For some time now, I've been receiving more than 100 pieces of junk mail at my Island net address. I'm suspecting that my Facebook posts from friends and pages I'm interested in may have something to do with it, but much of the junk mail is totally unrelated to anything I've indicated any interest in. I've tried unsubscribing to many, but the posts keep coming. One of the unsubscribe links led me to a blank page on Safari. Any suggestions as to what I should do? I could change my email provider or address, but if the source is something on my computer I'm afraid I'd just be receiving the same junk. I'd be very grateful for any help you members might give me!! Betty Gutensohn
Apple mail
- Thread starter Betty
- Start date
DaveWT
Well-Known Member
Betty, I see you haven't had any replies. Possibly because you posted this under the "How to use the forum" heading which may be ignored by many viewers. It may have had more views if you had posted it under the "Mac OS X" category.
But on to your issue... Sadly, junk mail is unfortunately a fact of life these days it seems. But here are some thoughts.
1. If the junk mail is from a company that you know and respect, than clicking on an "unsubscribe" link MAY work in that case. But if you do not know the company or person sending the junk mail, NEVER click on such an "unsubscribe" link. At the very least, it confirms your email address is still an actively used account and will probably encourage the sender to send you a lot more junk mail. But clicking on ANY link in an email from someone you don't know, could very well take you to a site that will result in giving you malware on your computer.
2. The easiest approach is to just hit the "Delete" key when you see something you are not interested in.
3. A better approach may be to set up "rules" in Mail (I am assuming you are using Apple's Mail application on a Mac, as you didn't state this specifically), and have all junk mail go into a "Junk" folder. Go to Mail's Preferences and under the "Rules" tab set up a rule to accomplish what you want. For example, you might set it up so that any mail received from someone NOT in your Contacts will get sent automatically to a "junk" folder. This is pretty extreme because you may occasionally get emails from companies you have requested information from who are not in your Contacts. Another option might be to set up the rule so that any email containing specific offensive words gets put into the "junk" folder.
I don't do Facebook, but get a lot of phoney requests to join a "friend" in Facebook, so I have a rule that sends any email with even a mention of Facebook to junk. If a real friend mentions that dreaded word that email will get sent there too so I have to be careful but this is infrequent.
The junk folder can then be quickly scanned on occasion to make sure there aren't any desired emails that ended up there, but otherwise can be deleted all at once.
4. A piece of junk mail may be wanting you to respond by providing the sender additional information about your self. This is known as "phishing" and will likely result in your identity being stolen (and usually your money shortly afterwords.) Perhaps it would be good to review Alan Perry's excellent article about "Phishing" and how to detect and avoid (and possibly report) it.
https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21A ... 89&o=OneUp
But on to your issue... Sadly, junk mail is unfortunately a fact of life these days it seems. But here are some thoughts.
1. If the junk mail is from a company that you know and respect, than clicking on an "unsubscribe" link MAY work in that case. But if you do not know the company or person sending the junk mail, NEVER click on such an "unsubscribe" link. At the very least, it confirms your email address is still an actively used account and will probably encourage the sender to send you a lot more junk mail. But clicking on ANY link in an email from someone you don't know, could very well take you to a site that will result in giving you malware on your computer.
2. The easiest approach is to just hit the "Delete" key when you see something you are not interested in.
3. A better approach may be to set up "rules" in Mail (I am assuming you are using Apple's Mail application on a Mac, as you didn't state this specifically), and have all junk mail go into a "Junk" folder. Go to Mail's Preferences and under the "Rules" tab set up a rule to accomplish what you want. For example, you might set it up so that any mail received from someone NOT in your Contacts will get sent automatically to a "junk" folder. This is pretty extreme because you may occasionally get emails from companies you have requested information from who are not in your Contacts. Another option might be to set up the rule so that any email containing specific offensive words gets put into the "junk" folder.
I don't do Facebook, but get a lot of phoney requests to join a "friend" in Facebook, so I have a rule that sends any email with even a mention of Facebook to junk. If a real friend mentions that dreaded word that email will get sent there too so I have to be careful but this is infrequent.
The junk folder can then be quickly scanned on occasion to make sure there aren't any desired emails that ended up there, but otherwise can be deleted all at once.
4. A piece of junk mail may be wanting you to respond by providing the sender additional information about your self. This is known as "phishing" and will likely result in your identity being stolen (and usually your money shortly afterwords.) Perhaps it would be good to review Alan Perry's excellent article about "Phishing" and how to detect and avoid (and possibly report) it.
https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21A ... 89&o=OneUp
Thanks for your help, Dave. I'm pretty much resigned to simply clearing out the junk mail and occasionally checking to see if any messages I really want are there. It just surprised me that I had only rarely received junk mail for many years, and then, overnight, I'd be receiving a couple of hundred each day! I do tend to blame Facebook, where I only have my immediate family and a very few friends, but who knows?
Betty
Betty