Avoid The Dangers Coming From Spam Emails and Viruses

Sept. 10, 2009 - PRLog -- They are annoying, time consuming and dangerous! People should really be aware of the danger coming from an innocent-looking spam e-mail, you'll never know what kind of bomb it holds, just waiting for you to activate it.

Here are the 3 computer dangers you must be aware of:

1. Hijacking and spoofed e-mails. Spammers have found new ways to make it appear as though their spam e-mail is coming from YOUR computer. This can cause your connection to the internet be be temporarily terminated or put on hold by your service provider - without you even knowing it. That is why good spam blocking software will not only block inbound spam e-mails from your inbox, but also the outbound spam e-mails from your server.

2. Virus infected spam e-mails. Accidentally opening a spam e-mail with nasty viruses attached to it can cause your computer a lot of problems. You can end up with a crashed system, identity theft problem, lost data and much more. You think that your computer has just slow down, but it could also mean that your personal information is being uploaded without your permission and sent to a third party, either to sell or to be used by people with criminal intent.

3. Phishing spam. Also called phishing scam. The attempt to acquire personal information of an individual either to steal money from their bank accounts or use the money to shop online without the owners knowledge. A phishing spam e-mail sends some kind of fraudulent notification or warning to an individual asking for his or her online bank account, social security numbers, passwords, and credit card information. To be able to make someone believe that their spam e-mail is from a trusted website, phishing sites mimics the exact same look of the authentic website..

What to do to prevent this?

First of all, you must have a reliable spam blocking software installed.

Many retail business owner over look into this, so their restaurant POS system suffers from it.

Next, you want to make sure you don’t get included on a spammers list in the first place. Once you’re on a spammer’s list, it’s impossible to remove it; and changing your e-mail address is a big hassle especially if you rely on it to stay in touch with your business contacts.

Below are some of the tips that can help you protect your e-mail from ending up on a spammer's list:

1. Using disposable e-mail accounts.

Using a free e-mail address like with Gmail or Yahoo to reduce the chance of ending up on a spammer's list. Use this when subscribing or shopping online to avoid your business e-mail address from ending up on their broadcast list.

2. Never forget to double-check those selection boxes or check boxes that are automatically filled in.

Better make sure you don't check on the box that says "Yes! I would like to receive other offers from third party companies." when shopping online. Chances are, your e-mail address will not only be sent to other companies but can end up on a spammer's list as well.

3. Refrain yourself from posting your private e-mail address on your web site, web forums, or newsgroups.

Spammers have special programs that can automatically collect e-mail addresses from web sites without your knowledge. If you really want to publicly post your e-mail address on your web site, it'll be much safer to use “info@” so all replies forwarded to a folder in your in-box that won’t interfere with your main address.

4. Don’t open, reply to or try to opt-out of obvious spam e-mails.

Doing so serves as a signal for the spammer that your e-mail account is active, and more spam will follow.

The only time it is safe to click or reply to the e-mail is when the e-mail was sent from a company you know or do business with (for example, a company that you purchase from or a newsletter you subscribed to).

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Got a Question?

If you would like to know more about this topic or have a question in mind, you may ask for advice with our Restaurant POS professional serving your area.

The author of this article is the Vice President of Customer Relations at http://www.pos-for-restaurants.com with over 20 years experience in the restaurant point of sale industry.

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