Web User - UK (2020-02-05)

Don’ttapto

replytospam

texts– block

thesender

andreport

themasspam

What you must never clickonline

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5 - 18 February 2020 45

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Unsubscribelinks
Whenyoureceiveanunsolicitedemail,
youmaybetemptedtoclickthe
‘unsubscribe’linkatthebottomofthe
message.Afterall,unsubscribingwill
stopyoureceivingsuchunwanted
emailsinfuture,right?Wrong.

What’stherisk?
Clickingtheunsubscribelinkona
solicitedemail– suchasonefroma
mailinglistyousignedupto– will,
hopefully,removeyoufromthatlistand
stopfutureemailsarrivingfromthe
samesender.However,doingthiswith
anunsolicited(spam)emailwon’thave
thesameeffectbecausewhatyou’ll
actuallybedoingis confirmingtothe
senderthattheemailaddressthe
message
wassentto
is notonly
active,but

thatyou’vereadtheiremail(inorderto

seetheunsubscribelink).Thisinstantly

makesyoumoreattractivetospammers

andwillnodoubtleadtomore– rather

thanfewer– emailsfromthemand

otherjunk-mailsenders.Worsestill,the

linkcouldtakeyoutoa malicioussite

whereyoucouldbehitwithmalwareor

scammedin someotherway.

Howtoavoidthem

If youdidn’tsubscribetoa mailinglist

in thefirstplace,there’snopointin

tryingtounsubscribefromit.It’s

possiblesomeonemayhavesigned

youupwithoutyourknowledgeand

clickingtheunsubscribelinkwillactually

havea positiveeffect,butit’snotworth

takingtherisk.Thebestactionis tonot

openthemessage(Gmailletsyou

previewtheopeningline,whichmay

beenoughtoidentifyspam)andthen

markit asjunk.

Unsolicitedtextmessages

Spamtextsarea commonannoyance

andtherearea numberofdifferent

types,rangingfromlegitimate(butno

lessunwanted)marketingmessages

tojunkfrom“ambulancechasers”and

PPIfirms.

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ANNOYANCES

What’s the risk?

As with unsolicited emails, responding

to a junk SMS – including sending “stop”

as directed in some mobile spam – will

only lead to you receiving more

messages, and possibly cost you money.

How to avoid them

Type the number into Who Called Me

(who-called.co.uk) to find out if it’s

legitimate and see if other people have

been bothered by the same company.

Try blocking the numbers to stop

receiving future messages – on Android,

select the message, tap the Block icon

in the top-right corner of the Messages

app and choose ‘Report as spam’.

However, this might not work because

spammers often use randomly

generated numbers. Another option is

to forward the message to 7726 (spells

SPAM on your phone keypad), to send

a report to your network provider.

Clicking the

unsubscribe

link in

unsolicited

emails can

have the

opposite

effect

animals, but the real number is likely to
be much, much higher. Fraudsters use
online marketplaces such as Gumtree to
advertise pets, and will request a
deposit – or even payment in full – to
reserve the animal you require, usually
implying rival interest to persuade you
to hand over your money quickly. There
will be excuses for why you can’t come
and see the pet (it’s too young or too far
away), and they may also try to talk you
into additional funds to cover extras,

such as vet’s fees and travel cages.

Once they have your cash, all

communication with you will stop.

How to avoid them

Don’t be rushed into sending money for

a pet. Make sure you see it several times

in its home and, if that’s not possible for

genuine reasons, ask for photos or

videos that prove its existence. How to

Buy a Pet (howtobuyapet.co.uk)

provides a wealth of dos and don’ts.

Avoid fake adverts for pets by checking

the advice provided by How to Buy a Pet