How to Ban Cheap and Nasty Chinese Sales Spam Emails

The Never-Ending Plague of Chinese Spam

Every day, the inbox fills up with emails promising bulk orders, low-cost electronics, and "high-quality" plastic junk. These messages always come from sketchy addresses and broken English subject lines screaming about factory direct deals. Deleting them one by one is a pointless game, and spam filters never catch them all. Something has to be done, and it has to be done in style.

Have you ever wondered why these spammers target you specifically? Is it something you've done, or is it just a numbers game? If your answer is that they target everyone, you're right, but if you think something you've done triggered them, it might be time to check where your email has been shared. Taking precautions with online activity can make a huge difference.

Set Up Ruthless Filters That Show No Mercy

Email filters exist for a reason, but they need to be customized like a weapon of war. Generic spam filters barely scratch the surface, so extra measures must be taken to keep out the flood. Some simple tricks make a massive difference, shutting the door on those factory hustlers for good. Let’s turn the inbox into a fortress.

• Block all emails from .cn domains. Chinese spammers almost always use domains ending in .cn, so banning them wipes out a huge chunk. Most email providers allow domain-based blocking, which cuts them off instantly. Any legitimate Chinese business worth talking to doesn’t use a .cn email anyway.
• Use wildcard filters to catch their predictable nonsense. These emails often contain the same tired phrases like "best price," "wholesale," and "factory direct." Setting up filters to delete anything with these words in the subject line works wonders. Spammers aren’t creative, so they keep using the same garbage wording over and over.
• Redirect spam to a black hole email address. Setting up a fake email just for spammers and automatically forwarding junk to it is oddly satisfying. They waste time sending offers to an account nobody ever checks. Some people even reply with fake interest just to mess with them before ghosting.

How aggressive do you want to be with your filters? Would you rather block some legitimate emails just to make sure spammers are kept out, or do you prefer a more lenient approach? If you go full force and block too much, you may miss some opportunities, but if you're too lenient, you’ll keep getting bombarded.

Striking Back: Annoy the Spammers Until They Give Up

Fighting back is an option, and it can be strangely fun. Spammers are expecting silent victims who either ignore them or click their shady links. Wasting their time frustrates them, and enough resistance makes them stop trying. A little creativity goes a long way in making them regret ever sending that first email.

• Send back confusing nonsense. Typing out random, broken sentences in response throws them off completely. Pretending to be interested but talking about completely unrelated topics drives them insane. Eventually, they mark the email as a waste of time and move on.
• Bait them into long, useless conversations. Acting like a potential customer and asking for ridiculous things wastes their resources. Asking for "200 kilograms of free samples" or "solar panels made of pure gold" keeps them busy and annoyed. They eventually realize the game and blacklist the sender instead.
• Turn their own scam back on them. Replying with fake bank details or absurd requirements like "must accept payment in seashells" keeps them occupied. Some scammers waste hours trying to figure out why their payment isn't working. The more time they waste, the less spam they send elsewhere.

Would you rather ignore spammers completely or fight back with some creative revenge? If you're the passive type, ignoring might save you time, but if you enjoy chaos, taking them down one email at a time might be your calling.

Strength in Numbers: Recruit Others to Fight Back

Spam isn't a personal problem—it hits everyone. Getting others involved turns the fight into a full-scale rebellion. The more people making life miserable for spammers, the better the results. Some tactics work better when done in groups, and a little coordination creates chaos for the spammers.

• Share known spammer email addresses online. Posting their contact info in spammer databases helps more people avoid them. Websites exist just for exposing these pests so others don't fall for their tricks. The more their reputation spreads, the less effective their scams become.
• Report them aggressively to email providers. Sending spam reports directly to Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook sometimes gets their accounts shut down. Enough reports trigger automatic bans, making them start from scratch. If done consistently, they spend more time making new accounts than sending emails.
• Create fake scam-baiting social media accounts. Pretending to be an eager customer on platforms like LinkedIn wastes their time. They love tracking down potential victims, and a fake profile keeps them spinning in circles. The longer they chase fake leads, the less they bother real people.

How much time are you willing to invest in stopping spam? If you're dedicated, you could create networks of spam fighters, but if you just want a little peace and quiet, a few reports here and there might be enough.

The Nuclear Option: Break Their Spamming Systems

For those who want to go beyond just ignoring or annoying spammers, there are more drastic methods. The right tactics disrupt their entire operation, forcing them to find easier targets. Some of these require a little technical knowledge, but even basic actions cause problems for spammers.

• Flood their contact forms with garbage data. Many spammers use automated bots to scrape emails from websites. Filling their web forms with nonsense data clogs their system with useless leads. The more fake entries they get, the harder it becomes for them to find real victims.
• Report their websites as phishing scams. Most spam emails lead to shady websites that steal information. Reporting these sites to Google Safe Browsing and antivirus companies gets them blacklisted. Once blacklisted, their links stop working, and their scam falls apart.
• Trick them into downloading malware. Some people send back links to known malware sites disguised as "payment info." If a spammer is dumb enough to click, they infect their own system. Nothing makes a spammer suffer like their own tricks being used against them.

Would you ever consider taking the nuclear option, or do you think that's going too far? If you like the idea of fighting back, going all out could be your path, but if you'd rather not get involved in digital warfare, sticking to filters might be best.

Enjoy a Cleaner Inbox With a Bit of Effort

Getting rid of Chinese sales spam isn't impossible, but it takes more than clicking "delete." Spammers rely on laziness, assuming people won't fight back. A little time spent setting up filters, baiting them into useless conversations, and reporting them shuts them down fast. The inbox stays cleaner, and spammers move on to easier targets.

What would make your inbox feel safer? Do you just need a few spam filters, or do you want to go full spam assassin mode? Whatever your choice, small actions add up, and before you know it, those nasty spam emails become a thing of the past.