Email Spam 101: Best Practices for Users and Senders
Email spam is everywhere. We all get it, and most of us are constantly trying to fight it off. It’s a battle we have to face — spammers get smarter, spam filters get tougher, and the cycle keeps going.
But when you understand what spam is and how it sneaks into our inboxes, you can take control.
Whether you’re trying to clear your inbox or make sure your own emails aren’t getting lost in someone else’s spam folder, there are ways to manage it better.
What Is Email Spam?
Spam refers to those unsolicited, unwanted messages that flood our inboxes. It usually comes in the form of email, but it can be any type of digital message, such as a text message or a mobile notification.
These messages pop up without your permission. They might be ads, scams, or content that looks useful, but you never signed up to receive.
Spam isn’t an acronym or a clever abbreviation. The origin of the name dates back to a British comedy show in the 1970s.
Learning how to identify spam is the first step to ensuring your email security.
These are the signs to watch out for:
- Mass distribution: These emails usually don’t address you by name or reflect any knowledge of who you are—they’re sent in bulk, hoping someone will bite.
- Misleading subject lines: Many spam emails use deceptive subject lines to grab attention, like “You’ve won a prize!” or “Urgent: Account at risk.”
- Far-fetched content: Spam emails often rely on exaggeration or outright lies to grab attention.
- Suspicious links: Spammers love to include links to sketchy websites. These emails often push you to click quickly or make urgent decisions.
Are the Majority of Emails Spam?
The majority of emails aren’t spam anymore. In 2023, spam made up about 46 percent of global email traffic. That’s a big improvement compared to 2011, when spam accounted for 80 percent. The share of spam dropped below 50 percent for the first time in 2020.
As more legitimate senders follow email security best practices, we’ll likely see the percentage decrease in the future.
In terms of sheer statistics, though, spam emails have grown a lot. In 2023, over 160 billion spam emails were sent every day.
Are Spam Emails Dangerous?
Spam emails often come with hidden threats, from phishing emails trying to steal your personal details to harmful links that can put malware on your device.
Spam emails become dangerous in two key situations:
- When you open the email: Just opening a spam email isn’t likely to cause harm since most modern email clients prevent external files from loading automatically. They also use the SSL protocol, so intruders can’t listen in on your conversations. But some emails include tracking pixels that let the sender know you’ve opened them. Once they see your email address is valid, you might start getting even more spam.
- When you click on links: Clicking links in spam emails is where the bigger danger lies. When you click, you leave the safety of your email app, which means you’re more exposed to risky websites. These sites can download malware or spyware to your device and steal your personal information.
Types of Spam Email
Email spam can range from harmless marketing messages to highly dangerous scams. It can come from a single malicious sender or a service provider like the recent controversy with Beehiiv.
The table below summarizes the different types of spam and their threat levels.
| Type of Spam | Description | Common Tactics | Threat |
| Phishing Emails | Attempts to steal personal information like passwords and credit card details by posing as trusted entities. | Uses official logos, urgent language, and familiar names. | High |
| Malware Emails | Contains links or attachments that install harmful software on your device. | Encourages clicking on links or downloading attachments. | High |
| Spoofed Emails | Pretends to be from someone you know, like a friend or coworker, to gain trust. | Uses familiar names in the “from” field. | High |
| Scam Emails | Promises large sums of money or prizes in exchange for sensitive details or “fees.” | Claims lottery winnings, inheritances, or business opportunities. | Moderate |
| Promotional Spam | Pushes products or services, sometimes with legitimate but overly aggressive marketing, or shady deals. | Overpromises discounts, exclusive deals, or limited-time offers. | Low |
Next, we’ll break down each type in more depth.
Phishing Emails
With phishing emails, attackers pose as legitimate organizations to trick you into sharing personal information.
For example, you might get an email that looks like it’s from a recruiter, promising access to high-paying job opportunities. It asks you to click a link to sign up. When you enter your login details, the attackers capture them and use them to access your personal information.
