The “unsubscribe” button seems like a pretty safe way to keep spam emails from clogging up your inbox. however, clicking this seemingly innocuous button could carry a risk. Surprisingly, it’s actually not safe to unsubscribe from spam emails this way; in fact, some scammers rely on your click to access more information.
according to rick’s daily advice, a blog run by an a+ certified computer technician, you shouldn’t click the unsubscribe button on any questionable spam email. as described in the blog, doing this can have multiple negative consequences. For one thing, it can confirm that your email address is valid, which is likely to prompt a spammer to continue contacting you, at the very least, the website says. In addition, clicking the unsubscribe button in a spam email can sometimes also result in you being linked to unwanted websites, including ones that may download viruses to your computer or encourage you to engage in some type of activity. fraudulent online, emphasizes the blog.
total defense, a cybersecurity company, agrees with this assessment. unsubscribe buttons can “…be used against you by spammers,” the company noted on its website. “Clicking one of these buttons confirms that your account is in active use and, in some cases, redirects you to a compromised web page,” he continued.
Instead of clicking unsubscribe, both Total Defense and Rick’s Daily Tips agree that you should simply mark the message as spam in your inbox. this should reduce or delete the messages you receive from that address, and also help you clean up your email inbox. If this doesn’t work, you can also try setting up a filter to automatically remove similar spam instead of clicking unsubscribe.
That said, if you want to unsubscribe from an email list you know is from a legitimate company, it’s usually fine to click the unsubscribe link, says McAfee, a computer security software company. just make sure that when you mouse over the unsubscribe link, you’re going to a web address associated with the company or person who sent you the email.
aarp also says in an online newsletter that you should feel safe clicking an unsubscribe button if it’s designated as run by a service called “safeunsubscribe.” As the organization stated, safeunsubscribe is a “reputable service provided by a firm called Constant Contact, which is paid by over 500,000 businesses and organizations to remove recipients from mailing lists.” Emails from companies that use the secure unsubscribe feature often have a trademarked “secure unsubscribe” link at the bottom of their messages.
Therefore, there are certain cases where it’s safe to hit the unsubscribe button, but definitely not always. If you accidentally click unsubscribe on a spam email, don’t worry. Instead, Rick’s Daily Tips recommends that you take two key steps. first, make sure to mark the email as spam or junk. then run a malware scan on your computer. PC users can refer to this helpful malware detection guide from Rick’s Daily Tips, while Mac users can use this Macworld article on removing computer viruses to guide them through the process.
In particular, after the can-spam law was passed in 2003, it actually became illegal for companies to send people commercial email without providing a way to easily unsubscribe from future messages. Although scammers are usually not legitimate businesses, you can still file a complaint about spam messages with the Federal Trade Commission. In fact, the FTC Complaint Assistant even has a specific section on the website dedicated to spam emails. so if you find many of these types of messages in your inbox, don’t hesitate to take action.