iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch are mobile devices, but you should be aware that they are also exposed to junk/spam mail. Unfortunately, you cannot use the settings in your mobile device to block the spam mail from getting into your inbox as the Mail application is an email client and not an email service. Therefore, to block junk email from getting to your iPhone, you have to activate the Spam folder, service or filter in your online email account.
With iCloud account, you can have the account’s junk mailbox stored on the server so it is available when accessing the account with iPhone and iPad. All server stored mailboxes with an IMAP account are kept synchronized with the server automatically with each email client used to access the account.
The same is not possible with an antiquated POP account which is designed to be accessed with a single email client only.
So, what can be done to help reduce spam email on iOS device?
1. Do not open any spam emails and don’t click on suspicious links
Every time you open a spam email, the spammer knows that there is an active email account and user at the email address the spam was sent to. So, one way to reduce spam is to just swipe on the message in your inbox and then tap on the Delete button that appears.
2. Move emails to Junk Folder or Spam Folder to report them as spam email (iCloud and Gmail)
Deleting spam email is one way to get rid of spam, but it doesn’t prevent it from getting sent again. There is a way to actually report spam email as spam.
These are the steps that over time help improve spam filters on the server.
go to your inbox and locate the spam email but don’t open it (remember rule No 1).
click on the Edit button at the top right of your screen.
select the email by tapping in the little circle to the left of the message without actually opening the email.
Once you have selected the spam email, click on the Move button at the bottom middle of the screen. –
Locate and then click on the Junk Folder or Spam Folder in your email account. This will move the spam email to this folder and it will report it to the spam filter as junk mail.
3. Create a Rule in your iCloud account to automatically re-route an unwanted message
You can create something called a “Rule”. A Rule will automatically detect a message from a particular sender and sent it to a specific folder – Trash Folder, Junk Mail Folder or any other folder you specify.
In order to create a rule for your iCloud account, you need to:
– access your account on a normal computer’s web browser
– select and copy the senders email address from the spam email you received
– go to iCloud.com and login. Click on the Mail icon
– once your email account has loaded, click on the little gear icon in the upper right and select “Rules…” from the drop down menu.
– click on “Add Rule…” which will allow you to paste the sender’s email address in the popup box
– Once you have pasted the email address, select “Move to Folder” to automatically reroute all future messages to a specific folder on your account.
You can route the messages directly to the Trash, to the Junk Folder (which will report it to Apple as spam email), or to another folder that you specify. After selecting the folder, then click on Done and your rule will be created.
Following these tips on how to report and reduce spam email on iPhone, iPad (Mini), and iPod Touch will definitely help get rid of unwanted spam emails that end up in your inbox.