How can I move junk emails on my iPad without displaying the message body?

Question

One reason I don't like using my iPad for email is that I can't find a way to move a junk message without its message body being automatically displayed when selected. While viewing a mailbox, tapping Edit then selecting a message will show the message body.

My concern is that HTML code in the message could let a spammer know that the message sent to me was viewed, confirming validity of my email address. Is this concern valid? What can I do in Apple's Mail app on iPad to move junk messages without viewing the message body?

I store my junk messages in an IMAP folder, and use grep to see which email addresses are being targeted.

Answer 1

A spammer could validate reception by inserting an image which is hosted on a remote server in a HTML email. A unique code per recipient could be appended to the URL of the image, at which point the remote server can know which addresses recieved and opened the email.

While the default setting on iOS is to load remote images automatically (and hence makes your email address vulnerable to this kind of tracking), you can change this to Off in Settings - Mail, Contacts, Calendars - Load Remote Images.

Please note that this will prevent any remote images in any email to be loaded automatically, and therefor possibly breaking the layout of HTML emails, but you can always manually load the images in an email by tapping the appropriate button at the bottom of the email body.