Did you know that Americans are expected to receive over 52 billion robocalls this year? Everyone agrees that these spam calls and texts are super annoying. The scary thing is if you’re not careful, you could give up personal information unknowingly.
Other than receiving robocalls and texts, the internet is riddling with spam. How can you protect yourself from these spammers? Turns out there is a lot you can do.
If you’re not sure what to do, fear not, we’re here for you. In our spam guide, we’ll answer the question, “what is spam?” and teach you what you need to know. Keep reading to gain some spam knowledge.
What Is Spam?
Spam is unsolicited/unrequested bulk communication. These days, you are most like to receive a spam email, but you can experience it on blogs, social media, physical junk mail, robocalls, etc.
Spamming is the term used to describe the act and a spammer is the one sending the messages.
Why Is It Called Spam?
Funnily enough, the term spam originates from a Monty Python skit (1970). The sketch is a woman ordering from a menu full of Spam luncheon meat. The joke implies that everyone must eat Spam whether they want to or not (much like getting a flood of unwanted emails).
Types of Spam
Understanding spam means knowing which ones to look out for. Let’s take a look so you won’t be fooled next time around.
The one you’re most familiar with. It’ll clog up your inbox and distract you from your important emails. Thankfully, it is easy to ignore.
SEO
SEO spam is also referred to as spamdexing. Here a spammer would abuse the use of search engine optimization for the sole purpose of improving their search engine rankings.
Social Media
You’ve probably seen a lot of spam on the social media sites and apps you frequent. These spammers create “dummy/throwaway” accounts to take advantage of people. There are also spambots.
Mobile
Have you ever received a spam text? Some spammers will also take advantage of push notifications in the hopes of getting your attention for their offers.
How To Prevent Spam
Now that we’ve answered the question, “what is spam?”, how do you prevent it in the first place?
Learning how to eliminate spam email starts with using your client’s spam reporting function. When you do this you’re “training” the client to know what to look out for in the future. If something enters your spam folder, you can also say if it shouldn’t belong (and it’ll be moved to your inbox).
You can sign up for things with a disposable email account too.
Spam Begone
Now that we’ve answered the question, “what is spam?” and what you can do about it, now it’s up to you. Put what you’ve learned today into practice. The more you can prevent spam from entering your digital world, the better.
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