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Could
Your Email Compromise Your Safety?
E-mail
Safety Tips To Protect You From Identity Theft
Hackers,
phishers, viruses, worms…simply having your
computer online can expose your data and personal information to all
kinds of malicious and worrisome problems.
If
you’re somewhat new
to the 'net' or to computers in general, these email safety
tips could help protect you from identity
theft, credit card fraud, or a complete computer takeover – all
of which can happen without you even knowing about it!
1.
What’s in Your Inbox? – If your e-mail program allows
you to preview the entire message before or while it is being
downloaded, turn this setting off. Some e-mails can contain dangerous
code
that could unknowingly compromise your computer and leave
you vulnerable to viruses,
worms or worse! Check the options in your e-mail program
for a way to disable the message preview pane.
2.
Scrutinize Your Messages – Don’t ever respond to messages
claiming to be from your bank, credit card company, or other financial
institution, which ask for personally identifiable information such as
card or account numbers, passwords, or other private information – even
if the e-mail looks to have come from the actual company.
It may be a hoax designed to get you to unknowingly part with crucial
financial or
private contact information, leaving you vulnerable to credit
card fraud, identity
theft or credit card theft. Contact the institution or company
that claims to be sending the e-mail and verify the contents of the message
with them. Chances are – they never sent it. Only use the
number on your statement though, and not the number that appears
in the
e-mail message. It may direct you right to the scammer, who
will do everything they can to assure you that nothing is wrong!
3.
If it’s From a Friend, it must be Safe, Right? – It’s
logical to assume that a message from your friend or colleague
is safe, but that isn’t always the case! If you receive
an e-mail from a friend or colleague which contains an
attachment (could be a
media
clip, a screensaver, a picture or anything else), call them
up to check and
see if they really did send it. Many viruses and worms can
hijack your computer and blast out a virus-ridden e-mail
to everyone in your
address
book, making it appear that it came from you and therefore,
making it appear trustworthy.
4.
Read Your Messages in Plain Text – Some e-mails written in
HTML (the coding language that makes up many web pages) can be harmless.
Others can contain malicious code that can hijack your e-mail program,
browser, or your entire computer – and send your personal and financial
information out to a hacker or scammer without you even knowing
about it! Stay safe by setting your e-mail program to only show messages
in
plain text format (often in the options or settings section of
the software). This will prevent threatening code from installing itself
and compromising
your system and private information.
Possibly
one of the best safety tip to protect your e-mail is simply
by exercising common sense.
The
Internet is a lot like a crowded plaza. Would your banker or
credit card lender walk out into the middle of a throng of
people and shout out to you to ask for your account information?
Would you tell him where everyone could hear? Definitely not!
The same caution
should be exercised when checking your e-mail.
These
e-mail safety tips can help you stop scammers dead in their
tracks while keeping you from
becoming another victim
of fraud or theft.
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