How to Stop Spam and Protect Your Business Email from Unwanted Messages
Does your business seem to get an endless stream of spam emails? Protecting your inbox and those of your employees can be a difficult task, but fortunately it is not an impossible one. Keeping unwelcome messages at bay requires vigilance, effort, and careful strategy — no matter how large or small your business may be. In this blog post, we'll discuss some simple steps that you can take to keep unsolicited emails from flooding your inboxes so you can stay focused on running a successful operation. Read on to learn more about how to stop spam.
Why does spam happen?
Email spam, also called “junk email”, is a type of electronic message sent in bulk to an indiscriminate number of recipients. These spams are typically unwanted commercial messages or advertisements for products and services that have been sent by individuals or groups with malicious intent. It is important to take precautions to protect yourself from email spam, as it can be a major security risk to your business.
There are so many different ways that business email can be obtained, some methods are easier than others. If you use social media then your company email address is usually publicly listed on .
Scanning software or scripts that can obtain lists of email addresses. Business email commonly use email aliases - one like “admin@domainname.com”, which are easy to assume and target specifically.
Manual, less technical methods of sending spam are also becoming more prevalent. Much like people paying for 'likes' or followers on social media, some companies are relying on VA's in foreign countries to cold email other companies through their website contact form using a copy-paste script to try to obtain leads or sales for their client, they can bypass security measures like Google Recapture that spam-protects forms because it looks like a legitimate person filling out the form.
Typical email scam threats
Email scams come in various forms, with some of the most common types being phishing attacks, pyramid schemes, Nigerian prince scams, lottery scams and free product or gift card offers.
Phishing attacks - the most common spam - are emails that appear to be from legitimate companies or individuals but actually contain malicious links which can steal personal information such as passwords or credit card numbers. These messages will typically include links or attachments that, when clicked on, can infect your computer with malicious software.
Pyramid schemes involve messages usually asking recipients to invest money and offering the opportunity to earn a return on the amount they invest.
Nigerian prince scams involve emails claiming to be from an African royal family member looking for assistance in transferring large sums of money.
Lottery scams involve messages that claim you’ve won a foreign lottery even though you never bought a ticket.
Free products and gift cards are also popular email scam tactics which entice people into giving out confidential information in exchange for what appears to be something of value.
To stay protected, always be wary of any emails that request confidential information and double-check the sender before clicking on any links or downloading files. Vigilance is key when trying to identify spam. If in doubt - treat it as spam.
Delete spam as soon as you see it
It's important to stay vigilant and actively delete spam emails as soon as they arrive in your inbox. This will help prevent malicious messages from accumulating and clogging up your email account. It's also beneficial to use an email client that has advanced spam-filtering capabilities, which can filter out suspicious messages automatically, allowing you to focus on the emails that are important and most importantly - safe.
Create separate email accounts
It's wise to create separate email accounts for different departments and functions within your company. This will help protect sensitive information, while also making it easier to track down any potentially malicious emails. For instance, if you have a customer service department, set up an email address specifically for it, rather than using the same one for all enquiries.
To segregate out newsletters from important business correspondence, sign up for the newsletters with a separate email address and filter emails sent to that address into a folder so they skip your inbox and are neatly tucked away, ready for you to read when you have a moment.
Create a filter to automatically delete spam from your inbox
Creating a filter to automatically delete spam from your inbox is an effective way to protect your business from unwanted messages if you don't wish to have multiple email accounts.
The filter can target certain words or phrases that are found in spam that you have previously received. Set up the filter to skip your inbox, flag it as spam and delete it automatically. This avoids the often large amount of time spent sifting through spam and non-spam emails in your inbox. Keyword filters can help if you are getting the same email but receiving it from different email addresses.
Train your staff on email security protocols
Training your staff on email security protocols is an important part of keeping your business safe. Here are five steps to help ensure your staff members understand and follow proper email security protocols:
Explain the basics of email security. Make sure all employees understand the differences between secure emails and insecure ones, as well as the types of malicious emails they may receive such as phishing attacks, lottery scams, and Nigerian prince scams.
Provide clear guidelines on how to handle suspicious emails. Establish a policy for responding to suspicious emails and provide training for employees to better detect potential threats before opening or clicking any links or attachments in messages.
Use strong passwords and require frequent updates. Require each employee to create secure and unique passwords that contain a mix of numbers, letters, and special characters and enforce regular updates for every account owned by your company.
Educate about the importance of privacy settings. Encourage employees to update their privacy settings regularly and be transparent with them about collecting information from their accounts when necessary for business purposes.
Prepare team members with effective data recovery methods such as using a cloud-based backup service like Dropbox or Google Drive if something goes wrong with their accounts or if any sensitive information is accidentally leaked by someone in their organisation.
Report spam emails to your email provider
Block known spammers by their email address or domain name and report them to your email provider. This can be done in a few simple steps, depending on your email client. For instance, Gmail allows users to add individual addresses or domains to a blocked list. Gmail has a designated "Report Spam" button to report repeat offenders and send them directly to your Spam folder out of sight.
Being mindful about which websites you input your email address into, making use of available filters, and educating yourself and those around you who use your email account on how to identify spam messages are important actions for keeping spam out of your mailbox. We hope that these tips have helped provide insight into how to successfully deal with spammers and eliminate any possible threats from them.
