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Email Safety

These days you may get as many scams and spam as legitimate email. So, treat any emails that you are unsure about as suspicious.

Don't ever give out personal information (e.g. your date of birth, passport number, banking or credit card details or passwords) via email. If you're not sure, call the (apparent) sender on the telephone. Common SCAMS include:

• An unsolicited email that resembles a company's website, with the right logo, corporate colours, etc., asking that you click on a link to reconfirm your membership or password. No reputable company will ever do that. Careful examination of the link may show that it will take you to a website other than that of the company it seems to represent. Such scams can be quite sophisticated; they may send the unsuspecting user to a website with a look-alike, subtly misspelt address - so pay attention. In addition they will often play off of a current event; the infamous Nigerian money scam began soon after a political upheaval in Nigeria; the Hotmail-password-stealing scam began soon after Hotmail announced new user policies; and scams offering antivirus updates have arisen soon after major virus outbreaks.
• Unsolicited news that you have won a prize. Persons who fall for this often end up providing personal details (to claim the prize) and loosing money (to pay a processing or other 'fee'), to the scammer.
• Unsolicited requests that you participate in a global event; for which you can earn money. E.g. Earn money from Microsoft by forwarding an email to everyone in your address book as well as back to the person who sent it to you - allegedly, Microsoft will track this and pay you for every email you send. Persons who fall for this end up generating more spam for themselves and their friends.
• Unsolicited offers of free software - go ahead, you'll also get free spam, spyware and malware

What can you do?

• Exercise caution just as you would with everyday transactions.
• Remember, if it sounds too good to be true ... it probably is.
• NEVER reply to spam, even to 'unsubscribe' - it only confirms your existence to spammers.
• Don't forward chain letters either - They just clog up the system (seriously) and sometimes propogate viruses. Any email suggesting you forward copies to 10 or some other number of persons (for good luck, to avoid bad luck, to help an ailing child, etc.) is very, very likely a chain letter. Squash it.
• NEVER provide personal details, especially your your date of birth, passport number, banking or credit card details or passwords, in suspicious circumstances

Other useful resources:

• US Federal Trade Commission
• Directory of Security White Papers - technical reading
• CERT®/CC - alerts and research