Perhaps one of the most pressing problems on the Internet is spam. What it is? Generally speaking, spam is unsolicited advertising. That is, email ads that are sent to users without their consent.
What types of spam are there?
To be able to recognize spam almost immediately, you first need to understand what it might look like. Here are the main examples of ads that can be sent to your mailbox:
- Pay calls. The letter, as a rule, eloquently advertises a particular product or service. At the end, the phone number is indicated, by calling which you supposedly can order it. It would seem, what's the catch here? But not everything is so simple. By dialing the indicated number, you will hear only a faceless answering machine, and then you will receive a rather impressive bill for the call.
- Offers to join the financial pyramid. Such mailings take up the lion's share of everything that we include in the concept of "spam". What this is, of course, is not directly stated in the letter itself. First you will be describedbrilliant prospects (for example, "Earn $ 100,000 in just a month!") Or something like that. And under a plausible pretext (pledge, down payment, etc.) you are called upon to send a certain amount of money to the specified address. Of course, you will not wait for fabulous money, or even a return of your funds.
- Suggestions to visit a specific site. Of course, this is also done very veiled. As a rule, spammers create letters that are very similar to personal correspondence. For example, it could be something like: “Hi, friend! Remember me? You and I studied together at school since the seventh grade, I barely found you:) How are you? Look, I’ve started my website with photos here … ". The link follows. Its presence is a prerequisite, because it is important for a spammer that you follow it. Please note that in such letters you will not be called by your name, but will be replaced with "friend", "cat", "cute", etc. In addition, the first part of your e-mail may be present instead of the name (that is, what comes before the @ symbol). For example, if your email is "krasnoe_yabloko@.", then you might receive an email starting with "Hello, krasnoe_yabloko!…".
- Data collection. Under the pretext of a survey or questionnaire, you are offered to enter your data and send them to a specific address.
- Sending Trojans. This is the most dangerous spam. What it is? By opening such a message, you let a Trojan computer virus into your system that collects information (passwords, phone numbers, datafrom personal correspondence, information about the provider), and then sends it to spammers, who can use it for their own purposes.
Why fight spam?
Now that you have a basic understanding of what spam messages are, you probably no longer doubt that they simply need to be de alt with. In addition, it should be noted that users whose computers have been included in the spam network are faced with the strongest inhibition of the Internet. This is due, as a rule, to the fact that mass mailings take over all traffic.
How to protect yourself from spam?
Protection against spam is a matter to be taken seriously from the very beginning.
Firstly, if you often have to register on different resources, receive activation codes, etc., it is better to have a separate mailbox for this purpose. And let the main one fulfill its original purpose and serve for correspondence with colleagues, clients and friends, as well as for receiving news and advertising, but only what is interesting and necessary for you personally.
You should not leave your email address on various forums and other popular resources. If this is still necessary, separate the characters with spaces, replace the "@" sign with the inscription "woof", "dog" or something like that. So there will be a chance that the bot will not add you to the spam database. However, modern bots are becoming more and more advanced in this regard. So it's more logic althe output will be to insert a picture with a written e-mail instead of text. Of course, it will be a little inconvenient for users to manually enter your address, but you will protect yourself 100% from spam.
Never reply to spam. What it is, what it can bring you, you already know. Now imagine that after you reply (even if you say that you are not interested in their offer), the number of spam attacks on your mailbox will increase several times!
Spam filters are a modern and practical solution to the problem
Spam filters are specialized programs that automatically weed out and delete all emails with suspicious content. The "anti-spam" function is present in most modern anti-virus programs (Dr. Web, Kaspersky Lab, Avast, Avira, AVG, etc.). However, from time to time you will have to look into the "Spam" folder - sometimes necessary and important letters get there.
