Using the Internet Safely For Seniors

Luckily you can use safe e-mailing practices, filters, and your smarts to

avoid spam and malware, and spot common scam characteristics so

you can avoid becoming a victim. In this chapter, you discover how to

e-mail... and do so safely.

E-Mail Safety Basics

Adopt the following e-mail practices to keep you safer every time you

e-mail:

➟ Don’t share.Never share sensitive personal informa-

tion such as passwords, social security numbers, and

credit card numbers in e-mail. Even if you e-mail this

information to a known person or business, it can be

intercepted along the way.

Pay attention if you use an automatic e-mail signature

such as the one shown in Figure 5-1. This is a handy

feature that automatically provides whatever signature

information you choose to share. Many people

include their full name, address, and phone numbers

in their signatures. But if it’s inserted in all your e-mail

responses, you might be sharing more information

with people you don’t know than you intend to, espe-

cially if your friends forward your e-mail to others.

➟ Consider who you want to e-mail.Just because

someone sends you an e-mail doesn’t mean you need

to read it or respond to it. You can set up your spam

filters to be fairly restrictive and then check your junk

mail folder periodically to see if something important

accidentally got blocked. (If you aren’t sure how to do

this, consult the Help documentation for the e-mail

program you use.)

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Part II: Using the Internet While Dodging the Risk