How to Stop Spam Emails – Easy Blocks & Fixes

If you have an email account, you’ve probably gotten lots of spam (unsolicited emails) in your inbox and are unhappy about it. They may be from someone trying to sell you a product you don’t need or from unknown senders you’ve never met trying to scam you.

We all know the frustration of spam emails. It creates an endless cycle of sorting through your inbox, deleting one, then another, then another so that you can find that one email from a colleague or friend you haven’t heard from in a while. It can be time-consuming and rob you of your privacy.

You’ll be pleased to learn that there are steps you can take to protect your inbox from a barrage of junk mail. It’s time to deal with them once and for all, and you have the power to do it.

The only drawback is that there is no way to block spammers, scammers, and data thieves who constantly change their email addresses.

Let’s get down to it.

Dealing With Spam Emails

Before we teach you how to stop emails, it’s worth mentioning that no matter what you do, some spammers will find their way into your inbox. For this reason, we’re using this section to teach you how to handle the spam emails that make their way to you.

1. Never Click a Link from a Spam Email

One of the best ways to deal with spam emails is to minimize all interactions. You shouldn’t even open them, but avoid clicking on any link within them if you do. This action alerts the spammer that the account is active, pushing them to continue inundating you with more emails.

2. Never Respond to a Spam Email

When someone bombards you with tons of junk mail, you may be tempted to respond and tell them to stop. That’s a mistake most people make. Responding to the email could be validation for the sender with malicious intent, which may escalate spam emails. In some cases, you may give away more of your personal information.

3. Use an Alternate Email Address

Today, most email services, including Gmail and Yahoo Mail, come with an option to set up an alternate email address alongside your primary address. With an alternate address, you can interact with websites, platforms, or forums that could potentially inundate you with spam messages. You can even filter anything addressed to your alternate address into a specified folder for easier management (more on that below).

4. Unsubscribe from Mailing Lists

An excellent way to avoid spam is to unsubscribe from marketing emails. This way, your inbox won’t fill up too quickly with unwanted messages. A lot of emails come from a mass-marketing agency who have various clients. Once you’ve unsubscribed, marketers will exclude you from future mailing lists. But their messages will no longer reach your inbox even if they don’t.

Note: When you unsubscribe from an email address sent by a marketing/advertising agency, you will still get messages from the marketing company for their other clients unless you unsubscribe to both the company and its client. The client-specific emails will stop after a few weeks when you unsubscribe to the agency, but unsubscribing from both is still a good idea.

Most companies include an unsubscribe button at the bottom of the email. The Federal Trade Commission requires companies to include an opt-out link in their marketing campaigns. However, there are a few unscrupulous marketers that won’t do so. If your spam emails don’t have the unsubscribe button, you can block them.

5. Don’t Interact with Spam Emails

Spam emails are not just annoying; they can also be dangerous. With the exponential rise of cyber-attacks, it’s essential to be vigilant when dealing with suspicious emails.

Spam messages can contain malicious attachments and viruses that could damage your device or infiltrate your system with malware in seconds. Most spam emails try to trick you into doing something harmful, such as divulging personal information or clicking on a damaging link. Some want you to allow images, which also can have devastating effects. Others tell you to add them to your trusted list. That’s why it’s best to avoid interacting with suspicious emails.

6. Block the Spam Emails

Blocking emails from specific senders is an effective way to stop spam, as long as they don’t consistently change email addresses.

Some emails come from senders that don’t comply with FTC laws and regulations. More specifically, they don’t offer an option to unsubscribe or opt out of receiving emails. You can faithfully block those that come from the same email address.

Most email services offer users a way to block senders in just a few steps. For example, here’s how to block a sender on Gmail (we’ll show you how to do this on other email clients further down):

1. Open Gmail and then open one of the sender’s messages.
   
2. Click on More in the top right corner.
   
3. Click on Block.
   

7. Use Email Filters

Interestingly, most email services ignore all periods in the address before the domain name. For example, messages sent to johnmurphy@gmail.com, john.murphy@gmail.com, and j.o.h.n.m.u.r.p.h.y@gmail.com will end up in the same inbox. This means you can use a version of your email address with periods whenever you want to sign up for a service that could be a source of spam messages. When you want to isolate the emails, you can instruct your provider to move all messages sent to the alias address to a folder of your choice.

