How to Use the Email Unsubscribe Law to Your Advantage?

Whenever you leave your email address on a website, you should expect to receive emails from that company. Sometimes it's just an occasional monthly newsletter reminding you to check out some new stuff on the website.

More often, leaving your contact leads to an avalanche of promo emails, update notification, and sales pitches that turn your inbox into a spam container. With legitimate companies and services, there is a button or link somewhere within the email that will let you unsubscribe from that email list.

What does it mean if you can't find the Unsubscribe link? Isn't it illegal to leave it out?

Is There a Law Against Spam Emails?

Nationwide, spam mail is regulated by the CAN-SPAM Act, designed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The legislation institutes rules for marketing emails and proclaims penalties of up to $43,000 for violation of these rules.

On the state level, 37 states have laws regulating unsolicited marketing emails, but the federal legislation preempts most aspects of these laws.

CAN-SPAM Email Rules and Requirements

The CAN-SPAM Act regulates what companies can do when sending bulk messages or any commercial emails.

Here are some of the CAN-SPAM rules that all businesses have to follow:

1. A company cannot use misleading header info or deceptive subject lines in their emails—It's not allowed to deceive recipients into opening their email, by omitting company's name from the From field or by not stating clearly what the email is about in the subject
2. If an email is an ad, the sender has to identify it as such—It's illegal to try to convince the recipient that they are reading a personal email
3. Any business has to include a valid physical address within the email—It can be the street address or a postbox address
4. The sender has to provide an opt-out option for the recipient—It can be in the form of an Unsubscribe button or a Change Preferences link, but it has to be clear and conspicuous
5. The company has to honor your opt-out request—If you unsubscribe, the company has to remove you from their email list within 30 days

DoNotPay Is the Fastest Email Unsubscribe Mechanism

If you want to stop receiving unwanted emails, DoNotPay can help you accomplish this within minutes.

You don't have to look into each spam email to find that Unsubscribe button or waste your time on a company's website, trying to change your email preferences.

Our app will help you stop spam emails for good without going through all that trouble.

Here is how to get your spam email revenge in just a few clicks:

1. Open DoNotPay in your web browser
2. Scroll down and click on the Spam Collector feature
3. Enter your email address to connect it with DoNotPay
4. Forward any spam email you receive to spam@donotpay.com

Once you're done, the app will unsubscribe you from that list automatically.

DoNotPay can also help you join any active class-action lawsuit against that sender. You can check whether you qualify by looking for a flag in the Spam Collector tab on your DoNotPay dashboard.

What Else Can You Do to Protect Yourself From Spam?

With most email service providers and on almost all devices, there are several options to deal with spam—you can block the sender, report that email as spam, or report phishing.

How to Block a Sender?

Whether you want to permanently block an email address in your browser, Android device, or iPhone, you can usually do it by accessing the service provider’s website or opening the app.

Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook, and AOL all offer this opportunity, and the process is similar regardless of the platform.

Here are the steps you most commonly need to follow:

1. Access the service from your web browser or your preferred app
2. Find the problematic email and open it
3. Open the More menu—the location differs depending on what provider you are using
4. Click or tap Block Sender

How to Report Email as Spam?

When you mark an email as spam, it is sent to your spam or junk folder. What happens next depends on the company, but the content is usually analyzed by your service provider to enable easier spam detection in the future.

In most cases, you can report spam email both from the browser and the apps by clicking on the email and choosing the Report as Spam option.

How to Report Phishing?

Spam is annoying, but phishing is dangerous. When a sender is phishing, they are trying to get your personal info—your Social Security number, address, passwords, or other sensitive data.

Scammers that use this method will camouflage their emails as if they are coming from legitimate companies.

If the email is asking for any personal info, don't answer, since no legitimate company will make such a request in an email.

Most email services filter out emails like these automatically, but if one gets through to your inbox, make sure to report and stop phishing emails as soon as possible. Most services will also allow you to report email abuse and harassment.

DoNotPay Will Help You Stop Physical Spam Mail Too!

If your problem doesn't end on the internet and you are being spammed in real life as well, DoNotPay can help you take care of it.

Here is how to get rid of junk from your physical mailbox with our app:

1. Snap a photo of unwanted physical spam mail
2. Open DoNotPay in your web browser
3. Look for the DoNotMail option
4. Follow the guidelines

The app will unsubscribe you from that sender automatically, which means you won't get any more letters and junk mail from them.

With the DoNotMail Feature, you will get an opportunity to add yourself to any active class-action lawsuit against that sender, meaning you could receive compensation of up to $500.

Use DoNotPay to Cut Through the Red Tape!

DoNotPay is a virtual assistant app that can help you with many administrative or issues.

Are you having trouble handling social media spam mail? We can help you get rid of emails from Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, or Reddit. You once left your email on a company's website, and now they won't leave your inbox alone? DoNotPay will block emails from any company, including FedEx, BestBuy, or eBay.

You can access DoNotPay from your web browser!

Some tasks we can take over are:

• Not waiting on hold when getting in touch with customer service reps
• Fighting speeding tickets
• Acquiring compensation for delayed or canceled flights
• Contesting parking tickets
• Paying bills that are too high
• Getting compensation from robocall scammers
• Suing anyone in small claims court
• Booking a DMV appointment in any city
• Dealing with credit card issues
• Getting out of subscriptions or memberships
• Disputing traffic tickets
• Defending yourself from stalking and harassment
• Getting refunds for unsatisfactory purchases
• Freeing yourself from spam mail forever