Recognizing Harmful E-mail

A child is dying! A virus spreading, friend asking whether you still like him, a bank seeking confirmation of your details or an eBay user asking why he didn't receive his package from you yet.

Any such e-mail arriving at your Inbox may, and most often is harmful to your computer, data and to you. It's pointless to describe each and every type separately, since new ideas pop up every day. Luckily there are several steps you can take to recognize such messages and hit the Delete key before anything wrong happens.

1. If the e-mail is advertising anything and asking you to buy it, hit Delete.
2. If the e-mail is in a language you don't understand, hit Delete.
   
3. If the e-mail is asking you to forward it to any/all of your friends, no matter the reason hit Delete.
4. If the e-mail comes from a website or institution you don't remember ever using or contacting, hit Delete.
5. If the e-mail doesn't specifically mention you as addressee, by full name and/or distinct username you know and use, hit Delete.
6. If you do know the sender but the content doesn't fit to what you normally receive from that person, check it through a different channel - call him, e-mail back, whatever - if you can't confirm, hit Delete.

These should keep you safe in almost any situation you'll encounter. It's common sense, isn't it? That is exactly what it boils down to - think before acting.