Generally, there are a few indicators that can help you identify spam (unsolicited bulk emails) in your mailbox. If a message fulfills some of the following criteria, it is most likely spam.

• The sender address does not belong to someone you recognize.
• You are offered a large sum of money, but prior to collecting said money, you have to provide a small sum of money to the sender first.
• You are asked to enter, under various pretenses, some of your personal data – bank account numbers, credit card numbers, social security number, usernames and passwords, etc.
• The email is written in a foreign language.
• Product advertised is far below retail price.
• Some of the words are misspelled in an attempt to trick your spam filter. For example, "viagra” may be written as “vaigra”, etc.
• Inclusion of large blocks of text or images.

If you do decide to purchase a product advertised in an unsolicited email message, please verify that the message sender is a reliable vendor.

To learn more about email security, visit the ESET blog WeLiveSecurity.com.