Last updated Feb. 14, 2023 by Peter Jakes
Many people will be very relieved if they can find ways to stop junk mail for good. It’s frustrating waking up every morning to a mail notification from an unsolicited source. It becomes more annoying when the information in the mail is not relevant or essential to you.
Your mail is supposed to be your personal space. You are supposed to control who sends you mails. If you find these unsolicited mails a breach of your privacy and would love to get rid of them, you are in the right place. This article will reveal five legit ways to stop junk mail for good.
Stop Revealing Your Email Address Carelessly
Most businesses and brands get our email addresses because we permit it. Many people signed up to receive updates from companies. Also, we give out our email addresses when registering for an opportunity online. Even when filling out some contact forms offline, we carelessly give out our email addresses.
By giving out your email address carelessly, you invite people to spam you with junk mail. The first step to reducing your junk mail is to be careful to whom you give your email address. Of course, there are junk mails that might be beyond control; but starting from the obvious causes will be a significant step.
Change Your Email Address
It would be best if you only tried changing your email address when you can no longer use other means of stopping the junk mail. It is a lazy way of running from the problem. Moreover, you risk losing out on vital information when you do so.
Opening a new email address is relatively easy. It is the same way as opening an old one. However, after you have eventually opened a new email, you should be careful about how you release your email address.
Take Advantage Of Third Party Spam Filter
With the high degree of communication available today, it is almost inevitable to avoid spam. Ordinarily, spams are not necessarily a threat. They are primarily annoying unsolicited messages.
However, they become threatening when the messages sent contain links or viruses to scam the receiver. Hence the need to curtail this potential threat by using spam filters.
Spam filters are software or applications that protect recipient email addresses from potential threats from spam. They analyze the content of the mail, email address, subject, header, and more, for suspicious attacks before they arrive in your inbox. Some popular third-party spam filters include MailChannels, Spambrella, ZERO SPAM, SpamTitan, and more.
Using third-party spam filters will help you reduce threats from spam mail, but they have their disadvantages. For example, some spam filters occasionally miscategorized vital mail as spam, thus making you lose out on specific information.
Stop Credit Card And Insurance Offers
You can get credit card and insurance offers in your mail for several reasons. First, some credit card issuers use these offers as a marketing technique to get to their clients. The Fair Credit Reporting Act licenses agencies like Equifax and TransUnion to provide credit card companies with the email addresses of people who need pre-screened credit offers.
Some of the offers you get are information not available to the general public. However, if you are not interested in applying for new credit cards or do not need their offers, you can opt out for five years or permanently.
There are various ways to opt out of receiving prescreened credit offers. You can opt-out online by visiting the official credit bureau opt-out site, OptOutPrescreen.com. Alternatively, you can opt out by placing a direct call to their office by calling 888-5-OPT-OUT (888-567-8688).
Use The Data And Marketing Association Service
The Data And Marketing Association is a member of the direct marketing community that helps clients manage their mail preferences. They operate dmachoice.org, where they offer users a $2 processing fee for ten years. In addition, they allow clients to control the kind of mail they receive via inbox.
They also offer an email preference service, where consumers can reduce unwanted commercial emails. They also provide telephone preference services; a deceased do not contact list, and others.
Why Am I Getting So Many Junk Emails All Of A Sudden?
One of the primary reasons one suddenly gets so much junk mail is because their email address appeared on a list sold to spammers. This could result from giving out your email address while filling out data on a site. These sites then sell out your email address to interested parties.
In more severe cases, such an influx of junk emails could indicate a cyber attack on the receiver. For example, the attackers might be after sensitive information in your email address or trying to distract you from an underlying scam.
When you begin to receive an influx of unsolicited emails from an unknown source, you should take precautions. First, you should immediately check for suspicious activity in your bank account. In addition, you should change the password to every account attached to that email address. You should also activate spam filters to slow down the influx.
Can You Put the Return To Sender On Junk Mail?
You can return junk mail to the sender when they become annoying. We call this process bouncing back spam emails. You can use tools to bounce back spam emails and ask them to take you off their address list.
Sadly, doing this might be counterproductive if you bounce back mail from an ideal spammer. Instead, you help spammers confirm that your email address is valid, leading to an influx of more junk mail.
Conclusion
Your mailbox is your personal space. Therefore, you have the right to control what you allow into your mailbox. While being careful where you give out your email address is essential, it might not be enough. You can use other options like spam filters, opting out of credit offers, and use of DMA services to reduce the influx of junk mail.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I be removed from mailing lists?
You can be removed from mailing lists by cutting credit card offers, asking marketers not to pass your name around, asking companies to stop sending junk mail, registering with Direct Marketing Association, unsubscribing and more.
What are the two types of junk mail?
There are two categories of junk mail, addressed junk mail and unaddressed junk mail. The addressed emails are addressed to you directly, while the unaddressed emails are addressed to the occupier.
Why do emails keep going to junk?
On a few occasions, you find essential mail in junk folders. This seldom happens when a company sends mail to many subscribers. Your spam filters could also mistakenly mark some of your emails as spam, thus preventing you from seeing them.
