Spam Bombed in Gmail

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Post Reply
Topic Author
Leesbro63
Posts: 10581
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:36 pm

Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by Leesbro63 »

My Sam's Club Mastercard got hacked and there was a fraudulent order by a fraudster. I caught that and contacted Symphony Bank (the card issuer) immediately. But at the exact same time, I started getting spam-bombed in my 15 year old GMAIL account. Many of the spams do go to the spam folder, but most are going to the inbox. Hundreds in an hour! Help! Where do I start?
User avatar
arcticpineapplecorp.
Posts: 15014
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:22 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by arcticpineapplecorp. »

report email as spam and/or block sender?
It's hard to accept the truth when the lies were exactly what you wanted to hear. Investing is simple, but not easy. Buy, hold & rebalance low cost index funds & manage taxable events. Asking Portfolio Questions | Wiki
Topic Author
Leesbro63
Posts: 10581
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:36 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by Leesbro63 »

arcticpineapplecorp. wrote: Sun Aug 07, 2022 1:02 pm report email as spam and/or block sender?
There are over 400 in just this first hour.
jebmke
Posts: 25271
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:44 pm
Location: Delmarva Peninsula

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by jebmke »

Somewhere in the sequence of events I would get a new email address for personal use only and not use it for anything commercial. That is what I did years ago when Yahoo got out of control. My old address is strictly for miscellaneous non-personal use.
Stay hydrated; don't sweat the small stuff
testing321
Posts: 295
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:46 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by testing321 »

The Sam's Club CC has 3% cash back on dining and dining is one of the most risky places to use a CC since they often walk away with your card. If you login to the CC site, you can freeze your card.
User avatar
prudent
Moderator
Posts: 9079
Joined: Fri May 20, 2011 2:50 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by prudent »

Can you make a new folder, move everything from the inbox before today to that folder, then let the spam run for a while. If the emails are coming from all different senders I imagine it will stop before very long.

At that point you can scan your inbox for any legit emails you need to save, then delete all the others.
Topic Author
Leesbro63
Posts: 10581
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:36 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by Leesbro63 »

prudent wrote: Sun Aug 07, 2022 2:20 pm Can you make a new folder, move everything from the inbox before today to that folder, then let the spam run for a while. If the emails are coming from all different senders I imagine it will stop before very long.

At that point you can scan your inbox for any legit emails you need to save, then delete all the others.
Great suggestion. This is what I’ll do. It’s now a few hours later and the spam has slowed. Hopefully this will wind down on its own.
fposte
Posts: 2327
Joined: Mon Sep 02, 2013 1:32 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by fposte »

Be alert, though; sometimes that's a tactic to hide notifications of additional compromise.
Topic Author
Leesbro63
Posts: 10581
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:36 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by Leesbro63 »

Update: I only had 5 spams overnight. Hopefully this will calm down. I’ll keep checking all of my accounts for suspicious activity.
masteraleph
Posts: 821
Joined: Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:45 am

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by masteraleph »

Leesbro63 wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 6:04 am Update: I only had 5 spams overnight. Hopefully this will calm down. I’ll keep checking all of my accounts for suspicious activity.
You may also want to have some sort of credit monitoring to make sure no one is opening up new accounts. That doesn't have to be an active, paid for thing- plenty of banks/credit cards offer snapshots of your credit, eg Chase, and all of the ones that do will note if you have new accounts or activity going on.
Topic Author
Leesbro63
Posts: 10581
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:36 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by Leesbro63 »

masteraleph wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 8:10 am
Leesbro63 wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 6:04 am Update: I only had 5 spams overnight. Hopefully this will calm down. I’ll keep checking all of my accounts for suspicious activity.
You may also want to have some sort of credit monitoring to make sure no one is opening up new accounts. That doesn't have to be an active, paid for thing- plenty of banks/credit cards offer snapshots of your credit, eg Chase, and all of the ones that do will note if you have new accounts or activity going on.
My credit has been locked for years.
buyholdforever
Posts: 69
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2015 3:43 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by buyholdforever »

