Prevention

How to Control Junk Email -- Really!

By Tara Swords

In the course of a day, most of us receive a slew of emails from people we do not know: spam messages, chain letters, e-newsletters, and advertisements. So in the midst of this daily onslaught, how do you know which emails and attachments are safe to open, and which are not?

Here are some strategies for safely managing your emails so you can keep your computer secure from threats such as viruses, Trojans, phishing scams and identity thieves.

1. Filter out the junk  
Spammers will send consumers 113 billion spam emails every day in 2007, going up to 235 billion spam emails a day in 2010, according to estimates from research firm Radicati Group. In other words, no matter how much junk you get today, it’s only going to get worse.

Fortunately, your email program probably filters out junk mail for you. Most spam filters these days do a pretty good job, so don’t turn yours off.

Just remember that technology isn’t perfect. Junk mail folders won’t intercept every piece of spam and will occasionally grab a legitimate message. Before you empty the junk mail folder, do a quick visual scan to save any legitimate messages.

2. Don’t click on links from people or businesses you don’t know  
People who want to steal your bank account numbers, passwords and PINs are very clever at devising ways to fool you into giving them the information. Their best trick is sending you emails that look official -- such as an email that looks like it’s from your bank. These emails are known as "phishing."

Never provide personal information online unless you’re sure who you’re dealing with, says Jeff Godlis, director of communications at i-SAFE, an Internet education organization. Also, watch out for emails that appear to have been sent randomly rather to you personally.

“Your bank would usually use your name, or not send account information over email,” Godlis says. “Also beware of urgent wording trying to get you to click on a link without thinking -- ‘You just won’ or ‘Important: Your account will close in two days.’” This is just like the paper junk mail you receive by regular mail. Just delete it.

If you think you’ve gotten an email from your bank asking you to log in, don’t click on the link. Open your browser and type in the bank’s URL yourself to make sure you are going to the bank’s real legitimate Web site. If you’re really uncertain, just call your bank and confirm that the correspondence is not a fake.

3. Never open attachments from strangers  
Some spammers are less interested in stealing your money and more interested in wreaking havoc on your computer. These spammers most often send viruses in the form of attachments that launch malicious code to crash your computer, log your keystrokes or hijack your email program to send out more spam.

But the tricky thing about viruses is that they don’t come from only spammers -- they may come from people you know whose own computers that have been infected. Certain file types, like .exe or .vbs, often indicate viruses when attached to an email. (Don’t be confused: Your computer likely has hundreds of .exe files that are not viruses, but you should be wary of .exe files that are emailed to you.)

If you get a suspicious-looking attachment from someone you know, compose a new email to that person and ask whether the attachment is legitimate. On the other hand, if an email came from someone you do not know, delete it.

4. Keep your anti-virus software updated  
Your anti-virus program is your inbox’s first line of defense. Don’t turn it off. Remember that new threats and viruses are created and circulated every day.  Let your anti-virus software update itself automatically so it can spot and obliterate the latest threats.

5. Don’t ask to be removed from junk mail lists  
Of the 113 billion spam emails that will be sent to consumers daily in 2007, only about half of those messages find their way to real people. Spammers want to reach real people, not dead-end inboxes, and that’s why they offer to unsubscribe you from their lists. Don’t take that offer seriously.

“Don’t try to take your address off a spam list because all that does is tell spammers that you are an actual person,” Godlis says. “It tells them that your email account is active.” In such a situation, you’ll start getting even more spam.

The best strategy is to treat different emails differently.  If you want to stop getting that weekly email newsletter that you signed up for (from your favorite bookstore, or online store) go ahead and click on the “unsubscribe” link.

On the other hand, if you receive an email from an unknown sender, or if it is clearly spam, then don’t take the risk of clicking on “unsubscribe.” Instead, tag the email as spam by using your email service providers spam filter feature.  That will be the end of that.