SPAM

What is ‘SPAM’? 

The use of messaging systems to send an unsolicited message (SPAM) to large numbers of recipients for the purpose of commercial advertising is known as SPAM. The most widely recognized form of spam is email spam. It is named after SPAM the luncheon meat, by way of a Monty Python sketch about a restaurant that has Spam in almost every dish in which Vikings annoyingly sing “Spam” repeatedly.

SPAM is annoying! Spamming remains economically viable because advertisers have no operating costs beyond the management of their mailing lists, servers, infrastructures, IP ranges, and domain names, and it is difficult to hold senders accountable for their mass mailings. 

So where does SPAM end up? Most mail systems Gmail, Outlook etc have what they call a SPAM or TRASH folder. Some email providers scan your messages before they get to your inbox and may determine that emails are suspicious and place them directly in your spam folder.  You don’t normally get any indication that this has occurred. Occasionally emails that you want to receive end up in SPAM, so it is important to check through the SPAM folder regularly.

 A typical SPAM heading of an email may look something like this Dear friend Contact my secretary for the delivering of your VISA CARD … DO NOT RESPOND OR REPLY TO SPAM.

If you find an email in your SPAM folder that should not be there (eg an email from AJPA) move it to your inbox, and/or add the sender’s email to your contacts, so that future emails from this sender are less likely to end up in SPAM.