Phishing emails play on emotions and basic human responses. They make you feel like you need to act fast to protect an account or avoid a problem. They also exploit people’s natural tendency to trust authority because they mimic official communication from trusted sources.
Check out this real-life example from a fake freelance job board.
Malware Emails
Malware scams are like phishing scams, but instead of tricking you into sharing information, they want you to click a link or download a file that secretly installs malware on your device.
Once the malware is on your device, it can cause a lot of trouble, including:
- Track everything you type: It can record your keystrokes to capture passwords, credit card numbers, or messages.
- Lock your files: Ransomware is a type of malware that locks your files or device. Then, it demands a payment to unlock them.
- Use your computer for attacks: Malware can turn your device into part of a network that spreads malware to others or launches attacks on websites.
- Spy on you: Some malware can use your camera or microphone without you knowing.
- Flood you with ads: Adware, another type of malware, fills your device with pop-up ads or redirects your searches to strange websites.
The email in this example looks like it’s from Netflix. If you didn’t change your password, you’d probably want to contact support right away. But the “Email Us” and “Contact Us” links don’t go to Netflix—they send you to a long list of shady email addresses. This trick is to get you to respond, which could lead to more scams or harmful files sent to your inbox. It’s a sneaky way to make you a target for future attacks.
Spoofed Emails
Email spoofing is another type of email spam, like phishing. But instead of getting you to click a link or download something, they trick you into taking action. These emails look like they’re from someone you trust, such as a boss, coworker, or company you know.
Spoofed emails rely on urgency and trust, so always double-check the sender’s address and confirm requests in person or over the phone if something feels off.
The email might ask you to:
- Buy gift cards and send the codes back.
- Transfer money to a fake account, often in a rush.
- Reply with personal details, like phone numbers or account info.
- Share sensitive information, like employee records or business data.
Check out this fictional example for a real-world feel of what to expect.
Scam Emails
Scam emails aim to trick you into doing something that benefits the scammer, like helping with illegal activities. They often sound too good to be true or create urgency to pressure you. Always stay cautious and double-check before responding to suspicious messages.
Besides the ones we’ve covered so far, scam emails take all sorts of forms, such as:
- Fake lottery or inheritance claims: Promising huge sums of money if you pay a small fee upfront.
- Job scams: Offering high-paying jobs that require “processing fees” or personal details.
- Charity fraud: Asking for donations to fake causes, especially during disasters or holidays.
- Online shopping scams: Selling non-existent products at unbelievable prices.
The example below shows a scam email that tries to trick you with a fake reward. It uses bright colors and exciting language to grab your attention and make you click the “Claim Your Reward” button.
Promotional Email Spam
Promotional emails are a great way to let people know about a business’s products or services, but promotional spam tries to sell you something you don’t need or trust. Spammers send them in bulk to as many people as possible, hoping someone will buy what they’re selling.
The good news is that modern spam filters are great at catching these emails. They usually move them to your spam folder so they don’t clutter your inbox.
However, it’s still a good idea to avoid clicking on links in promotional spam, especially if the offer seems too good to be true or comes from an unknown sender.
Most email clients prevent images in spam emails from loading. That’s because emails can include tracking pixels that let the sender know your address is active.
How to Stop Spam Email
Email spam can range from mildly annoying to downright dangerous. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to avoid it completely. However, most email services, like Gmail or Yahoo, already come with built-in spam filters. These services also have strict policies against spam, which prevent a lot of junk before it ever reaches your inbox.
If you’re still finding unwanted messages slipping through, follow these tips to cut down on the noise:
- Mark unwanted emails as spam. Most email platforms have a spam button. Use it to teach your inbox which emails you don’t want to see.
- Block senders you don’t recognize. If someone keeps sending you junk, block their address or domain (the part after the @) in your email settings to stop them from reaching you again.
- Unsubscribe from emails you no longer want. Look for an “unsubscribe” link, usually at the bottom of marketing emails, to stop getting messages from that sender.
