This article explains the different types of emails you might receive and how to manage them effectively.
Types of Emails:
- Legitimate Emails: These are emails you expect and want to receive, such as messages from friends, family,colleagues, or trusted organizations.
- Phishing Emails: These are fraudulent emails designed to trick you into revealing personal information or clicking malicious links. Phishing emails often impersonate legitimate companies or organizations.
- Bulk Emails: These are emails sent to a large list of recipients, often for marketing purposes. You may have signed up for these emails in the past, but you can unsubscribe at any time.
- Spam Emails: These are unsolicited emails that are often irrelevant or offensive.
Identifying Phishing Emails:
Phishing emails can be tricky to identify, but here are some red flags:
- Sender: The email address doesn't match the sender's claimed identity. For example, an email claiming to be from your bank might come from an address that doesn't end in "@yourbank.com".
- Urgency: The email creates a sense of urgency or panic, pressuring you to act quickly without thinking carefully.
- Generic Greetings: The email uses generic greetings like "Dear Valued Customer" instead of your name.
- Grammar and Spelling Errors: Phishing emails often contain typos and grammatical errors.
- Suspicious Attachments or Links: The email asks you to click on a link or open an attachment you weren't expecting.
What to do if you suspect a phishing email:
- Do not click on any links or open any attachments.
- Report the email. Use the Report button in Outlook to report the phish.
- If you're unsure, contact the sender directly using a phone number or website you know is legitimate.
For Bowdoin faculty, staff, and students: If you believe you've fallen victim to a phishing attempt, immediately change your Bowdoin password and contact the IT service desk: servicedesk@bowdoin.edu or 207-725-3030.
Managing Bulk Emails:
Bulk emails can be overwhelming, but you can manage them:
- Unsubscribe: Look for the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of most bulk emails.
- Move them to a folder: Most email clients allow you to create folders for specific senders.
- Set up a rule: You can create a rule to automatically move or delete emails from specific senders.
Important Note: Unsubscribing might not always work. Some senders may add you back to their list if you engage with them in the future.
Understanding Spam Emails:
Spam emails are often caught by spam filters before they reach your inbox. However, some might slip through. Here's how spam is identified:
- Sender reputation: Known spammers are more likely to be flagged.
- Content: Spam emails often contain specific keywords or phrases associated with spam.
- Links: The destination of links in the email are checked for suspicious activity.
Some spam might still reach your inbox. It's important to be cautious and not click on suspicious links or open unexpected attachments.