What is a spam email?

Email in its worst form can be used to send copies of the same message to a large number of recipients. Besides being sent to multiple users this email can also be sent again and again. The sending of bulk email and receiving of unsolicited or unrequested email is known as spam email or junk email.Spam email can be of different types and forms and is directly received in the email inbox. It is a hassle for a user and can create a lot of disturbance. Different types of spam email pose different challenges and threat for a user.

Different spam email types and how they can create disturbance

email-spam-495x400The first spam email type can be a simple advertisement or a promotional offer sent by an ecommerce firm or an advertiser. This kind of spam email usually is less threatening as businesses are trying to promote their products and services.It can be a phishing attack in which a sender impersonates or takes the identity of a creditable person or institution such as a bank or a known company. By disguising itself then it tricks the receiver to visit a fraudulent website by clicking on a link included in the mail. The receiver of the email is cleverly made to believe that the masked website is the actual website of a reputed firm or organization. It then tricks the recipient to provide personal user information such as credit card details, passwords or other sensitive data which can be potentially damaging for a user.

It can also be a virus attack. Such emails contain a virus application as an attachment which may be inadvertently downloaded by a recipient. This virus can then cause damage to existing data or information stored on the hard drive of a computer causing irreparable harm and damage. Sometimes the recipient on downloading the attachment may also end up forwarding the same virus email to addresses in his or her contact book.These unrequested and unwanted messages clog the inbox. The sheer volume of spam email can lower productivity, occupy unnecessary space of the hard-drive and pose risk to sensitive personal information of a user or a business. Spam mail is thus a nuisance for a user. For a user it is very important to exercise caution and reduce spam mail or manage it appropriately.Using a definitive spam Email filtering option is by far the best idea from keeping your email inbox away from these spam emails.