Tips and Tricks to Stop Spam

Computer guru's like Buying Computers for Dummies author Dan Gookin reveal ways you can stop that unwanted online junk mail that clogs up the inbox.

Video Transcription

Everyday advertisers bombard your email account with offers of cheaper mortgages, affordable prescription drugs, and designer watches at rock bottom prices. But don't believe every email offer you read. It's called spam, because you haven't asked for it. It's junk mail in your Inbox. Well, some spam are genuine advertisements, others are not so friendly. So if you find yourself curious after reading a spam email and click on the link, you run the risk of getting a computer virus or having your identity stolen. If you click on every single spam that people will send you, you will get three things. One of them, they would take you to places where you didn't want to go. The second one is that you will see different icons on your desktop that are unwanted, such as games, and the third one and most important, is by clicking on this different type of spams, is that you will be bringing viruses into your desktop. Spam has become one of the biggest problems facing the Internet today, and it comes in many different forms, from pop up windows to Instant Messaging spam, to mobile phone spam. Here are some helpful tips how to handle spam. When setting up your primary email account try using a long complicated address. This will make it harder for spamers to find you. Never give away your primary email address to sign up for anything. Since there are plenty of websites that offer free email accounts, set up a disposable email account fro public use. When you do receive spam. Make sure you don't click on any free offers. Make sure you don't get to click on any pop ups that you get, or make sure that you don't click on any unwanted emails that -- or people you don't know where they are coming from. And don't get fooled. Some spam may disguise their true intentions by offering you ways to stop receiving spam. At the bottom of the message if it says, if you don't want to receive this message, click here. You don't click that. As often times, clicking that message says, we have a ringer, we have a live one, let's send them more, and so you get more. Just click the junk button or delete the message to deal with it. And most email problems today have junk mail filters which helps flag spam and automatically put it in a separate email folder for you to delete later. But before you do, be sure to check your junk folder for personal email that might have been sent there accidentally. If your email program doesn't have that, then you need to upgrade your email program. As the newer versions of all the programs have that kind of filtering in them. So remember, to protect you and your computer from spam, try using a complicated email address, don't give away your primary email address. Instead use a disposable email account. Don't click on any pop ups or open any suspicious emails. Beware of fake messages, and finally install popup blockers and email filters on your computer.