Posted by Having been a network administrator for close to 5 years, I’ve come to have a particular hatred for spam. I’ve wasted many hours adjusting spam filters, fixing computers infected by virus laden emails and constantly reminding my users that unsolicited business offers made by exiled African princes might not be as legitimate as they sound.
Most internet users know a little bit about spam, but spammers are evolving and every day it becomes harder to recognize spam.
Spam types
Virus Spam
These are unsolicited emails that arrive with unusual attachments like .exe files. The emails are usually sent by a friend who’s been infected. Before opening, it should always be a policy to ask your friend or acquaintance and find out if they’ve actually sent you something.
Nigeria Spam
If it sounds too good to be true, it is.
Pharma Spam
Buying medication of any kind off the internet is inherently risky- especially buying medication from a company that sends unsolicited emails. Beware.
Penis Enlargement Spam
Come on, really?
Phishing Scams
These emails are the most dangerous, as they are often sent via a spoof email address that looks like a bank or credit card domain name. They pretend to be a bank or credit card company and then they ask you to confirm a change to your account by logging in using your pin number and password through a link they provide in the email. It also copies the websites login page, often making it impossible to distinguish it from the real thing. To avoid this type of spam, all you need to do is remember that banks never send out emails like this. They will call you to confirm changes with your account and will never require you to log in through a link in an email.
Mortgage & Loan Spam
Low interest loans even with bad credit!!! Yep, it’s too good to be true.
Lottery Spam
No, you didn’t win a prize and no, you don’t need to tell them your bank account number to collect.
Software spam
These are people who pirate software then try to sell it to unsuspecting people. It’s the equivalent of buying a Playstation from the back of a truck.
How to fight It
You would think “unsubscribing” would help, but really, it doesn’t. Unsubscribing from these emails will result in more spam. The unsubscribe link in these emails simply confirms to the spammer that the email address is valid. The spammer will then add your address to a database filled with the addresses of other unsuspecting people, for future spamming.
So how do you stop the influx of garbage email? If you’re using a corporate email address then contact your network admin. The company’s email system is likely operating under Microsoft Hosted Exchange or an onsite email server, so the network admin will be necessary to make changes to the server side spam filter.
Alternatively, if you have a home email address there are client side spam filters like Perimitec’s Anti-spam filtering that provide protection against spam when you’re at home. This kind of software has regular updates much like anti-virus software so you need to make sure you’re up-to-date.
