Why is it called spam, anyway? A brief inbox history

What is spam email?

Spam email, also known as junk mail, is unwanted or unsolicited messages that wind up in your inbox. In other words, spam email comes from mailing lists that you never signed up for. For example, if you suddenly receive emails from a cruise company offering buy one, get one deals, but you’ve never signed up for emails from said company or even been on a cruise, you’ve received a spam message. Spam messages may come from companies who are simply trying to advertise their products or services, but other spam messages are known as phishing attacks. Phishing emails attempt to steal your information by appearing to come from a credible source, like your bank or car insurance company.

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Why is it called spam?

Using the word “spam” to describe pesky messages came from the TV show Monty Python’s Flying Circus. A sketch in one of the episodes featured Vikings who passionately chant about Spam, the brand name for canned, processed meat. Their chants in the sketch became so loud and repetitive that they muted any other conversations.¹ Eventually, this sketch became synonymous with annoying messages, and “spam mail” was born.

What was the first spam email message?

The first known spam email sent was in 1978. Gary Thuerk, a marketing manager, sent approximately 400 people an email advertising his company’s new computer model. His spam efforts reportedly earned the company $13 million in sales.²

How do spammers get your email?

There are a few different ways that spammers can get your email. Once of the methods spammers may use is simply guessing your email. They can also scan the web looking for your email¬—if your email is posted online, they can find it. Some spammers purchase email lists from other companies or services. It’s important to check a website’s privacy policy when you sign up for their emails to see what they may do with your email address.

How to recognize spam email

If you receive an email from an unknown company or a company that you’ve never purchased from, it’s likely spam mail. If you think an email you’ve received is spam, look for these signs:

• Urgent messages, for example, messages that say “Act Now” or “Limited Time Only”
• Messages that are too good to be true, for example, free money, student loan forgiveness, or prizes
• Unusual email addresses or email addresses whose domains don’t match the company they claim to work at

Tips to prevent spam email

Most email providers like Outlook have excellent spam filters. If you find that you’re getting more spam than usual, you can make your Outlook filters more vigilant. To change your filtering settings:

• Under the Home tab, click Junk.
• Click Junk Email Options.

There are four different filtering options:

• No Automatic Filtering, which puts messages from blocked email addresses in your Junk Email folder.
• Low, which moves the most obvious junk messages to the Junk Email folder.
• High, which catches most junk messages but can also move regular emails to the Junk Email folder. If you select High, check your Junk Email folder frequently.
• Safe Lists Only, which only allows mail from people or domains that are in your Safe Senders List or Safe Recipients list to enter your inbox.

Once you choose the right filtering option for you, click OK.

If you receive junk email, you can also report it to Microsoft. Under the Home tab, click Report Message. From here, you can report emails as Junk, Phishing, or Not Junk.

Now that you know what spam email is and how you can prevent it, you’re one step closer to a cleaner inbox. If you’ve become the victim of an email scam, learn the steps you can take to recover.

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