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Email and Computer Security
Spam / Junk Email Examples
These messages are typical of the emails you may receive:
Just from the subject lines (and the senders names) I can see these are junk emails, I do not know anyone called "Justin Turner", "Alec Nelson" or any of them for that matter!
Some the senders names are just random selections of words, not even real names and some of the
subjects are just a jumble of words.
Look out for the following tricks that "Spammers" use:
- Emails that start the subject with "Re:" to make it look like it is a reply to an email you have sent them.
- Messages that appear to be from a well known company that you have never dealt with or that you have not given your email address to.
- Subject lines of messages disguised by adding extra characters like dots and hyphens between letters in certain words to try and fool Spam filtering software.
- A string of random letters and numbers in the subject line.
- Words spelled with numbers like "0" (zero) and "1" (one) used to replace letters like "o" and "l" to try and fool Spam filtering software. Often you will see "Viagra" shown as "\/iagra" (a back-slash "\" followed by a forward-slash "/") to disguise the word from Spam filters.
Other signs to look out for:
Incorrect spelling or poor grammar often indicate Spam, as the messages may have been translated from another language or sent by someone whose first language is not English. American style phrases often indicate Spam, as a lot of it will originate from and be aimed at U.S. users. For example "Hi Buddy!"
Beware of emails that appear to be from your own email address. The software that generates Spam emails can customise each message it sends and can add any address as the apparent "senders" address. Even if the email contains your name (or part of it) it could just be because the Spam software has reproduced part of your email address in the message.
Look out for identical subject lines of messages apparently from different people (like the first two emails in the example above) they have probably been sent by the same person using software that adds random senders names.
The subject lines of these emails are often very inviting just to try and engage your interest. The content of the message is likely to be disappointing or offensive, and nothing to do with the "Subject" of the message. Opening or clicking a link in one of these emails could expose your computer to Viruses and Other Threats.
Also be cautious about opening an email with an attachment, usually indicated in your email inbox by the "paperclip" icon next to the message subject. The attachment might just be holiday photographs from a family member, or it could be a file containing a virus.
Stopping Junk Emails
Just in case you thought you could email the sender to ask them to stop sending you emails - or using the "unsubscribe" link in their email - don't do it. The email address they give is likely to be false and clicking an unsubscribe link will just confirm that your email address is working so you are likely to receive more emails from them.
Help protect yourself from receiving Spam by being careful who you give your email address to.
If you subscribe to an on-line service or put your email address on an online discussion group, don't use your normal email address. Keep your usual email address (e.g.: fred.smith@mail.com) for friends and family and create another address (possibly on http://www.hotmail.co.uk/ or http://www.yahoo.co.uk/) to give out to businesses and to online services. This way hopefully your normal email address will just receive messages from family and friends and should be free of Spam.
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