Spam refers to unsolicited and often irrelevant messages sent in bulk to a wide range of recipients. These messages can clutter your inbox, containing advertisements, promotions, or links to potentially harmful websites. Spam is not only a nuisance but can also pose security risks, as it may carry phishing attempts, malware, or other malicious content. Recognizing and effectively dealing with spam is essential to maintaining a clean and secure online environment.
TOAST.net employs a robust range of technologies to safeguard against spam. However, your own behavior also plays a vital role in protecting your inbox. In order to help prevent spam from ever reaching your mailbox and to effectively handle any that does, follow these proactive and preventative tips.
- Protect your email address: Be careful about giving out your email address. Filling out surveys, contests, and signing up for accounts are all common ways for your email address to be added to a mailing list. Make sure you only give your information to a trusted website (trusted websites will have a detailed privacy statement). If you sign up for an account that requires your email address, watch for prompts regarding 3rd parties contacting you. Opt out if given the choice.
- If it's a legitimate message, then unsubscribe: Many people think messages from Kohl's, Target, Amazon, etc. are spam, but they're not. You may have given the company your email when you made a purchase. All you need to do is click "Unsubscribe" at the bottom of the message. This is the easiest way to prevent unwanted email. Tip: Phishing messages can sometimes masquerade as legitimate businesses. If you don't remember interacting with the business or if something seems off about the email, it could be worth checking out our guide on how to identify a phishing message.
- Flag the message as Spam: Log into your Webmail at www.toast.net/mail to use your spam controls. If a spam message shows up in your mailbox, mark it as "Spam" so the system can learn to filter similar messages in the future. You may have to mark several examples before the filter takes hold. For a step-by-step guide on how to correctly mark emails as spam on our different mail systems, check out our comprehensive tutorial on Spam Management and Filtering.
- Don't reply to a Spam message: By law, all mass emails must feature an unsubscribe link. If the email does not have an unsubscribe link, do not reply to the email as this will only tell the spammer that you're opening spam messages and they will send you more.
Article ID: 93, Created: 12/1/2009 at 4:27 PM, Modified: 10/23/2023 at 11:30 AM