Details
"Spam" is Internet slang for junk email. Some advertisers use spam email as a way of sending their marketing materials to large numbers of recipients without having to pay printing and mailing costs.
"Phishing" emails are another type of spam/junk email. Phishing scams are intended to dupe the recipient into divulging personal information such as user credentials or banking information. The scammer can then use that information themselves or trade it on the black market. Phishing emails usually contain a link for you to click that will automatically download malware or take you to a site that prompts you to enter personal information.
Do Not Reply to Junk/Spam
Senders of junk email often provide a "remove" address, where a request can be made for removal from the list. We recommend that you not reply to the sender, because it has been our experience that such requests are not honored, but instead are used to create lists of validated email addresses that are then resold, resulting in the propagation of even more junk email.
Do Not Click on Links in Email Messages
Don't click on hyperlinks in email messages unless you are absolutely certain of their legitimacy. Even emails from a familiar source should be considered suspect. It is safer to verify that the sender included a link by sending them a separate email or calling them on the phone then risking malware infection.
What You Can Do
Information, Technology & Consulting considers junk email to be an unfair use of resources, and while we cannot prevent off-campus users from sending such junk email, our email systems does provide ways in which you can automatically filter most junk email out of your In Box and into a folder that you specify in your email account.
For more information related to this topic, see Junk Mail Filtering.