Spam

Spam is unsolicited bulk electronic messaging, usually email or text, sent for advertising, fraud or to spread malware, often without the recipient's consent.

Most spam is simply annoying advertising, but a significant share is used to deliver phishing links, malicious attachments and scams. Modern email services use filters that analyze senders, content and links to send spam to a junk folder or block it outright.

In Canada, commercial electronic messages are regulated by Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, known as CASL. It generally requires consent before sending commercial email, clear identification of the sender and a working unsubscribe option. That matters for Alberta businesses on both sides: you want good filtering to protect staff, and your own marketing emails must comply with CASL to avoid penalties.

Practical tip: report spam and phishing using the built-in report button in Outlook or Gmail rather than just deleting it, which helps the filter improve. Make sure your own domain has SPF, DKIM and DMARC records configured so your legitimate messages are less likely to land in clients' spam folders.