A lot of the communication we do today is by email. Naturally, that makes it a favorite avenue for malicious individuals to attack your system. A SPAM filter can help considerably, however nothing is 100% effective – and there is a fine line between “too aggressive” and “not aggressive enough.”
Turning up the aggressiveness of the filter may stop the bad mail while at the same time improperly labeling legitimate messages as SPAM. Even with a SPAM filter, you should handle your email with care.
Here are a few tips to potentially save you from opening a message or attachment that is nefarious in nature.
The first rule is “just don’t do it.” It is tempting to just click that link or open that attachment.
You may even do it without a second thought. Scam emails can be very sophisticated, and they will often look like they are real.
Before you do anything, take a moment and consider a few things. If you are sent an attachment from someone you don’t know, never open it. If the fishy attachment or email is from someone you do know but it was not expected, reach out the sender to make sure they actually sent it.
Next, don’t jump the gun on clicking links that are sent to you. Links are easy to manipulate; they can be made to look legitimate, but they’ll actually take you to a different site or start downloading a program or virus.
With links, there are two things you can do.
First, you can open a browser and go directly to the site to bypass all links. This is the safest option, especially when you get an “urgent alert” about your account that “requires immediate action.”
If you can’t go to the page directly through the website, you can hover your cursor over the link. A box will pop up previewing the destination you’re actually being sent to.
If a link looks strange and doesn’t match the company website, don’t click on it. Also, look closely at the link as it may look just like a real one at first glance. Unless you are 100% sure the link is legitimate, do not click on it.
Another giveaway is that the message is poorly written with a lot of grammatical errors. If the message sounds like whoever wrote it doesn’t use English as their first language (and it is not from a foreign company you do business with), delete the message. Do not open or click on anything in the message.
The last point is that it’s usually not a good idea to unsubscribe from scam emails.
This may seem counterintuitive, but when you unsubscribe, you usually put your email address in to confirm you no longer want these messages.
Unfortunately, that lets the scammer know your email address is active. They will continue to send emails to this account or may sell it off as an active email.
Rather than unsubscribe from the email, block the sender. They will not know your email is active, and if they do send another message to you, it will not be received.
SPAM filters are great and they are essential. Still, remember that they are not 100% effective. Even with protection in place, it is wise to proceed with caution.
Take a moment to look for signs that the message is not from who it seems. These few seconds can save you a lot of time and money by avoiding disaster.