Junk email
On this page:
Overview
Unfortunately, much of the email that currently travels over the Internet is spam (unsolicited commercial or bulk email), which can contain either legitimate or illegitimate content. Chain mail is also common; this is mail of dubious value that you are encouraged to pass on to one or more recipients. It is all but inevitable that you will receive some such email, but you can take steps to decrease the amount you receive, and IU also has mechanisms in place to reduce junk email.
If you have explicitly asked a sender not to contact you and the contacts continue, this can be considered harassment, and you should contact the designated authorities for your account. At IU, the University Information Policy Office (UIPO) handles such issues. If you feel that your safety or property is at risk, contact university law enforcement immediately.
Should you need to report an incident, it is important to collect and keep all the information you can with regard to the offending email messages (e.g., times received, any replies you have made). It is also important to understand and use the full headers of the email message(s), since the "From:" line of a message can be forged or "spoofed". For more information, see Information about full headers in email.
Of course, it is important that you not become a part of the spam problem by sending mass messages or by passing along chain mail. See the Email policies section for more information about your rights and responsibilities regarding email usage. See the resources below for more information on countering junk and harassing email:
Spam
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Spam basics
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How to respond to spam
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How to minimize spam
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How to filter spam
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Measures used by IU to reduce spam and virus-infected email
- Protecting your web page(s) from email address harvesting
