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How can I stop receiving spam emails in my iCloud?

Why am I getting spam emails in my iCloud email that never gets used. This is terrible on Apple’s part. I don’t even get them in my gmail emails and Apple is supposed to have the best security or so they brag about it. How can I stop these?


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPad Pro, iPadOS 14

Posted on Jun 8, 2023 9:33 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 9, 2023 1:47 AM

Sadly, if your email address is being used as a target for spam, there is little that you can do to stop it; anyone that has your email address can send email to it. This is true of any email provider.


While it is impossible to prevent spam from being sent your email address, you have to “manage” it…


First, be wary of any “unsubscribe” links that may be embedded in the email messages. For the most part, unless the unsolicited email is from a reputable advertiser, the unsubscribe link will not stop the messages. Instead, clicking the link will simply confirm to the spammer that the email address is monitored by a warm-blooded victim - and more spam and unwanted content is likely to come your way.


For unsolicited email, you can use the native blocking feature of iOS/iPadOS to automatically block/delete unwanted email from a sender - although this will only be effective for spam that arrives from a consistent email address:

Block phone numbers, contacts, and emails on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support


Where the spam email is using “spoofed” email sender addresses, your block-list will be ineffective.


The best advice is to avoid becoming a victim. Be careful where you use your email address to subscribe to services. Perhaps keep a secondary address just for this purpose - or, if you have updated to iOS/iPadOS15.1 or later, consider using Apple’s new Hide My Email facility:

What is Hide My Email? - Apple Support

Set up and use Hide My Email in iCloud+ on all your devices – Apple Support


Again, this new feature cannot stop everything, but is another way to reduce the likelihood of receiving and managing email and messaging spam. 


14 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 9, 2023 1:47 AM in response to lbkclb

Sadly, if your email address is being used as a target for spam, there is little that you can do to stop it; anyone that has your email address can send email to it. This is true of any email provider.


While it is impossible to prevent spam from being sent your email address, you have to “manage” it…


First, be wary of any “unsubscribe” links that may be embedded in the email messages. For the most part, unless the unsolicited email is from a reputable advertiser, the unsubscribe link will not stop the messages. Instead, clicking the link will simply confirm to the spammer that the email address is monitored by a warm-blooded victim - and more spam and unwanted content is likely to come your way.


For unsolicited email, you can use the native blocking feature of iOS/iPadOS to automatically block/delete unwanted email from a sender - although this will only be effective for spam that arrives from a consistent email address:

Block phone numbers, contacts, and emails on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support


Where the spam email is using “spoofed” email sender addresses, your block-list will be ineffective.


The best advice is to avoid becoming a victim. Be careful where you use your email address to subscribe to services. Perhaps keep a secondary address just for this purpose - or, if you have updated to iOS/iPadOS15.1 or later, consider using Apple’s new Hide My Email facility:

What is Hide My Email? - Apple Support

Set up and use Hide My Email in iCloud+ on all your devices – Apple Support


Again, this new feature cannot stop everything, but is another way to reduce the likelihood of receiving and managing email and messaging spam. 


Feb 6, 2024 11:24 PM in response to JSporteus

JSporteus wrote:

I don’t have this problem at all with my Gmail account, so what does Google do that Apple doesn’t?

I have a Gmail account and it gets far more spam than my iCloud account. That's because I use it more so there's more opportunities for it to fall into the hands of spammers. I never use the iCloud account for anything commercial so it has stayed relatively clean.

Mar 8, 2024 6:43 AM in response to brutusjeans

That's because the @mac and @icloud addresses resolve to the same address, if I recall correctly. Apple got rid of @mac addresses years ago and moved to @icloud. If you still had an @mac address, you were able to keep it but, functionally, it's the same address. So, no, you can't get rid of @icloud and keep the @mac.


You can learn how to mitigate spam, though.


Report and reduce spam in iCloud Mail - Apple Support

Reduce junk mail in Mail on Mac - Apple Support


Jun 8, 2023 9:42 PM in response to lbkclb

Set up spam filters that directly send them into the trash or to a junk folder.

Under the Mail menu goto settings.

Select the Junk Mail icon. Click enable junk mail filtering.

You can then set up exceptions.


If you have specific email, then select the Rules icon and set up a rule to process those specific email messages into the trash or junk folder.


Somehow you signed up for something with your Icloud email and you are now getting spam.

It is hard to blame Apple for this.


These are instructions for a Mac computer with an Apple mail client.

I just noticed you may have been asking for an Ipad or an Iphone.

I don't have instructions for you on those.

Mar 7, 2024 6:38 AM in response to brutusjeans

brutusjeans wrote:

I don't use my icloud email account at all. I use my mac.com Recently I have started to get spam to the icloud account. I have had the account for many years with no problem. Why would it start happening now? and how do I stop it from happening? Can I close the icloud account and keep the mac account?

It started now because spammers have started targeting email addresses ending in @iCloud.com. There is no way to prevent them from doing that on your end.

Mar 7, 2024 5:55 PM in response to brutusjeans

brutusjeans wrote:

is there a way to delete my icloud email account without deleting my mac. email account. I only get spam on the icloud account and I don't even use it.

So don't use it.


I'm not sure what you mean by a "mac" account. If you mean you still have an old @Mac.com email account, I believe that's tied to your Apple ID. You can't get rid of the @iCloud.com email address without deleting the Apple ID. But again, just don't use it. I have an @iCloud.com email I rarely look at. I'm not signed into it on any device. The only place I ever see it is if I check it a www.icloud.com.

How can I stop receiving spam emails in my iCloud?

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