We’re all tired of opening our Inbox to find massive amounts of messages we did not ask for . Spammers are running rampant and threaten our very existence (or at least the first hour of our work day)! I mean, how many times can I hit the delete button before it breaks and I need to buy a new laptop?
I think it’s possible that spammers are the vanguard of an alien invasion force (hey, I read it on the internet, so it’s probably true). Sometimes I take spam personally (is it just me?).
In case spammers are targeting only me (a little techno-paranoia here), I put on my tin foil pyramid hat and took a look at the weekly statistics from our own Comstar Advanced Spam Filter. I saw that over the past six weeks leading up to “Cyber Monday”, the day that has become synonymous with major online sales, spam has steadily increased from 15% of email volume per week to 37% during Thanksgiving week. That’s a 250% increase over the past six weeks!
The good news for myself and the rest of our Comstar advanced filter users is that the spam filter caught about 97% of it before it reached our Inboxes. I even get an email that shows me the latest blocked spam emails so I can easily release any that are legitimate or that interest me, avoiding needless annoyance and saving my delete key from retirement!
Even worse, viruses and malware lurk in many spam messages. In the interest of safety, I never open emails or click on attachments in any email from someone I do not know – and neither should you. Fortunately, I know that even without my tin foil hat, my Advanced Spam Filter has caught and completely blocked any known viruses and held any that are suspect.
I’m interested to see stats on weekly spam volume for the next 6 weeks. If I’m right the spam volume will start to decrease and we can officially recognize a new season leading up to Cyber Monday – the “Season of Spam”!
If I’m wrong, the aliens are coming and you’d better get your own tin foil hat!