What is email spam? For an email to be considered spam, it must be both unsolicited and sent in bulk. Not all bulk email is spam. Not all unsolicited email is spam. If you agreed to receive an email from a company, it is not spam.
How do Spammers get my email address? Here is a list of the common ways Spammers get your email address:
- Email messages that are forwarded multiple times, like jokes or email hoaxes, videos
- Directory Harvest Attacks (DHAs) are carried out against email servers to acquire a list of users on your server that will accept email; that list is sold to spammers.
- E-mail spambots (web crawlers) scour newsgroups, forums, social networking sites harvesting email addresses
- Buying and or traded via mailing lists
- Randomly generating (guessing) common email addresses
How do I unsubscribe from mailing lists of companies that I have signed up with (reputable)? If you remember providing your email address to a specific company or website to receive a newsletter, product updates, coupons or be entered in a drawing, this is considered a reputable company. The fastest way to get removed from these types of mailing lists is to follow the instructions provided by the sender. The most common way to do this is to scroll to the bottom of the email and locate the unsubscribe link. It may take several days for your request to be fulfilled. The CAN-spam Act requires that a mailer process an unsubscribe request within 10 business days. Some companies provide you a service (website hosting) or software in exchange for your email address and permission to send you advertisements. This is not spam.
How do I unsubscribe from mailing lists of companies that I have NOT signed up with (unknown or suspicious)? You don't. If you don't remember signing up to receive emails from a company or email claims to be from a reputable company, but looks suspicious, here are some things to consider. If the email is from a Spammer, and you follow the removal instructions, the spammer uses this process to verify that your email address is going to a real person, making the email address more valuable and then is traded or sold to other spammers.
How to report spam? Forward the "full email header" of the suspected spam email to (not supported or affiliated with CenturyLink)
How do I view "full email headers"? After signing into CenturyLink WebMail, right click on the suspicious email and select Show Original. For other email clients, read How do I get my email program to reveal the full, unmodified email? (not affiliated with CenturyLink)
I've reported the spam, now what? Mark the email as junk and delete it.
How can I reduce the amount of spam I get? Take steps to limit the amount of spam you get, and treat spam offers the same way you would treat an uninvited telemarketing sales call. Don't believe promises from strangers. Get tips from the "Federal Trade Commission"
