Even though I am a computer technician, I still have the same email problems as everybody else. But I have learned a few simple things to avoid spam, phishing, and unwanted email. So here is how I deal with email.

Now I am not your average email user. Polls show that the average person has between two (2) and four (4) email addresses. I currently have twelve (12) addresses I actively manage (check daily).

I also primarily use a computer to check my email since I have so many accounts and get so much junk mail. I have only three (3) of those addresses on my phone (only the essential ones) and only read mail; I rarely respond to mail on my phone. And since I only read mail on my phone, I only use the built-in email app.

But on my desktop, that is an entirely different story. Since I was initially in the corporate work environment, I became used to using Microsoft Outlook for managing my email. Technically Outlook is a PIM (Personal Information Manager), but that is just splitting hairs.

With Outlook, I can set up filters and rules to sort incoming emails automatically. This can include filtering messages by sender, subject, or even specific keywords. Doing this lets me quickly identify and prioritize important emails.

The advantage of using an email program like Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird is that you can store a copy of your mail on your computer. I have had too many discussions with customers on how I cannot recover deleted mail when it is erased on the cloud.

Security tip: Do not use the automatic preview pane in any mail program. If a mail contains malicious code, accidentally previewing it will run it. With no preview pane, you can safely select and delete any mail without worrying about executing malicious code.

The only problem I had using an email program was that I could not prevent it from downloading junk mail in the first place. Years ago, I discovered an anti-spam program called MailWasher. It allows me, by default, to read only the text of mail and delete any mail on the server.

Over the years, I have become good at spotting junk mail. In fact, I maintain a detailed article about just that, so if you want to learn more about identifying junk mail, check out the following link.

How to spot a piece of spam email

Finally, I always make sure to follow proper email etiquette. This means using a professional tone, avoiding overly casual language or abbreviations, and being mindful of the recipient's time and schedule when sending messages. And use spell check and avoid using ALL CAPS when possible.

E-mail has changed the way we communicate over the last couple of decades. The days of pen and paper letter writing are gone. But e-mail does have a negative side: unwanted e-mail, known as Spam. Billions of pieces of spam are sent every day. Do you know how to spot a piece of spam?

When it comes to spam, I like to break them down into three (3) groups:

• Junk: Just straightforward advertising
• Phishing: Trying to get personal information, like login credentials
• Malicious: Meant to deliver some kind of payload, usually file-encrypting malware

Of all three types of spam e-mail, malicious is the most dangerous, but phishing is the most popular. With the progress in security over the years, the malicious spam with attachments has decreased. Scammers now want to get a quick payday, and bank credentials and gift cards are just a couple of ways they try to get your money. But if you take the time to look at a questionable e-mail, you will be able to determine whether it is or is not spam. Let's look at the different areas of an e-mail.

The From: field

This field can be easily faked, and you can check it quickly by hovering your cursor over the From field.

Do you know the sender? Do you now or in the past done business with that company? If you answered no to both questions, it is probably spam. Also, look for e-mail addresses from domains that provide free e-mail addresses (gmail.com, yahoo.com, etc.) or end with a two-letter extension (@com.uk, @com.ru, etc.). Two-letter extensions are for domains outside America.

The To: field

This field should contain just your e-mail address. If multiple e-mail addresses are listed, do you recognize any other e-mail addresses? If you don't, it could be spam. And if this field is blank, the odds are its spam.

The Subject: field

When it comes to the Subject field, if it doesn't sound right, it's not. Spam from other countries is quite often full of grammatical errors. Always remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The odds are that the anti-virus/service contract renewal invoice is bogus and that e-fax, scan from a Xerox WorkCentre (notice the spelling), or notice to appear in court that is attached is just a virus.

The e-mail body:

The message in the body of the e-mail usually tries to get you scared or angry, and they want to use your emotions against you. But the first thing to remember is do not call any phone number or click on any links in a panic. That is just what they want you to do. Take your time and read the e-mail carefully. I like looking for grammatical errors.

For those spam e-mails that tell you that your bank account has been charged for something you did not order, do not call any phone number that is listed in the message. As I wrote in the How to handle a tech scam article, the scammer's primary goal is to get your money.

And if the e-mail states that you need to verify your login credentials, do not click on the link they put in the e-mail. They are just phishing for your personal information. You can usually check where the link points to by hovering your cursor over the link.

Chrome displays the URLs at the bottom of the browser

Outlook displays URLs next to the link

If you want to be reassured that a particular e-mail is spam, go ahead and use your usual way of accessing that resource (bank website, credit card website, etc.). Remember that credit and debit cards usually have a toll-free phone number on the back.

Attachments:

Never open attachments from people you do not personally know. Never. If you receive a questionable e-mail from someone you know but were not expecting, contact them directly and verify they sent you the e-mail with the attachment.

Scammers are notorious for adding fake file extensions to attachments to get you to open them. They know that most e-mail programs hide the extensions of attachments. So what they do is they name a malicious file something like OpenMe.pdf.exe, and the e-mail program will only display OpenMe.pdf.