{"id":5856,"date":"2023-05-12T21:37:44","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T21:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/microsoft-365-life-hacks\/?p=5856"},"modified":"2025-02-19T03:31:57","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T03:31:57","slug":"what-is-email-spam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/microsoft-365-life-hacks\/privacy-and-safety\/what-is-email-spam","title":{"rendered":"Why is junk mail called spam? A brief inbox history"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"main-content\" data-grid=\"col-12\">\n<p class=\"c-paragraph-3\">If you have an email address, you\u2019ve likely received spam messages before. Spam email may come across as harmless, but these unsolicited messages sometimes attempt to steal your information. Learn more about the history of spam email and how it got its name.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"full-bleed-image\">\n        <picture class=\"c-image\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/m365contenthub.wpengine.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/why-is-it-called-spam-anyway-1600x600-1.jpg\" media=\"(min-width:767px) and (max-width:1600px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/m365contenthub.wpengine.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/why-is-it-called-spam-anyway-1600x600-1.jpg\" media=\"(min-width:540px) and (max-width:767px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/m365contenthub.wpengine.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/why-is-it-called-spam-anyway-1600x600-1.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/m365contenthub.wpengine.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/why-is-it-called-spam-anyway-1600x600-1.jpg\" alt=\"A person holding their phone up\" \/>\n    <\/picture>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"links-menu\">\n<h2>Table of Contents<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n            <a href=\"\/en-us\/microsoft-365-life-hacks\/privacy-and-safety\/what-is-email-spam#what-is-spam-email\">What is spam email?<\/a>\n        <\/li>\n<li>\n            <a href=\"\/en-us\/microsoft-365-life-hacks\/privacy-and-safety\/what-is-email-spam#spam-email-origins\">Why is it called spam?<\/a>\n        <\/li>\n<li>\n            <a href=\"\/en-us\/microsoft-365-life-hacks\/privacy-and-safety\/what-is-email-spam#what-was-the-first-spam-email\">What was the first spam email message?<\/a>\n        <\/li>\n<li>\n            <a href=\"\/en-us\/microsoft-365-life-hacks\/privacy-and-safety\/what-is-email-spam#how-spammers-get-your-email-address\">How do spammers get your email address?<\/a>\n        <\/li>\n<li>\n            <a href=\"\/en-us\/microsoft-365-life-hacks\/privacy-and-safety\/what-is-email-spam#how-to-recognize-spam-email\">How to recognize spam email<\/a>\n        <\/li>\n<li>\n            <a href=\"\/en-us\/microsoft-365-life-hacks\/privacy-and-safety\/what-is-email-spam#tips-to-prevent-spam-email\">Tips to prevent spam email<\/a>\n        <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Where did the terminology \u201cspam email\u201d come from? Understand the meaning of spam and the purpose of a spam folder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5854,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-5856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-privacy-and-safety","tag-privacy-and-safety"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.10 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why is junk mail called spam? A brief inbox history \u2013 Microsoft 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Spam emails, also known as junk mail, can quickly clutter your inbox. Learn about the origins of spam mail, its purpose, and why it\u2019s appearing in your inbox.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Why is junk mail called spam? A brief inbox history \u2013 Microsoft 365\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Spam emails, also known as junk mail, can quickly clutter your inbox. Learn about the origins of spam mail, its purpose, and why it\u2019s appearing in your inbox.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/m365contenthub.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/why-is-it-called-spam-anyway-800x550-1.jpg\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why is junk mail called spam? A brief inbox history \u2013 Microsoft 365","description":"Spam emails, also known as junk mail, can quickly clutter your inbox. 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