Spam Bombing

What is Spam Bombing?

Spam bombing is when hundreds or thousands of unwanted emails are delivered to your inbox. The emails are usually advertisements or fake messages and make it difficult for you to sift through and find the important emails you need.

How Does Spam Bombing Happen?

  1. Email Leaks: Sometimes, companies or websites where you use your email address for login or registration, get hacked. The hackers send spam to the compromised email addresses.
    • Bad Websites: Some websites share sell your email address to known spam factories.
  2. Personal Attacks: Sometimes you just piss off the wrong person. They use bots to register your email address with hundreds of mail lists and services.

Why do hackers Spam Bomb?

  1. Hiding Important Emails: By flooding your inbox with spam, hackers can hide important emails, like security alerts, password reset messages, or unauthorized purchases.
  2. Phishing: emails sent and designed to trick you into giving away personal information, (bank details or passwords) is called phishing. If you fall for these tricks, hackers can steal your money or personal information.
  3. Spreading Malware: Hackers use spam emails to spread malware, (harmful software that can damage your computer or steal personal information).
  4. Causing Frustration: Sometimes, hackers spam bomb just because. They want to frustrate and overwhelm you because they can.

Consequences of Spam Bombing?

  1. Missing Important Emails: With so much spam in your inbox, you might miss important emails from friends, family, or work.
  2. Wasting Time: Sorting through hundreds of spam emails can take a lot of time and be very frustrating.
  3. Financial Hacking: Phishing emails could allow hackers to steal your money or personal information.
  4. Overloaded Email Account: Too many emails can completely fill up your email storage, which prevents you from receiving new emails until you clear some space.

How to minimize an active Spam Bombing?

It’s not easy, there is no magic button to stop a spam bomb campaign!

  1. Use Spam Filters: Most email services, like Gmail or Yahoo, have spam filters. Make sure your spam filter is turned on.
  2. Unsubscribe Carefully: If you start getting spam emails, look for an “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of the email. Clicking this can stop more emails from that sender. But be careful—sometimes clicking “unsubscribe” can confirm your email is active, which leads to more spam.
  3. Report Spam: Most email services let you report spam. When you mark an email as spam, it helps the email service learn which emails are unwanted and block them in the future.
  4. Use a Secondary Email: For things like signing up for newsletters or entering contests, use a secondary email address. Keep your primary email address for important contacts only.

How can i Prevent Spam Bombing?

Spam bombs are typically indicative of an already compromised email account and credentials.

  1. Be Careful Where You Share Your Email: Don’t share your email address on public websites or forums where it can be easily found.
  2. Use Strong Passwords: Use strong, unique passwords for your email accounts.
  3. Enable Two-Factor Authentication: This adds an extra layer of security to your email account.
  4. Keep Software Updated: Make sure your computer’s software and antivirus programs are up-to-date to protect against hackers.