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Top 10 email mistakes

Using a single email account

If you receive a lot of spam and have to sort through a gazillion emails to find messages from friends and relatives that you want to read, this is probably the Number 1 cause.

It's very important that you familiarize yourself with more than one e-mail program. You can't think of your e-mail address as being the same as your home address. You need to have more than one email address! Actually, it's best to have four or more open e-mail accounts. That way, you can have one for messages from friends and relatives, perhaps one for work related e-mails, and another for such things as newsletters.

Then - and this is quite significant - you should have one for contests and when you apply online to get something for free. Rarely do you receive something for nothing. Often, online companies and organizations use "free" as a hook to get your email address so they can send you a bunch of emails trying to sell you stuff.

Keeping the Spam Around

Have you ever had an e-mail account that just got spammed out? You know, pretty much all you ever received from that account was spam. So, after awhile, you probably got tired of it, but rather than switching to another e-mail client, you just started to accept it. You don't really need that headache - do you? When one of your accounts gets spammed out, just get rid of that account and start fresh. It's easy to get attached to an e-mail program, because you're familiar with it, but it's not healthy to keep all that spam around. It's only going to get worse, so my advice is to get rid of it while you're still somewhat ahead.

Forgot to Close the Browser

Do you ever check your e-mail from another location apart from your home computer? You know, like the library or even maybe a cyber café. Well, when you do that, you have to make sure you log out of your e-mail account when you're finished. Along with that, be sure that you always close down the browser window as well. If you don't do this, your username may remain on the screen and it will really put you on target for some security risks.

Forgot to Clear It

Here's another important tip if you're using another computer outside of your home. Always make sure you clear the browser cache, the history and your passwords. Most Web browsers will hold onto that information and even though it's trying to save you time, it's a hazard if you're using a public computer. You never know who could get on that computer after you. Here are some quick instructions on how to clear your information off of that computer.

In Internet Explorer, go to Tools, Internet Options and click on all three buttons that say, "Clear History," "Delete Cookies" and "Delete Files." In Firefox, you can simply use the keyboard combination of Ctrl + Shift + Del in the open browser window. Doing that will keep you much safer!

Using Insecure Accounts

This one has a little more to do with larger corporations, but you never know when it could affect you. Often, corporation employees are careless and they use their personal e-mail accounts for business purposes. If this happens, they are at risk of sending out sensitive information that could really hurt the company. Doing this could put their job at risk as well. Always use your personal account for personal items and leave everything else out.

Forgot to Use the Telephone

We all know how convenient e-mail is, but in some cases, it's not always the best option. If you want to replay sensitive or private information, you might want to consider just picking up the telephone and doing it that way. In these types of cases, using the telephone is a much safer option to use than e-mail. It may take a few more minutes to do, but if it's possible, just call. Remember, with email, you say things in writing that could potentially circle the globe and just might be out there forever.

Forgot to Use the BCC

Many people still don't use the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy). This works the best when you're sending to multiple addresses. If you insert the e-mail addresses onto the BCC line, the recipients won't be able to see any of the other e-mail addresses that will be receiving e-mail - unless they view the headers, but very few people do that. BCC should not be confused with the CC option, where all addresses are visible.

Used the Reply All Button

Do you ever get confused as to whether you should hit the Reply or Reply All buttons when you're replying to an e-mail message? If you click on Reply All, your reply will go to each and every e-mail address that the original message was sent to. Yes, it will go to the person you intended as well, but if you're sending them a personal message, you don't want everyone else to be able to see it. Always use Reply first. It's a safer shot.

Forwarding Can Invite Spam

Did you know that forwarding e-mails can bring on a new batch of spam mail? Well, if you didn't know before, you know now. If you aren't careful, forwarding e-mails can pose a big security threat for you and the earlier recipients of the e-mail. When you forward an e-mail, make sure you delete all of the previous addresses first. This way, the person you forward the message to won't be able to see the addresses of who all already got it. If you keep all the e-mail addresses on there, the message may eventually end up in the inboxes of spammers who can quickly grab up that entire list and just go to town. After all, this is a list of primo working addresses AND spammers may even be able to target their victims using the names that often accompany the addresses. Everyone will get spammed, including you.

By the way, another way to invite spam is by unsubscribing to nothing. Do you ever receive newsletters in your e-mail that you never even signed up for? If so, they might be coming from a spammer. It's one of the oldest spam tricks in the book. They send you fake newsletters with unsubscribe links and by clicking on those links, you confirm for the spammers that they have hit a working email address. If you ever get something like that, don't ever click on that Unsubscribe button. The best thing to do is to just block the the originating address of those newsletters. Mind you, this does not apply to respectable newsletters to which you have subscribed. Legitimate newsletters will honour your unsubscribe request.

Not Scanning Attachments

Do you receive a lot of attachments with the e-mails you get? If so, did you know that attachments, including simple pictures, are very likely to carry viruses? It's very important that you scan all attachments before you open them. Most anti virus programs scan your incoming mail, but some do not necessarily scan the attachments. And what if there is an attachment to the attachment? Do you know how many layers are scanned by your anti virus program? To be absolutely safe, scan each attachment before opening it. This is easily done by saving the email to a folder and running a scan as you dig down through the layers. Yes, this is extra work for you, but an extra minute here and there can save hours or even days of inconvenience caused by a virus attack. And remember to always keep your virus definitions up to date.

Matthew Barbour has been writing professionally for more than 30 years. He has written news and advertising copy for radio and television and his work has appeared in a variety of publications. He also produces creative text for web sites at Dundas Web Internet Services.

You may also be interested in reading our article on Email Phishing.