Many users have been recently receiving spam invites related to Calendar or Photo sharing, so here’s an easy way of dealing with the issue.
Increasing Spam
Over the past few weeks, several users of iCloud have been noticing that there is an increasing amount of spam related to different aspects of the iCloud account. It is usually the case that email accounts suffer from this vulnerability towards spam messages. The cause may be several factors. Mail spam can normally be cleared using a filter. It is also not a major issue, as the spammer will never know whether the account is active.
Calendar/Photo Sharing
However, the latest spam issue is related to calendar or photo sharing features of iCloud. Typically, the user of the iCloud will receive requests for some Calendar events or he or she will be asked to view or share an album or photo from iCloud Photo. However, the problem is that even if the user hits on Decline, the spammer receives the message that this specific account is active and they continue to send such spam messages.
Increasing the Problem
As stated above, hitting on the decline option is not going to make the problem go away and it will rather, increase the problem. The same problem arises in case of Photo sharing of iCloud. When you hit on the Decline button, you are inviting yourself to another spam message rather than getting rid of the spammer permanently.
Good News
There is both good as well as bad news regarding the fixing of this spam problem. The good news is that you can put a stop to spam related to iCloud Calendar, but there is not much that can be done in case of spam related to Photo Sharing through iCloud.
Good Workaround
One good workaround for the problem has been suggested by AppleTips, allowing the user to move spam Calendar invitations. The spam receiver must neither accept nor decline the message. By doing this, the invitation goes to another calendar and can be deleted from there. This is a way of eliminating the invitations without hitting Decline in the notification itself.
How To – Calendar Spam
Firstly, you have to open Calendar app and move to Calendars and Edit. Then, add another Calendar and name it and then tap on Done. Go back to the Calendar and open up the spam invite, tapping on Calendar. Now choose the new spam calendar that you have named and move back to Calendars. Tap on the ibutton near spam calendar and tap on Delete calendar.
Photo Sharing Spam
In case of spam messages related to Photo Sharing on iCloud, the solution is to just turn off this feature. Go to Settings and Photos and Camera and disable the Sharing of photos.
Widespread Problem
It is not yet clear how far this problem has spread among users, but several users have complained about the issue. Many users have expressed their anger and irritation on Twitter regarding this new spam problem. However, they must make note of the fact that merely hitting on the Decline button is not going to solve the problem and might even make it worse.
Grant Hamersma knows the world of tech inside and out, covering smartphones, gadgets and applications. One of our in-house writers and top contributors on the site, you can read all 3,700+ of his posts here.