Beware of the scams

Now that email has been around for a while, it's pretty common to get all sorts of spam and scam emails.  In fact they are probably the bulk of your incoming emails now.
Here is a wikipedia list of a bunch of different email scams that have popped up.

Some common ones I've encountered are emails that appear to be from facebook or other known websites where you have a login and  password, and request you to use their link to input your email and password to log in.  Once you've done this, you've given them your information for them to hack your account and send spam to all your friends and family.   Best practice is to never open these types of emails unless you know it is in fact from the website.  However, if you do believe it is from the real source, and want to follow a link within an email, make sure to check the web address, and make sure it one you would normally log in to.

Other common scams have to do with money, jobs, bank accounts, dating sites or deals.
As my mother always told me, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Think before you send

At some point people have made mistakes with emails, whether it is forgetting to send attachments, sending to the wrong person, or even sending inappropriate emails.  These things happen, but can be avoided if you take your time.

One good rule to follow don't put any email addresses in until after you've written the entire email and added the attachments.  That way you can make sure everything you need is completed, then add all the email addresses you would like to send to.

Another good feature in gmail (I am not sure if other free email services have this) is the unsend feature. 
To enable this feature

• go to the gear at the top of your gmail
• select settings
• scroll down to undo send and click enable
• you can select cancellation periods in 5, 10, 20, and 30 seconds

This allows you to have up to 30 seconds to cancel a sent email just in case you forgot something.  I find this feature can be very helpful, as it's usually right after I hit send that I realized I forgot something.  Unfortunately it won't help if you want to unsend after the 30 second mark, but at least if gives you a short window where you can fix something.

Passwords

Welcome to my little blog.  Over the next few months, I will be discussing different ways to email safely and smartly.  
Let's first start with a very important element of emails, your password.
It is very important to choose a password that is strong and no one can guess.  Make sure it is something you can remember as well.
It's also good practice to change your password once in while, especially if you have shared it in the past with anyone.
The more complicated the password the better.  If you can't think of something here are a few tips to a good password.

• use an acronym of your favourite line from a movie or song, using the first letters of each word.
• use numbers or symbols in place of letters for example p@ssw0rd.
• use some capital letters in there as well.

 Also, make sure if you are ever using a shared computer, or public computer you never allow the computer to remember your password.