Spam is the electronic version of “junk mail.” The term spam refers to unsolicited, often unwanted, email messages. Spam email is a common and frustrating side effect to having an email account. Spam does not necessarily contain viruses—valid messages from legitimate sources may also fall into this category.

Unsubscribe buttons are useful for removing your email address from high-volume mailing lists, like those from political campaigns or big box stores. However, they can also be used against you by spammers: Clicking one of these buttons confirms your account is in active use and in some cases redirects to you a compromised webpage. Flagging […]