Mac 101: dealing with icloud spam

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Dennis Dickerson
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1 Mac 101: dealing with icloud spam Dealing with an inbox filled with spam can be a tedious process. Some spam s, like those saying you have an inheritance overseas, are easy to spot, while others are cleverly crafted to appear legitimate. If you use an icloud account, here are some tips to help you curb your incoming spam. Avoid opening obvious spam s First and foremost, you should not open an that you recognize as being spam. Sometimes, the act of opening an will alert the sender that the has been viewed by the recipient. If the spammer knows that he has a fresh set of eyes, he will send even more spam your way. Page 1 of 6

If you use an icloud email account, here are some tips to help you curb your incoming spam.

2 Enable junk mail filtering The Mail client built into OS X Mountain Lion has a Junk Mail filtering option that you should enable, especially if you get a lot of spam. You can access the settings by opening Mail > Preferences > Junk Mail (icon) and selecting "Enable junk mail filtering." The default settings should capture most of your spam, but you can tweak the settings if you want more control over you junk mailbox. If you enable the Junk Mail option, make sure you take the time to mark messages as junk mail. Every time you mark an as junk, the entry is added to the junk mail database and the next message from this sender will be pushed into your junk mail folder. Over time, the amount of spam hitting your inbox will gradually drop. Page 2 of 6

" The default settings should capture most of your spam, but you can tweak the settings if you want more control over you junk mailbox.

3 Manage your junk mail folder Apple's mail server is good at filtering spam, but it is not perfect. You can improve its filtering by marking inbox spam as junk. You can either Choose "Mark as Junk Mail" from the Action pop-up menu at the top of the window if you are using icloud in a web browser. You can also manually drag an and drop it in the junk folder. All messages in the junk folder are flagged as spam and stay in this folder for 30 days. After 30 days, they are deleted. It's a good habit to remember to check this folder on a regular basis. Sometimes, important s are accidentally identified as spam and routed to this folder. Select a message, then click the Not Junk button to move this and subsequent s from that sender to your inbox. Page 3 of 6

You can also manually drag an email and drop it in the junk folder. All email messages in the junk folder are flagged as spam and stay in this folder for 30 days. After 30 days, they are deleted.

4 Disable automatic image loading Besides not opening suspicious s, you should also disable automatic image loading in s. I know that it's great to be able to view your cousin's cute cat pictures as soon as you click on an , but some spammers will use this automatic image loading feature to determine whether an account is active. You can turn off images in the OS X Mail app by selecting Mail > Preferences > Viewing (icon) and deselecting "Display remote images in HTML messages." Don't worry, this won't strip the images from your incoming s. You will just have to manually choose to load the images instead. Page 4 of 6

loading feature to determine whether an email account is active.

5 Use an alias address Signing up for a new online service or joining a new online mailing list is another surefire way to get additional spam. To keep your primary icloud in pristine condition, you should use you primary account to only your close friends and create an alias account for all your online ventures. Users are allowed to create three aliases per icloud account. To create an alias, you should open the web-based version of icloud by logging in to icloud.com. Open icloud and click on the gear-shaped Action pop-up menu in the top right corner of the window. Click on Accounts to open the account management console and then select "Add an Alias". Page 5 of 6

ventures. Users are allowed to create three email aliases per icloud account. To create an alias, you should open the web-based version of icloud email by logging in to icloud.

6 You will have to create a new icloud address that includes between 3 and 20 characters. You can also add in your full name, assign a label color and add a description like "online shopping" for this alias. Once you create a alias, you can send and receive from the account. You can also disable it when you don't want to use it for a while and turn it back on when you do. When an alias is disabled, all incoming is returned to sender. You can also delete an alias, but deleting an alias is permanent. If you think you may use the alias again, you should simply turn it off. Page 6 of 6

Once you create a alias, you can send and receive email from the account.

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