Email spam is on the rise, accounting for 87 percent of all email messages in August according to Symantec’s latest State of Spam report.
The September State of Spam report of spam tactics in Asia Pacific found that overall spam volumes averaged 87 percent of all email messages in August. Health spam accounted for 6.73 percent of all spam, while Internet related spam accounted for 29 percent of all spam in August.
The report also found the number of spammers spoofing URLs to evade anti-spam filters was significant. These pages appear legitimate, offering victims a false sense of security.
To combat such threats, Symantec recommends the following:
- Unsubscribe from legitimate mailings that you no longer want to receive and make sure all spam is reported.
- Avoid publishing your email address on the Internet. Consider alternate options – for example, use a separate address when signing up for mailing lists, get multiple addresses for multiple purposes, or look into disposable address services.
- Avoid clicking on suspicious links in email or IM messages as these may be links to spoofed websites. We suggest typing web addresses directly in to the browser rather than relying upon links within your messages.
- Always be sure that your operating system is up-to-date with the latest updates, and employ a comprehensive security suite.
- Don’t open unknown email attachments or reply to spam.
- Don’t fill out forms in messages that ask for personal or financial information or passwords. A reputable company is unlikely to ask for your personal details via email.
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