Spam or junk mail is one of the most common problems when using e-mail. Beyond being annoying, the truth is that it can be a security hazard. However, sometimes an email arrives as spam, but in reality it is not. In fact, we know perfectly well that it is safe, since we recognize who sent it or it was something we expected to receive. Why is this happening? We are going to talk about it in this article.
Reasons why an e-mail arrives as Spam
Surely on some occasion you have received an email and it has ended up in the Spam tray. It was something important, or at least safe, and you don’t understand why it has been qualified like that by your mail. It is something that can happen in Gmail, Outlook or any other platform that we use. There are several reasons why this could happen, as we will see.
Suspicious business
The first thing is that there is a suspicious matter. For example, this usually happens when they put a word such as “offer”, “purchase”, “rebate”, “download”… The email filter may consider that it is really an advertising message, a spam in definitive.
It can also happen that the subject of the message is written in capital letters, as if it were encouraging the user to open that e-mail. This can also be considered as junk mail and ends up in the Spam folder.
Is there a link
Another reason is that this e-mail contains a link or links that may be suspicious . For example, the email provider may consider that it is a strategy for us to enter a web page or even that some of those links contain malware.
Even if it is a safe link, which has nothing wrong with it, depending on the URL, the domain name and the layout of that link within the body of the message, it is more or less likely to be detected as Spam. If, for example, it is an email in which there is hardly any text and 2 or 3 links appear, there are more options for it to happen.
attached files
If that email has any attachments, and especially if there are several, it may be marked as Spam. For example, if we have received a Word or PDF file , it may interpret it as a security threat and end up in the spam folder, without actually being dangerous.
Once again, the email filter does not act correctly and interprets it as a threat, even though it is actually a safe file sent by a legitimate account. This is what is known as a false positive.
We haven’t interacted with that account before
All this that we mentioned is more common to occur if we have not previously interacted with that account. For example, this happens when we receive a first email from an account with which we have not previously exchanged messages. It is something that raises suspicions to the e-mail provider.
Once we have sent and received messages, that we have definitely interacted with that account, this should not happen anymore. The emails would already arrive correctly to the appropriate tray and there would be no problem.
It was sent from a suspicious IP
It can also happen that they have sent that email from an IP address that may be on spam lists by email filters. This can happen if they have sent that email from a public Wi-Fi network, for example, through which they have previously sent spam.
Sometimes we can be connected through an IP that has previously been used by another person and that can be the cause of this type of problem. It is not something usual, but it is one more of the causes.
How to open a spam email
What can you do if you receive an e-mail as Spam and you know perfectly well that it is not? The solution is very simple. Basically what you have to do is go to the Spam tray , where junk mail arrives, and select the one that interests you. You have to open it and, at the top, you will see a button to indicate that it is not Spam .
Automatically that mail will go to the normal inbox. From that moment on, any e-mail sent to you from that same account will arrive in the common tray and will not be classified as spam. This process is simple and you can do it in Gmail, Outlook or any platform.
Keep in mind that this is essential to be able to open attached files and to display images. If we open an email in the Spam tray, we will see very limited content. They will not show us photographs or possible files that you may have and that are part of the body of the message.
Tips to avoid spam
Although we have seen that sometimes an e-mail arrives as Spam but it really is not, we are going to give some tips to avoid the mail that really can be a danger. If we take into account some factors we can be more protected and reduce the risk of problems appearing.
Prevent address leaking
The first thing we need to do is prevent our email address from being made public and available to anyone. This happens, for example, if we post a message in an open forum or a comment on any web page. Our e-mail could end up on spam lists.
But we are not only talking about someone reading it and pointing it out, but the bots in charge of scanning the network in search of this type of public address.
Use more than one account
Another tip is to use more than one email account . For example, we can use one to connect with serious applications and services, in which we fully trust, and another to register on more doubtful pages, where we can really have privacy problems.
In this way, in case we have doubts about whether a site is dangerous or could be a problem for privacy, we can create an additional e-mail. There is the option to generate a disposable email, which lasts for a certain time and is later automatically deleted.
beware of records
This is linked to the above: it is convenient to be careful with the Internet records and the data that we put. We must make sure that we are registering on the legitimate platform, the official one, and not through a page that may be a fraud and be an imitation.
We must also apply it when connecting to a network. We must be careful with public Wi-Fi networks, since the information we send could end up in the wrong hands and from there our spam mailbox begins to fill up.
Use a good email provider
On the other hand, one more tip is to use a good email provider . This will also help to minimize the spam that reaches our accounts. Not all of them have the same spam e-mail filtering system, so we must choose which one to use carefully.
There are some options that are specially designed for privacy, such as Proton Mail. However, we have a wide range of options where we can register our email.
In short, if you receive spam emails but you know that they are really reliable, the main reasons are the ones we have seen in this article. You can contact the person who sent you that e-mail to take action or simply take it into account so that your messages are not classified as Spam.