- Report scams. If you spot an email that looks suspicious or tries to trick you, report it as a scam to your email provider. You should also let the authorities in your country, such as the FTC in the US and the National Cyber Security Center in the UK, know about serious scams.
Understanding Email Spam as a Sender
If you want to use your email list to make money, you need to understand how to avoid being a spam email sender.
Email service providers rely on spam filters to check incoming messages.
These filters look at two broad factors when a message shows up:
- Sender reputation: A score or ranking that reflects how trustworthy a sender is based on their email-sending behavior, history, and how recipients interact with their messages.
- Email content: Filters analyze the body, subject line, links, and attachments for spammy keywords, suspicious formatting, or malicious elements.
Sometimes, these checks can make it longer for the email to send because the filters might queue the email for further inspection.
Let’s unpack how each factor affects whether your messages land in the primary inbox or the spam folder.
Sender Reputation
Each ISP uses its own systems to figure out if a sender might be a spammer. But most of the time, they look at the same indicators listed in the table below:
| Key Indicator | What It Means | Risk Level |
| Domain Reputation | How trustworthy your domain is based on its history and sending behavior. | High |
| IP Reputation | Whether the IP address sending your emails has been flagged for spam. | High |
| Domain Authentication | Usage of authentication protocols—SPF, DKIM, and DMARC—to prove you’re the domain owner. | High |
| Engagement Metrics | How often recipients open, click, or reply to your emails. | Medium |
| Bounce Rates | The percentage of emails that fail to reach valid email addresses. | High |
| Spam Complaints | How often recipients mark your emails as spam. | High |
| Unsubscribe Rates | How many people opt out of your email list. | Medium |
If you want to check your domain reputation, the easiest way is to use online tools like Sender Score or Talos Intelligence. These tools give you a good idea of how email providers might view your reputation.
Keep in mind that each tool uses its own algorithms and data sources to calculate your score. So, treat the results as a helpful guide, not an absolute measure.
Follow these tips to build your sender reputation:
- Don’t overwhelm your subscribers with too many emails.
- Create content that encourages opens, clicks, and replies.
- Only send to people who’ve opted in to receive your emails.
- Regularly remove invalid or inactive email addresses to avoid bounces.
- Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to show inbox providers you’re legitimate.
- Give people a simple way to unsubscribe from your emails to prevent spam complaints.
- Run an email deliverability test and enlist help from a deliverability service if the results are too low.
Email Content
Spam filters also analyze the content of every email to decide if it’s legitimate. Even if you’re a trusted sender, your message might still get flagged as spam if it overuses certain phrases or includes links and formatting that raise red flags.
These are the key elements spam filters analyze when checking your email:
- Subject line: Your email subject line has to be clear and honest. If you use too many exclamation marks or capital letters, your message may get flagged as spam.
- Email body: Keep your language relevant to your audience. Words like “urgent” or “win big” can raise red flags since they signal spam behavior.
- Links: Include up to three links in your message body. And make sure they lead to legitimate domains with no spam history. Using URL shorteners excessively can also get you flagged.
- Images: Plain-text emails tend to have better deliverability. Use images sparingly, and don’t hide important information in images.
- Attachments: Email attachments aren’t a norm in marketing. If you need to share files, upload them to a server and share the download URL. Use trusted formats like PDFs and mention their purpose in the email.
How To Avoid Emails Going to Spam
Successful email marketers build trust and maintain strong relationships with their audience. They focus on delivering value, rather than flooding inboxes with irrelevant or deceptive messages.
If you want your emails to reach your audience in their primary inboxes, follow the tips below.
Avoid Cold Emailing
Cold emailing means reaching out to people who didn’t sign up to hear from you. It might seem like a quick way to reach more people, but it often backfires because it leads to spam complaints and harms your reputation.
Instead of emailing total strangers, focus on growing your email list organically with people genuinely interested in your content.
When your audience knows and trusts you, they’re more likely to engage with your emails, which will lead to better inbox placement.
Only Send Relevant Content
Besides creating content that adds value, you need a segmentation strategy and email personalization to make sure your subscribers only receive emails that truly matter to them.