I have also noticed that lately many spam emails are getting past the Gmail spam filter. It's very disappointing because that's pretty much the only reason I use Gmail (due to their quality spam filter). I am now looking at moving to Protonmail.
jebmke
Posts: 25271
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:44 pm
Location: Delmarva Peninsula

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by jebmke »

buyholdforever wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 8:21 am I have also noticed that lately many spam emails are getting past the Gmail spam filter. It's very disappointing because that's pretty much the only reason I use Gmail (due to their quality spam filter). I am now looking at moving to Protonmail.
Do you use your Gmail address for commercial purpose -- online purchases, user name for streaming etc?

Also, do you browse and search with a browser that also is logged into your email account?

Both of these are setting you up for spam.
Stay hydrated; don't sweat the small stuff
buyholdforever
Posts: 69
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2015 3:43 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by buyholdforever »

jebmke wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 8:24 am
buyholdforever wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 8:21 am I have also noticed that lately many spam emails are getting past the Gmail spam filter. It's very disappointing because that's pretty much the only reason I use Gmail (due to their quality spam filter). I am now looking at moving to Protonmail.
Do you use your Gmail address for commercial purpose -- online purchases, user name for streaming etc?

Also, do you browse and search with a browser that also is logged into your email account?

Both of these are setting you up for spam.
Yes I use my Gmail for everything and I have done so for over 10 years and I have never had an issue with spam on Gmail. But lately I am receiving this kind of unusual type of spam that's very obviously spam/scams.

I do know that it's possible to receive commercial emails related to things I have purchased and that's OK. I can unsubscribe from those and it's usually no problem. However, this new type of email is very obviously spam/scams and it always beats the Gmail spam filter pretty much 100% of the time, and there are a lot of them. It's something that never happened before for me with Gmail.

I use Gmail for business also and I have never seen someone blatantly beat the Gmail spam filters so easily and so consistently. I find it very unusual and annoying.

I don't stream anything, and I usually use a separate browser but it's true I do occasionally browse from it. Maybe it's somehow from browsing, that's a good point. Thanks.
Topic Author
Leesbro63
Posts: 10581
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:36 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by Leesbro63 »

I am the original poster with a follow up question. Fortunately the spam has calmed down, but I'm still getting them slowly. It's now manageable. Somewhere on the internet I read to move inbox spam into the spam folder, so that Google can see what's going on and hopefully the algorithms will work better to block future spam. Is this true? And if so, how long should I leave spam in the spam folder? Or does merely the act of moving the spam from inbox into the spam folder activate the Gmail algorithm?
z91
Posts: 790
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2014 12:19 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by z91 »

It's very possible that the filters just aren't working temporarily. I've had some very obvious spam get sent to me last week that gmail should have caught, but didn't. It was only a few emails, but just a DP to share.

I know gmail is a huge product, but it's very much possible to get in touch with their support team.
cacophony
Posts: 1354
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:12 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by cacophony »

Leesbro63 wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 12:59 pm I am the original poster with a follow up question. Fortunately the spam has calmed down, but I'm still getting them slowly. It's now manageable. Somewhere on the internet I read to move inbox spam into the spam folder, so that Google can see what's going on and hopefully the algorithms will work better to block future spam. Is this true? And if so, how long should I leave spam in the spam folder? Or does merely the act of moving the spam from inbox into the spam folder activate the Gmail algorithm?
I'm sure just the act of moving an email into the spam folder is enough. I personally never even look in my spam folder, so there's no real reason to manage anything in it.
tibbitts
Posts: 23589
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 5:50 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by tibbitts »

