Risks of Spam Emails and What Happens if I Open One on My PC

Email is becoming more and more important to us. Whether to use it for work or private life, it constitutes an important form of communication. In addition, with the reduction of paper mail for ecological reasons it has made it increasingly important. Cybercriminals are no strangers to this reality and are looking for ways to profit. One of the resources that they can use to obtain revenue is Spam. In this article we are going to talk about what happens if I open a spam email and the risks involved.

When we talk about spam we are faced with one of the most popular problems in email. At first it may seem to us that it is something annoying and harmless, but in reality it can also be dangerous. Next, we will talk about what Spam is, its risks and also what measures we can take to protect ourselves.

Risks of Spam Emails and What Happens

What is a spam email and dangers when opening one

Spam mail refers to junk mail or spam. These are generally unsolicited, spam, or email messages from an unknown sender.

It should be noted that, on many occasions, they are not dangerous . Sometimes it’s just annoying advertising flooding our email inbox. Spam slows down the entire network and will cause an increase in connection costs for all Internet users.

Although it must be recognized that anti-spam filters have improved a lot, some messages still slip into our inbox. This causes loss of time among workers when having to delete them, and a consequent loss of productivity for the company. To this we have to add the irritation and discontent of the user who has to deal with a Spam email.

Then there are also Spam emails that try to collect personal data . This type of information has great commercial value. Thus, they could be used for the following aspects:

  • Inclusion in targeted advertising campaigns.
  • For identity theft.
  • Sale of information to third parties.

Therefore, we must be attentive and do not fill out or respond to this form in which we are requested personal data. However, there are more risks that could affect our security such as Phishing and more that we will see below.

The Danger of Phishing and Malware in Spam Mail

In case you don’t know, a Phishing attack aims to steal our credentials and passwords. Especially it is a link or link to a fake page, which appears to be legitimate. There users have to enter their credentials and that information goes to a server controlled by the attackers.

The case of Spam emails related to Phishing is that they have a particularity. These types of emails try to look like legitimate emails in which they show us some type of important information.

On many occasions it has to do with online banking. If they ask for passwords or personal information, be suspicious. The bank has a very complete database about us and has all the data it needs. When in doubt, it is best to check it with your bank’s mobile app, entering with a PC through a web browser. If it is an important thing, it will surely be reflected in the correspondence of the next bank, for example, in the app. One thing that can help you to delve into the subject is to know the relationship between Spam and Phishing.

On the other hand, sometimes a spam email contains attachments . These files may be some kind of malware that ends up infecting our devices. Therefore, a basic form of prevention would be not to open links to emails from unknown sources or spam and not download attachments. Finally, it is also advisable to have our operating systems updated, a good antivirus and, if possible, anti-malware software. That without forgetting another very important tool: common sense.