New Computer Users Serious Issues

Email Scams

Here are some popular scams that can rob you of lots of money if you fall for them. Check out snopes.com or TruthOrFiction.com for the real scoop on anything that wants your money or efforts.

You get an email apparently from ebay (or a bank) asking for you to follow the link to confirm your username/password/credit card info.
You get an email from someone (often based in Nigeria) who says they have lots of money in some account that they would gladly share with you if you provide money to free the larger sum by paying legal fees and whatnot. The guy often pretends to be a barrister (i.e. lawyer) and is in charge of someone's estate.
Look out for mailings announcing you've won a foreign lottery you don't recall entering.
Or that because you share the surname of a wealthy person who died without leaving a will you're in line for a windfall inheritance.
Aspiring work-at-homers promised big bucks for acting as intermediaries for international transactions wherein they cash checks for other parties or reship goods to them have been defrauded by con artists. Don't you be next.

Email Viruses

There are some viruses that can infect you if you are using Outlook Express and/or Outlook and you'll get the virus if you just view the email. But you can get into these programs and change the settings to help prevent this. Unfortunately, it's not easy. These kinds of viruses are more rare.

Most email viruses come from you opening the attachments in messages.

There are also many viruses out there that can fake a person's email address. So if you get a virus from someone, they may actually not have sent it. One thing that means is that you shouldn't necessarily trust even those attachments sent to you by people you do trust.

When I get an attachment that I'm not expecting from someone, even someone I trust, I will often email them and ask them if they sent it and what it is.

Free virus protection: AVG from Grisoft.com