Behind Email Spam Filters

Email spam filters have one job, and that is to screen your emails so that unwanted correspondence does not make its way into your already overburdened email inbox. Spam filters are able to be modified by the user, and they can be set at high or lower levels to let in emails for later review by the recipient.

Many companies sending bulk emails know how to get around spam filters. You see, their job is to muscle their way into your inbox, by any means possible. They figure that they will force you to read their email, or else! What they don’t realize is that the same way you would resist being forced to talk to someone in the flesh, you will resist being forced to open an email from an unwanted sender. It reeks of deception and many companies that pursue this type of guerilla marketing technique do not realize they are making more enemies than potential business contacts in the process.

Some emails sent by bulk marketers will put a fake personalized message in the subject line to make you think you know the recipient. Subject lines that read, “Hey want to see” or “I’m back, let’s chat now” are meant to trick the recipient into opening an email from an otherwise unknown source. Many spam filters know about this tactic and are programmed to find these emails and send them directly to the spam folder. If the recipient opens them from the spam folder, it is a choice to do so, but it is not sent to the inbox as a valid email received from a secured or approved source.

Often headings for emails are meant to resemble popular brands or companies. They make a play on the company logo or catch-phrase, or are even bolder and go all out and obviously use the real company name in error. It is easy to spot these fakes. If a person gets an email from a company that look dubious, hover the cursor arrow over the sender address without opening the email first. The sender address will turn up as the company name, along with the “at” symbol and an ISP location address that should also contain the company name. If the company name is missing in the address section of the email, or it is followed by a series of numbers or other abbreviations for foreign countries, this is a tip off that it is a bogus email sent by an undetermined source. These emails should never be answered, as they often contain active viruses and can harm the computer of the person opening them. They also have sophisticated programming that can detect the true identity of the person opening the email in error, and can attach cookies, tracking, or other harmful devices to the email as opened, without the person even knowing it.

Companies and individuals interested in beating the system of spam filters have one more trick that they use to get consumers to open their emails. They often will send an email that offers a way out of receiving future emails. By opening the email and confirming “unsubscribe to email” many times it gives personal information to the sender of the email and targets the recipient with more unwanted emails. It pays to be careful when opening unwanted emails.