What’s In My Inbox Today?

In today’s world, email has evolved into a critical communication method. We use email to communicate with our coworkers and business partners to conduct daily business. Email can also be used for other non-business related purposes such as direct marketing and SPAM. How can you tell the difference?

Legitimate Emails

Legitimate emails are those that you are sending or receiving from a known source. These are the emails that you use daily to communicate with coworkers, business partners, and friends.

SPAM Emails

Spam, by definition, is “an unsolicited, often commercial, message transmitted through the Internet as a mass mailing to a large number of recipients”. The key word here being unsolicited; Spam is the email equivalent of sending letters to every address in an area addressed to “Dear resident”, basically contacting anyone who has not given you their express permission to do so. Spamming is generally adopted by people marketing less reputable types of products, such as those selling real estate or investment opportunities, who see marketing as a numbers game and simply by sending their unsolicited emails to enough people, however irrelevant or offensive, they aim to achieve their goal. VCPI proactively blocks SPAM before it reaches your email.

Solicited Emails

Solicited emails are emails that you have given the sender permission to send. So, how do you give permission? Usually, it will be when you sign up on a web site to make a purchase or register for some reason. There is normally a checkbox where you either agree or disagree to receive email marketing from the web site. Some examples of solicited emails are newsletters, membership renewals, and subscriptions.

Phishing Emails

Phishing is the use of fake email messages that claim to be from a company that you may trust, usually a bank or other financial organization. Some examples are PayPal, eBay, Amazon, Bank of America, etc. The Phishing emails will often look exactly like you would expect a legitimate message from your bank to look. They will use the same colors, logos and form items for you to complete. The difference is that when you submit your information, you will not be sending it to the real company. It will be sent to criminals who then can use that information to either withdraw money from your account or perform other criminal acts such as identity theft. As a general rule, banks or financial institutions will never ask for your password, social security number, or account number via email. VCPI proactively blocks phishing attempts before they reach your email.