How to Stay Safe Using E-Mail

There was a time when sending mail exclusively meant writing a letter, putting it in an envelope, putting a stamp on it and then mailing it. Back then, you would have to wait x number of days before the intended recipient would get to read the letter and also send a reply. Well, we still do that now but mostly for different reasons and not simply to communicate a message. It’s more convenient for us now because of the invention of the electronic mail or e-mail. Nowadays, all we have to do to send mail is to turn on our computers, connect to the Internet, load our e-mail client, compose our message and send it. In an instant, the intended recipient would get the message, read it, compose a reply and send it. All this happens in just a few minutes without us having to leave our computer chairs.

The electronic mail certainly has changed how we communicate with others. With all the benefits that e-mail brings, there are also disadvantages. Just like with any other technology, some people quickly learned how to exploit it and so it is important for us to know how to spot danger and avoid it. Let us look at some of the ways we can stay safe from these exploits.

Avoid sending e-mail chain letters
Maybe it’s safe to assume that anyone who uses e-mail on a regular basis has received at least one chain letter through e-mail. It’s like a virus. You can’t really avoid getting it but you can at least stop it from spreading from your end. Not all chain letters are malicious in nature but most are created to manipulate, defraud or simply to collect e-mail addresses. The ones requiring the user to send to x number of people within x number of hours or something bad is going to happen is definitely malicious in nature. Avoid them if you can and stop forwarding them to other people.

Don’t be gullible
Every once in a while, you may get an e-mail message that you might think is the answer to your prayers. These messages will inform you that someone extremely rich and who you’ve never ever met or even heard of is willing to give you a lot of money simply for helping him/her. Wow, it sounds good. In fact, too good to be true and it probably is. Here’s one way to spot such e-mails. Although it seems that the sender specifically sent the message to you, take a look at the recipient or “To:” portion of the message. You will usually find that it is blank or would contain something like “undisclosed recipients”. This means that your e-mail address was placed on “Bcc” and why do you think that is? It is because it was sent to many people with the hope that one of the recipients would be gullible enough to believe it is real. Remember this as a golden rule: if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Nowadays, getting something for nothing very seldom happens and when it does, it will most certainly not happen through e-mail.

Be smart and use common sense
The best way to stay safe is to always use your common sense. You know how the Internet is these days. There are so many scammers out there just waiting for us to take the bait. Always think before doing anything. Don’t be too excited to reply or forward every e-mail message that you receive. In other words, always practice restraint.

There you go. With these simple tips, you can stop a scam from spreading and you can also avoid being scammed yourself. Scammers wouldn’t exist if there were no willing victims so always be aware and careful when using e-mail. Stay safe and enjoy the technology.