Spam overload on iCloud Email Address

Has anyone noticed an absurd amount of SPAM on icloud emails? Apple used to have the best filters. I now get upwards of 100 emails every hour in my junk folder. I used to go months before getting even 10 junk emails. What happened to Apple's spam settings?


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Posted on Feb 19, 2023 5:58 AM

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Posted on Dec 20, 2023 2:48 PM

If your account is pretty old your .mac and .me addresses are totally locked to your iCloud address as permanent aliases and can NEVER be removed. So you'll never be able to fix it from that standpoint. Try getting a spam filter like SpamSieve. Apple should be automatically doing something like that in my opinion. One solution, that could be very problematic, would be to get a different iCloud account. BUT, then you may lose some programs and will definitely lose Apple music or iTunes. Apple has no way you can move things to a new Apple iCould account without issues. Or do a new account but discontinue email totally on the old account and restart email with the new account. Then, you would still have access to things like iTunes but would have to sign in to your old account to use it. Due to the ever changing nature of spam nothing Apple offers truly works for long. Especially with spam from lists and groups. It just keeps coming with simple changes of a letter, or number somewhere in the from or to fields. What I was told was to send all spam to abuse@apple.com. Either directly or as an attachment. This takes time but if it overloads Apple maybe they'll finally start to take it seriously. Of course they don't read any of it but perhaps an uptick in numbers will be noticed. This is shameful on Apple's part. I have had many conversations with Apple about this and they either have no idea or what they offer won't really work. There is no reason I can think of for them not to allow the deletion of mac.com and me.com or to be able to switch to a different iCloud account without all the hassles and losses of programs, data, whatever. They can't even tell me what would really be affected.

126 replies

Jul 7, 2023 6:28 AM in response to MacOrchard

I also have been forwarding every single spam to abuse@icloud.com and reportphishing@apple.com, every day.


I have seen neither a reduction nor an increase—I get between 100 and 150 per day.


I CONTINUE to have some of these junk mails—including some for which I have written a specific rule to forward to above reporting email addresses and then divert to a different folder—show up in my inbox, which is infuriating. (The ones that are subject to the rules are particularly irritating, since the rules I have made work much of the time. So why don’t they always work??)


ALSO, I regularly find legit emails in my Junk folder, including a utility bill (one of two from the exact same power company, sent at almost the same time, for two different homes!), a flight reservation from an airline I fly with regularly (seriously!!), and various newsletters I am subscribed to that have been going to my inbox for many, many years. To me, this is inexcusable. I understand if a new sender gets diverted to junk, but when these kinds of mistakes occur, it makes me wonder.


I am envious of those who are seeing a decline… here’s hoping it is a positive development although I am not holding my breath.

Jul 28, 2023 7:26 AM in response to mac833

Yep, same here, same senders too. They seem to have found a way around all of Apple's firewalls. And I mean ALL.


I, too, am still using/beholden to the .mac & .me aliases to the primary iCloud address, and this is where the vast bulk of this spam is going to. The easiest fix for me would be to delete/mute/turn off these old suffixes, or change the primary email address altogether. But Apple won't allow that.

So I'm stuck with either having to endure 100s of spam emails a day, or deleting the entire iCloud account with all the attached information/permissions built up over 20+ years....

Sep 25, 2023 9:00 AM in response to mac833

Having the same issue. Except the junk I’m getting doesn’t go into my junk folder - it just comes into my regular Inbox. Blocking the senders does nothing except add the little red “no” symbol to the email. Rules and filters don’t work. It’s really changed how I see Apple as a brand, honestly. Serious brand damage, Apple.

Oct 21, 2023 3:23 PM in response to dalee79

I already gave up and migrated everything over to Google. It was a hassle but it paid off in the end. I rarely ever get spam on my Gmail account. Maybe Gmail has superior spam filters compared to Apple. If there was an option to permanently delete my entire Apple account I would. I have already sold off all of my Apple products. Their main priorities are pumping out the same products every year and putting everything on a monthly subscription plan.

Nov 2, 2023 5:14 PM in response to dalee79

Exactly. It's a pita. And because I have an apple card I cant just delete my apple id and create a new one which I would love to do so that when they send their next spam it will just simply bounce. Oh no. Apple has to be the mother of all frikkin complicated because it's supposed to be secure. Thing is, when they came out with Hide My Email, I created alternate emails only to use for signing up for all accounts elsewhere and beyond. I have never used my actual main apple id email. And somehow, they managed to find it. So the entire Hide My Email does not work.

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Spam overload on iCloud Email Address

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