We have gotten into some “advanced studies” lately, and I wanted to use this e-mail to bring it back to basics. I still have clients getting burned by suspicious e-mails. In recent times, these e-mails will often come from a fake WalMart or Fed Ex account. The e-mail will say that you need to verify your order, credit card number, or check on shipping. Your e-mail program or service may or may not detect this message as Spam and file it away.

Tips:
1. If you did not order something from that company or were not expecting a shipment, delete the email. Do not open.
2. If you have any doubts about the sender’s authenticity delete it. Do not open.
3. Opening a message does guarantee that you will get an infection, but you are certainly increasing the risk if the message was downloaded to your computer first.
4. Never click on an link or an attachment in a suspicious message. This can be a fatal mistake!

Thought process:
1. Don’t feel the need to be the “computer cop” and wonder why you are getting SPAM messages.
2. Avoid second guessing and curiosity. If it seems unexpected, don’t open it.

The best free e-mail services at weeding out SPAM are Gmail and (followed by) Outlook.com. If you are an active e-mailer or have a business and receive hundreds of e-mails per week, there are additional programs and technologies available to help you weed out SPAM.