Skype is one of the most popular programs in Internet communications. As Skype’s popularity continues to skyrocket, its millions of users have been experiencing an increasing amount of spam. Among the most annoying offenders are porn spam, stock spam, account details, and shady lotteries from various countries. Users are report receiving one to as much 20 or more spam messages a day. Skype users have reported a dramatic increse in spam. While Skype doesn’t offer a fail-safe method of diverting spam messages and vishing calls, there are some steps you can take to guard yourself against unwanted messages and calls.
Unfortunately for Skype users, a spam filter similar to email spam filtering is not available. It appears that Skype has no plans to launch anything similar to that. However, you can take spam management into your own hands. Completely eliminating spam is unlikely, but by following some simple steps you will reduce your spam messages dramatically.
On Windows, do the following :
- Open Skype, click “Tools” and then “Options”
- Click “Show Advanced Options”
- Select the following to ensure maximum privacy: Allow Calls from only people in my contact list, Automatically receive video from no-one, Show that I have video to no-one, Allow chats from only people in my contact list and uncheck “allow my status to be shown on the web”
- Click “Notifications” and uncheck “pop up a window when someone requests my contact details”, “Display notifications in the Windows tray when someone comes online” and “Display notifications in the Windows tray when someone requests my contact details”
On Mac :
- Select “Skype” and then “Preferences”
- Select the “Privacy” tab
- Follow the same steps as for Windows above
Some general advice, and a very simple message: don’t click links or open files in messages from people you don’t know and trust, and indeed even from people you do trust if you are not sure of the content.