Segmentation means grouping your subscribers based on shared characteristics. It’s a way to send more targeted emails to each group. For example, you could apply behavioral segmentation to send product updates to previous customers and educational content to leads who haven’t made a purchase yet.
On the other hand, personalization means tailoring each email to feel like it’s made for the individual. This could include recommending dynamic content based on their past interactions or sending follow-up emails after each purchase.
Keep Your Email List Clean
Email lists degrade over time because subscribers lose interest in your offer or no longer need it.
If you don’t clean your list regularly, you’ll keep sending emails to people who don’t want to hear from you, which hurts your deliverability and reputation.
These are the types of addresses you should remove:
- Bots: Automated accounts that don’t engage with your content.
- Invalid emails: Addresses with typos or ones that no longer exist.
- Inactive subscribers: People who haven’t engaged with your emails in months.
- Spam traps: ISPs and blocklist operators use spam traps to identify spam senders.
- Role-based addresses: Addresses that represent a department or function in an organization rather than an individual.
At Campaign Refinery, our automatic list cleaning tool gets rid of these harmful addresses without you having to lift a finger. This way, you’ll always have a healthy list without any extra effort.
Encourage Whitelisting
Whitelisting an email means asking your subscribers to add your email address to their contact list. This way, your messages almost have a guaranteed place in their inboxes.
Include simple instructions on how to add your email to the safe sender list in your welcome email. It’s a quick and easy way to build trust with inbox providers and improve your email deliverability.
Send Emails Consistently
Find the right email frequency to stay top-of-mind without overwhelming your audience. If you send too many emails, they might unsubscribe or mark you as spam.
On the other hand, If you send too few, they could forget who you are. Stay consistent and use your data to adjust timing and frequency based on what works best.
What You Need to Know About Spam Laws
Sending spam is unethical. It clogs up inboxes and wastes people’s time. Email spam can also be illegal, and breaking the rules could cost you.
Different regions and countries have different spam and unsubscribe laws:
- The CAN-SPAM Act (US): The CAN-SPAM Act requires accurate subject lines, a visible sender address, and an easy way to unsubscribe from emails.
- The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): To comply with the GDPR, you need to give subscribers an easy way to opt-out of your emails and only message those who have given clear consent.
- The ePrivacy Directive (EU): Marketing emails can only be sent if the recipient has given clear consent beforehand.
- Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL): Marketers must use a double opt-in process to confirm subscriptions and allow recipients to opt-out anytime.
- The Spam Act (Australia): Emails must identify the sender and purchasing email lists is banned.
- Singapore’s Spam Control Act: Marketers must stop emailing uninterested recipients or face fines of $25 per email, up to $1 million.
To stay compliant and avoid fines, always include a simple way for people to opt out of future emails, such as a one-click unsubscribe option. And never send marketing emails to people without their permission.
Campaign Refinery: Zero Tolerance for Spam
At Campaign Refinery, spam is a hard no. We’re a permission-based platform, and we stand firm on sending emails only to people who want them.
Why?
Because email spam hurts everyone—it annoys recipients, damages reputations, and sinks deliverability rates.
Our practices ensure your emails land in inboxes, not spam folders. This is how:
- Strict vetting process: Every new client goes through an approval process. It’s our way of keeping spammers out and protecting the quality of our platform.
- Strict metrics monitoring: Open rates below 10 percent, bounce rates above 10 percent, or complaints over 0.1 percent are unacceptable based on our policies at Campaign Refinery.
- No cold emailing allowed: Every email you send through Campaign Refinery must go to a contact who’s opted in to hear from you.
- Automatic list cleaning: Our system scans your email list for harmful addresses and removes them to help you maintain high engagement rates and impress mailbox providers.
- Domain Authentication: We require SPF, DKIM, and DMARC on your domain before you can send emails, and we help you set up these protocols properly on day one.
Start creating better email campaigns, and let us help you shine in the inbox. Apply to become a member today!
