How to stop phishing emails

What works

1. Report them as phishing, not just deleteThe report button in Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo teaches the filter. Here is where to find it.
2. Never reply and never click “unsubscribe” in a scamBoth tell the sender that your address is read by a real person. You then get more.
3. Use a second address for sign-upsKeep your main address for people and for accounts that matter. Shops, newsletters and competitions get the other one.
4. Check whether your address was in a data leakHave I Been Pwned shows which leaks contain your address. Change the passwords of the affected accounts.
5. Turn on two-step loginIt does not reduce the emails, but it makes a stolen password useless.
6. Keep your mail app and browser up to dateCurrent versions warn about known fake websites.
7. Add a filter that reads the contentBuilt-in filters lean heavily on known senders and on what other people have reported. A filter that reads the email itself can also catch a new scam from an address nobody has reported yet.

What makes it worse

• Replying to tell them to stop.
• Posting your email address openly on websites or social media.

Why they keep coming

Your address is probably on lists that are sold and resold after data leaks. Sending a million emails costs a scammer almost nothing, so they do not remove addresses. That is why blocking single senders does not help: the next email comes from a new address.