Avoid That Junk Mail Black Hole

Junk E-mail How To

Can’t find an email someone said they sent you?  Or are you tired of getting all that junk mail?  I mean, we all like a distraction from the daily grind and all, but junk mail isn’t the kind we relish.  The Junk E-mail Filter in Outlook is turned on by default. This is designed to catch obvious junk e-mail messages. Sometimes it may catch legitimate messages.  Any message that is caught by the Junk E-mail Filter is moved to a special Junk E-mail folder. You should review messages in the Junk E-mail folder from time to time to make sure that they are not legitimate messages that you want to see.

• On the Go menu, click Folder List.
• In the Folder List, click the Junk E-mail folder.
• Right-click any messages that you want marked as Not Junk.
• To display a shortcut menu, right-click an item, point to Junk E-mail, and then click Mark as Not Junk.

Messages marked as Not Junk are moved to your Inbox or to the folder in which they were stored previously. When you mark a single message as Not Junk, you are prompted to add the sender or mailing list name to your Safe Senders List or Safe Recipients List.  In the future, messages from this sender will go to your Inbox folder.

So to avoid Junk Mail, taken from Outlook’s help section, here are a few important points for you to consider, and maybe even apply to your own email habits and settings.

• Don’t reply to spam Never reply — not even to unsubscribe — unless you know and trust the sender. Answering spam just confirms that your e-mail address is live.
• If a company uses e-mail messages to ask for personal information, don’t respond by sending a message Most legitimate companies will not ask for personal information in e-mail. Be suspicious if they do. It could be a spoofed e-mail message meant to look like a legitimate one. This tactic is known as “phishing” because, as the name implies, the spam is used as a means to “fish” for your credentials, such as your account number and passwords that are necessary to access and manipulate your financial accounts. If the spam is from a company that you do business with — for example, your credit card company — call the company, but don’t use a phone number provided on the e-mail.
• When you shop online, companies sometimes add a check box (already selected) to indicate that it is fine with you for them to sell or give your e-mail address to other businesses (or “third parties”). Clear the check box so that your e-mail address will not be shared.
• Don’t forward chain e-mail messages Besides causing more traffic, by forwarding a chain e-mail message you might be furthering a hoax — and meanwhile, you lose control over who sees your e-mail address.
• Block images in HTML messages that spammers use as Web beacons. To verify what your automatic download settings are, on the Tools menu, click Options. Click the Security tab, and then click Change Automatic Download Settings. Verify that the Don’t download pictures or other content automatically in HTML e-mail check box is selected.
• Keep your Junk E-mail Filter updated Updates are available at Downloads on Office Online. Under Office Update, click Check for Updates.
• You can give your e-mail address as “s0me0ne@example.c0m” by using the number zero instead of the letter “o.” This way, a person can interpret your address, but the automated programs that spammers use cannot.
• Turn off automatic processing of meeting requests and of read and delivery receipts. Responding to meeting requests and read and delivery receipts automatically makes you vulnerable to Web beacons.