Got Spam? Report it to Us!

In 2016, SMU received over 504 million e-mails. Out of all of those e-mails, only 2.8% of them were legitimate messages that actually made it to inboxes. The rest were all junk, including messages with viruses, marketing materials, and other messages from addresses with bad reputations.

Obviously, our spam filters are doing a pretty great job at filtering out the majority of spam messages that arrive at SMU. However, no spam filter is perfect, and bad messages occasionally end up in your mailbox. If you receive a suspicious and/or unsolicited message in your SMU inbox, make sure to follow these guidelines to stay safe and let us know about the message.

Don’t Open the Links!

Most spam messages usually contain cryptic addresses that could lead to viruses and possible identity thieves. Make sure to NEVER click on links within a suspicious message. The same rule goes for attachments. Even if the attachment filename or file format looks safe, it is most likely trying to deceive you.

Let OIT Know!

If you just delete the spammy message as soon as you receive it, we may never know about it! Help OIT and your fellow SMU community members by reporting the message to prevent further messages. In SMU webmail, simply right-click on the spam message and select Send As Attachment. If you’re in Outlook, select the message and then press Ctrl+Alt+F. This will open a new e-mail with the spam message as an attachment. Send that message to spam@smu.edu. This will send the offending e-mail to our spam filter for processing. This helps the filter become even better at blocking harmful messages in the future.

Of course, if you’re ever unsure about a message or have any questions, give us a call at 214-SMU-HELP or drop us a line at help@smu.edu

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Published by

Zach Peterson

Zach is a Senior IT Training & Communications Consultant with OIT. Zach began his SMU career at the IT Help Desk in 2012 and joined the Training & Communications Team in 2015. He is a 2011 graduate from the University of North Texas and obtained a Master of Liberal Studies degree from SMU in 2018. He enjoys reading and collecting vintage and antique radio sets. He grew up in Valley View, Texas near Denton.