’. Also for any queries or assistance required, contact support@entp.email.

Being a business, organizing your mailbox is a necessary task. Using the advanced features and being alert of spammers, anybody can maintain a spam-free email. Reduction in spam emails improves task efficiency as well as productivity. Because, less the clutter, better the work!