Email is one of the most prevalent methods of sending and receiving messages. It’s also one of the most vulnerable methods for hackers to try to steal information from unsuspecting users. This article helps you protect your email so that you can use it without worrying about getting hacked or having spam websites trying to lure you into giving up personal details. So read this article to know how this happens and what to do about it.
Without further ado, here’s how your email is saved on the web
How Do Websites Collect Email Addresses?
Although it’s nice to get emails from these companies, it can be annoying when they bombard us with messages we don’t want. So how do these websites get our email addresses? Let’s break down all of the ways that this happens:
🟦 They ask you for it.
Website owners may ask you for your email address in a variety of ways. They may include an email field on the sign-up page, where you provide information about yourself and create an account. Or they may collect email addresses as part of a contest that you enter or a promotion that you participate in (for example: “enter to win a free iPad!”). You might also see this collected when making a purchase online. Sometimes there are promotional offers or coupons available only to those who opt to receive emails from the site.
🟦 They take it from your browser.
When you stay on a website, your browser sends the website information about itself. This includes what device you’re using (like a phone or computer), the operating system on that device, and whether it has any add-ons installed.
A lot of websites use this information to customize their experience for you. For example, if they know you’re using an iPhone, they might show you an ad for an iPhone app instead of their usual ads for other devices or services.
But while they’re collecting all this data from your browser to make decisions about how best to serve content, and advertisers are paying them big bucks to do so, they also collect your email address! And sometimes even more sensitive information like credit card details or passwords!
🟦 They take it from your social media account.
Another common way websites get your email address is through Facebook or other social networking sites like Pinterest. If someone has linked their account with yours on one of these networks, then that person’s name and profile picture will show up alongside each post they make on such sites. And if they include their email address at all, it will be visible to anyone who clicks through from there too!
🟦 They take it from your Google account.
If you log into a website with your Google account or use the company’s AdSense service to display ads on your website or use their analytics service to track traffic to your site, then they can take your email address.
🟦 They take it from their database of previously collected emails.
This is the easiest option for the website. They can build a database of your email address from previous customers or buy an inventory of email addresses from a third party (which they can then add you to). Alternatively, they may have asked you for your email address at some point in the past and stored it in their system.
🟦 You mistyped an email address, and they noticed your mistake.
If you mistyped an email address and they noticed your mistake, they could have taken advantage of it.
Then again, maybe they didn’t notice at all, or if they did, maybe they reported it to you first (and then took advantage). Maybe that’s why we see so many messages from companies asking us about our experience with their site. It’s their way of inviting us to put our email addresses and whether or not we’d like to sign up for their newsletter (or other alerts).
Finally, and this would be the worst-case scenario, the company might have kept your mistyped email address in their database anyway. That way, they can send out spam emails on behalf of their advertisers or partners later on down the line!
🟦 You entered a contest or shared an article.
Sometimes you enter an email address to enter a contest or share an article on social media, and then they take the rest of your information.
You may not have been aware that they are doing this. Some people believe it is a transgression of information and privacy. Still, there is nothing wrong with entering an email address to subscribe for more information about the company and its products.
They should get it from the person who entered their contest or shared their article on social media, so they shouldn’t be able to use that information without your permission.
Now that you know how your email is saved, it’s time to know how to protect your email. Check the next section.
How To Protect Your Email From Spam Websites?
You check your email every morning. You love getting those funny, over-the-top marketing emails from your favorite stores and companies. But what you might not know is that spam e-mails can be a lot more dangerous than cute ones. That’s because spammers use these messages to send out phishing scams and viruses through seemingly harmless attachments or links in their messages.
Here are a few tips on how to protect yourself:
🟦 Keep your email address private
Be sure to keep your email address private. You don’t want your inbox packed with spam, nor do you want strangers contacting you and asking for money or personal information. Keep in mind that it’s easy for hackers to find out a person’s email address if they have access to their social media accounts or other public records. So, don’t put your email in those places!
Also, if someone asks for money from an unknown source online, report them immediately. This is known as phishing. This is when cybercriminals pretend to be someone else (like a bank) so that they can trick people into giving them their bank account info or other sensitive data.
>>Phishing
If someone emails you about something important but seems suspicious or unfamiliar (for example: “Hey, I’m selling some stuff on eBay”), try doing some research before replying back. Maybe call the company where the person claims to work? Suppose they’re real employees of that company who know each other well enough not only to send but receive emails like this one. In that case, there won’t be any reason at all why anyone would need proof beyond just telling them who sent them this message originally.
However, if something seems off, then either ignore it altogether or contact law enforcement agencies directly instead of opening yourself up even further by responding back first.
🟦 Never download or open attachments from unknown senders
One of the most expected ways that hackers get you to open their spam emails is by attaching a malicious file. They do this because they know that if someone has opened an email and clicked on something, they are more than likely going to click on another thing. Even if that “thing” is a suspicious-looking attachment.
If you receive an email from someone you don’t recognize or who isn’t part of your regular contact list, don’t open any attachments they send. Don’t even think about it! Suppose someone sends you an attachment that looks like it’s from somewhere legitimate (like your bank or credit card company). In that case, they may be able to trick you into opening it by disguising themselves as being from one of these companies (or some other recognizable brand).
🟦 Never click on a link in an e-mail
The reason for this is simple. Links in emails could be misleading and take you to a phishing site or scam website. To avoid such links, always type the address yourself when checking an email’s source.
🟦 Use your email spam filter
Set up a spam filter in your email application or webmail account. Train your spam filter so that it can evaluate new messages to determine whether they’re likely to be spam or not. This also helps you avoid false positives, which means the software mistakenly thinks a message is a spam when it’s really not.
For example, if you have an email from your bank asking for your username and password to confirm something and then another message from them asking for payment information, the first message might be flagged as spam by mistake because it looks like too much of a coincidence (even though it should never be). Once you train the software on what types of messages are OK and which ones aren’t, it will do its best not to flag anything else incorrectly again unless there’s a significant change in behavior from this sender over time!
🟦 Softwares
There are many ways to protect your email. You should always keep your email address private, never download or open attachments from unknown senders, and never click on a link in an email. If you have spam issues, there are also several things you can do on the computer itself. These tips help you protect your inbox from spam websites:
- Install anti-virus software
- Install ad-blocking software (like AdBlock Plus)
- Download an anti-spyware tool
Final Words
Hoping that this article has helped you understand how websites get your email address. There are many ways, and the best way to protect yourself is to know which of these methods is being used by the site in question. You can also use a unique password for each site where you have an account, so even if one website gets hacked and its database of emails is stolen, it won’t be able to access your account on another site (unless they both use the same password).
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