Don't Get Caught By The Latest E-mail Scams

Of course you know better than to respond to an e-mail from a Nigerian prince who wants to establish a business partnership with you. But what about an e-mail from UPS about a package they couldn't deliver? An e-mail saying you've received an electronic greeting card? As innocent as they sound, you shouldn't open those either.

Motivated by the huge sums of money they can get by infecting computers and "selling" them to spammers, hackers have invented increasingly clever ways to trick you into downloading malware. Their fake e-mails are so well done that it is virtually impossible to tell they are frauds. That said, the rules below can protect you from most issues:

• Before you open any e-mail, ask yourself, "Do I know this person?" If you don't, make sure that little voice in your head follows up with, "Is there a reason this person/organization should be contacting me?" If you can't answer, "yes" to at least one of those questions, don't open the e-mail.
• Beware of anything that sounds too urgent. Hackers prey on our fears of not responding quickly to the IRS, banks, credit card companies, etc. If you get an e-mail that is rushing you to act, use your browser to go to the company's website and contact them directly.Trust me, if it really is the IRS and it really is urgent, they'll find you.
• Look for spelling and grammar errors. Hackers passed Computer Coding 301 with flying colors. They often didn't do so well in English 101 (or Business Ethics.) If you see any errors in composition, ignore the e-mail.

Also keep in mind that online scams have moved beyond e-mails to pop-up windows. Any time you get a pop-up telling you that your computer is infected with a virus that will destroy the Western Hemisphere, take a deep breath. Close the pop-up, and run your virus scan manually.

Finally, I know that I don't have to tell you that opening an e-mail titled, "Watch Angelina Jolie's Lips Explode" and clicking on the attachment is a very, very bad idea.

Practice safe computing!

Darrell Gray
Networkistics, Inc.
IT consulting and support services
925.249.9980
www.networkistics.com