cacophony wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:15 pm
Leesbro63 wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 12:59 pm I am the original poster with a follow up question. Fortunately the spam has calmed down, but I'm still getting them slowly. It's now manageable. Somewhere on the internet I read to move inbox spam into the spam folder, so that Google can see what's going on and hopefully the algorithms will work better to block future spam. Is this true? And if so, how long should I leave spam in the spam folder? Or does merely the act of moving the spam from inbox into the spam folder activate the Gmail algorithm?
I'm sure just the act of moving an email into the spam folder is enough. I personally never even look in my spam folder, so there's no real reason to manage anything in it.
I look at my spam folder occasionally and sometimes find something that shouldn't be spam, so I don't think ignoring it entirely is necessarily the best plan.
cacophony
Posts: 1354
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:12 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by cacophony »

tibbitts wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:29 pm
cacophony wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:15 pm
Leesbro63 wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 12:59 pm I am the original poster with a follow up question. Fortunately the spam has calmed down, but I'm still getting them slowly. It's now manageable. Somewhere on the internet I read to move inbox spam into the spam folder, so that Google can see what's going on and hopefully the algorithms will work better to block future spam. Is this true? And if so, how long should I leave spam in the spam folder? Or does merely the act of moving the spam from inbox into the spam folder activate the Gmail algorithm?
I'm sure just the act of moving an email into the spam folder is enough. I personally never even look in my spam folder, so there's no real reason to manage anything in it.
I look at my spam folder occasionally and sometimes find something that shouldn't be spam, so I don't think ignoring it entirely is necessarily the best plan.
I have multiple email addresses:

1. Friends/family address - gets maybe 1 spam per year
2. General/unimportant address I give to businesses - gets maybe 10 spams a day
3. Address for actually important business related stuff (eg. financial) - gets maybe 1 spam message a year

I completely ignore spam for 2. The only time it's worth looking is if I'm expecting a message that I haven't received yet.
h82goslw
Posts: 491
Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2016 5:44 am

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by h82goslw »

tibbitts wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:29 pm
cacophony wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:15 pm
Leesbro63 wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 12:59 pm I am the original poster with a follow up question. Fortunately the spam has calmed down, but I'm still getting them slowly. It's now manageable. Somewhere on the internet I read to move inbox spam into the spam folder, so that Google can see what's going on and hopefully the algorithms will work better to block future spam. Is this true? And if so, how long should I leave spam in the spam folder? Or does merely the act of moving the spam from inbox into the spam folder activate the Gmail algorithm?
I'm sure just the act of moving an email into the spam folder is enough. I personally never even look in my spam folder, so there's no real reason to manage anything in it.
I look at my spam folder occasionally and sometimes find something that shouldn't be spam, so I don't think ignoring it entirely is necessarily the best plan.
I use gmail also and check my spam folder 2-3 times per week. Half the time I check there’s email there that should’ve been in my inbox.
cacophony
Posts: 1354
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:12 pm

Re: Spam Bombed in Gmail

Post by cacophony »

h82goslw wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 4:40 pm
tibbitts wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:29 pm
cacophony wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:15 pm
Leesbro63 wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 12:59 pm I am the original poster with a follow up question. Fortunately the spam has calmed down, but I'm still getting them slowly. It's now manageable. Somewhere on the internet I read to move inbox spam into the spam folder, so that Google can see what's going on and hopefully the algorithms will work better to block future spam. Is this true? And if so, how long should I leave spam in the spam folder? Or does merely the act of moving the spam from inbox into the spam folder activate the Gmail algorithm?
I'm sure just the act of moving an email into the spam folder is enough. I personally never even look in my spam folder, so there's no real reason to manage anything in it.
I look at my spam folder occasionally and sometimes find something that shouldn't be spam, so I don't think ignoring it entirely is necessarily the best plan.
I use gmail also and check my spam folder 2-3 times per week. Half the time I check there’s email there that should’ve been in my inbox.
Wow, that sounds surprisingly bad. I've only seen that happen a handful of times over the past 20 years, and it was always for something that didn't matter like some sort of promotional email I had signed up for. Are you using gmail?
Post Reply