How to Check for Spam Emails
Published November 3, 2024 · Updated August 25, 2026 · Email Security
Whether you are protecting your inbox or checking that your own campaigns are not being flagged, knowing how to check for spam matters. There are two sides to it: spotting spam you receive, and testing whether your outgoing mail looks like spam. Here is how to do both.
Spotting spam you receive
- Check the real sender - hover over the address; display names are easily faked.
- Watch for urgency and threats - "act now or lose access" is a classic tactic.
- Hover over links before clicking to see where they truly go.
- Failed authentication - mail that fails SPF/DKIM/DMARC is a red flag.
Testing your own mail's spam score
Before a campaign, send a test to a spam-check service. It scores your message on content, authentication, and reputation, and flags what to fix - so you reach the inbox instead of the junk folder.
A phishing red-flag checklist
- Display name says one company, but the actual address domain is unrelated or misspelled.
- A generic greeting ("Dear Customer") on something claiming to be from a service that knows your name.
- A link's visible text does not match where it actually points when you hover over it.
- Urgency paired with a request for credentials, payment, or personal details.
Report it properly, not just delete it
Use your provider's "Report phishing" or "Report spam" option rather than plain delete — that action feeds the filter's training data, making it better at catching similar messages for you and everyone else on that provider going forward. A quiet delete teaches the filter nothing.
A habit worth building
Get into the routine of hovering before clicking on any link in an unexpected email, even from familiar-looking senders — it takes one extra second and catches the majority of convincing spoofing attempts before they cause any harm.
Keep your own inbox's spam folder in the habit of a quick weekly scan — legitimate mail occasionally lands there too, and a quick check catches it before it is missed.
Related reading: Email score checker · Fda pmta · test your deliverabilityA dedicated SMTP built for the inbox
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Frequently asked questions
How do I check if an email is spam?
Verify the real sender address, watch for urgency and suspicious links, and check whether it passed SPF/DKIM/DMARC authentication.
How do I check my own email's spam score?
Send a test to a spam-check service - it scores content, authentication, and reputation, and tells you what to fix before you send.