No matter how much you try to limit the number of people that know your email address, eventually it will become far more public than you ever intended it to be. Suddenly, you will start to receive the attention of scumbags and chancers, like this one and you’ll get emails from them posing as a company you have dealings with, a bank or even ‘a friend’.
Taking Action
I would be delighted to tell you that you can stop this happening, but sadly there is little you can do, other than repeatedly change your email address. That of course would be highly impractical for any of us, so let’s consider how we might at least restrict the worst of it.
Sign Ups
Avoid signups and whenever this is not possible create a temporary email address whenever you really don’t need them to contact you.
Often you need an email address and password to login to a website, if you needed to login but had forgotten your password, ask yourself, ‘Would it matter if I just created another account, using another temporary email address?’ If the answer is ‘No’, use a temporary email address.
I use temporary email addresses wherever I don’t need, or want, any ongoing services and where I am likely to recieve endless spam or unwanted notifications.
Too Late
Either you signed up to something you wish you hadn’t, or your email address has gradually seeped out into the Dark Web.
Your inbox is is now a mishmash of real offers, bogus offers, important notifications and phishing emails. What can you do, other than ditch that email address and start again?
Spam Blocking
There are several programs that will analyse your email before it appears in your Inbox. Personally I use Mailwasher as it is a one off purchase and supports three devices, you might prefer another software, so look at the alternatives too.
These programs link to intelligent, constantly updated databases, filtering out most of the dodgy stuff, leaving you with many fewer to evaluate.
Top Tips
If you have an email from any company asking for personal information, do not hit the ‘reply button’. Pick up a phone and call them, or find their website on any official paperwork and contact them through that.
What was the sender’s email address? In this example, there is a bunch of numbers before the @ and a dodgy ‘resolutionsaccount’ nonsense ending in ‘amz.com’. Does that sound like a fake? Sure it does.
Having discovered a fake email, forward a copy to the company’s Phishing Department, if they have one, they might just manage to locate the swine. Then delete the email.
Finally, if you have been incautious and clicked the link, you have been persuaded to give your username and password or banking details, go to the genuine website and change your password immediately. It would be wise to call the company and alert them, it may even save someone else from being duped.