8. Don’t Post Your Email Address

If you want to keep your inbox clean and reduce the number of spam emails landing in your account, you should consider not posting your email address in public spaces. These include social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter and professional growth spaces like LinkedIn. But what if your job requires you to publicize your contact details, including your email address? You may want to create an alternate address to filter out the junk in this situation.

How to Stop Spam Emails on the iPhone

Spam emails are a pain no matter what device you use to access your mailbox. If you have an iPhone, there’s an easy way to stop unwanted spam messages before they reach your phone. Here are the steps:

1. Open one of the emails received from the address you’d like to block.
2. Tap on More.
   
3. Tap on Block [Sender].
   

Alternatively, you may unsubscribe from the sender’s email campaign by tapping the “Unsubscribe” button, usually found at the bottom of the email.

How to Stop Spam Emails on an Android

If you have an Android phone and are tired of spam emails, here’s how you can fix the problem:

1. Open the email service and open the spam message.
   
2. Tap on More in the top right corner.
   
3. Select Block [Sender].
   

How to Stop Spam Emails in Outlook

To stop spam emails in Microsoft Outlook:

1. Select the spam email sent from the source you want to block.
2. Right-click on the message and select Junk from the drop-down submenu.
   
3. Click on Block [sender].
   

How to Stop Spam Emails in Hotmail

Hotmail is one of several popular email services globally but it isn’t immune from spam emails. To stop spam messages from flooding your Hotmail account, you can use the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the email message.

Another way to stop spam emails in Hotmail involves adding unwanted senders to the “Blocked List.” Here’s how to do it:

1. Open your inbox and click the Settings gear icon in the upper-right corner.
   
2. Select More.
3. Under Preventing junk email, click on Safe and blocked senders.
   
4. Under Blocked senders and domains, click on Add.
   
5. Enter the email address you’d like to block.
   
6. Click on Save to complete the process.
   
   

How to Stop Spam Emails in Xfinity Mail

Are you tired of spam messages clogging up your Xfinity mail account? The best option is to set up spam filters that automatically send all incoming messages to the spam folder. Here’s how to set it up:

1. Open your Xfinity Connect account.
2. Click the gear-shaped icon in the top right corner.
3. Click on Settings.
4. Select Advance settings.
5. Select Automatically move spam and potentially harmful messages to the Spam folder.

All messages directed into the spam folder are deleted after seven days.

How to Stop Spam Emails in Yahoo Mail

Yahoo Mail includes a spam filter tool that keeps them out of your inbox. However, some spam may still find its way into your inbox. If this happens, you can take steps to train the filter and improve its ability to catch unwanted emails. Here’s what to do:

1. Open the Spam email folder.
   
2. Click on the ellipsis (three small dots) in the top right corner.
   
3. Click on Filter messages like this…
   

Alternatively, you may click the “unsubscribe” button at the bottom of the email message.

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Spam emails are a nuisance and can affect receiving critical information, such as online banking details, important account information, or even order updates. You could end up losing your money or exposing your organization to fraud. If you’re tired of your inbox being bogged down by unwanted messages, it’s time to take a stand. Follow some of the steps we’ve outlined for the most effective ways to stem the flow of spam and regain control of your inbox. You may not be able to stop all spam due to ever-changing email addresses, but you can regulate the amount in your inbox by taking other measures.

Spam Emails FAQs

How do I eliminate spam emails from senders that keep changing their addresses?

Sadly, you can’t block spam that comes from ever-changing email addresses. The scenario is the same as with text messaging.

Why am I suddenly getting a lot of spam emails?

Spammers buy bulk email addresses from particular providers to add them to their mailing lists. If you’ve noted a sudden increase in spam emails landing in your account, there’s a high chance that your address was part of a list recently sold to one or more scammers.

This usually happens when you enter your email in a field that looks safe but is a tool used by scammers to harvest email addresses.

How can I report spam emails to authorities?

First, you can report spam to the email provider by tapping the “Spam” link. However, it doesn’t always mean the sender gets sent to the “Spam” folder or the provider checks it and takes action.

Second, you can report spam emails to the Federal Trade Commission by visiting the website www.ftc.gov/complaint. All reports are sent anonymously, so scammers and the authorities cannot trace them back to you.

How do I spot spam e-mails?

Spammers often send emails that create a sense of urgency. These often include subject lines that seem essential.

Good tips to spot spam emails include realizing you’ve never previously engaged with the sender. Another way is identifying email that differs from a company’s email style. Always check the “From” address: if it does not match the company’s official contact email, it’s most likely fake.