Why Is My Inbox Full of Junk?
Understanding Spam in Plain English And what you can do about it today (without pulling your hair out)
Wait a Minute… Who Is Sending Me All This Stuff?
One minute, you’re checking your email to see if the grandkids responded. The next? You’re knee-deep in messages about miracle health cures, luxury cruise offers, and a long-lost cousin’s investment opportunity in Siberia.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Spam (aka junk email) affects everyone — but if you’re retired and online more than ever, you might notice the floodgates opening even wider.
But what exactly is spam? And more importantly, how can you stop it without tossing the good emails out with the bad?
Let’s make sense of this.
📩 So… What Is Spam, Exactly?
Spam is any unsolicited, unwanted email, usually trying to get you to:
Click a shady link
Buy a product you didn’t ask for
Share your info with someone you shouldn't trust
It could come from unethical companies, clever scammers, or even legitimate businesses who got your email somehow (looking at you, online sweepstakes signups).
🧠 Why You’re Seeing More of It Now
If you're retired, chances are you're:
Shopping online a bit more
Signing up for newsletters (hopefully like this one!)
Using your email to manage bills, insurance, and appointments
Each of those touchpoints can leave a “digital breadcrumb” — which spammy folks love to scoop up.
🤷 Why Not Just Ignore It?
Ignoring spam won’t stop it — in fact, it can get worse over time. The more your email address circulates, the more junk will follow. And some spam isn’t just annoying… it can be flat-out dangerous:
Fake emails from your bank
“Too good to be true” offers loaded with viruses
Phishing attempts trying to pry out your passwords
✅ The Good News? You Can Fight Back.
Over the next few weeks, we’re going to show you:
How to unsubscribe safely (and when not to)
Which tools inside your email service block spam automatically
Why creating a second email is a powerful trick for control
Each guide gives you simple instructions and drawings—or as I like to call them, “anti-frustration flowcharts.”
📬 Final Thought
Spam can feel overwhelming… but with three or four inbox habits, you’ll flip from “Why me?” to “Not today, scammers.”
👊 Take back control, one email at a time.
Call to Action:
🛡️ Ready to start decluttering your inbox? Check out the next article in the series: How to Safely Unsubscribe (Without Getting More Spam).
Let us know what you think in the comments!
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Copyright: Retired and Wired - 2025