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Spam is unsolicited email, usually sent from fake addresses to many people at once. It’s estimated that 100 billion spam email messages are sent every day. There’s no way to completely avoid spam, but there are effective ways to deal with it.

Never reply to spam
Replying to spam won’t get you removed from lists. Don’t visit websites linked from a spam email even if they look like unsubscribe links. In some cases, visiting these sites will allow the spammer to take control of your computer.

Be careful giving out your email address
When you buy something online or register on a website you increase your chance of being added to a spam lists. Consider creating a free web-based email account to use for online transactions and to register for websites. You should also limit your subscriptions to online bulletins and contests.

Don’t open messages you know are spam
If you know an email message is spam, delete it without opening it. Some spam messages are programmed to notify the sender that the message has been opened. By opening the message, you are informing the spammer that your address is active.

Filter incoming messages
The ANU filters out much of the spam sent to ANU addresses, but some still makes it through. Turning on the junk mail filter on your email applications will give you an extra level of protection.
ANU IT Security can answer any questions you may have about junk mail and IT security by emailing it.security@anu.edu.au