The joys of e-mail are very well balanced with the nightmares of it. While it has made it much easier to send and receive messages with colleagues, friends and family members, it has just been made that much more easy for us to receive spam and other unwanted “trash” mail, as well.

Some of these types of emails can be misleading, guiding us to websites build for phishing usernames and passwords. Phishing happens when someone sets up a site that might look identical to another website you are a member of. When you visit this website, you might not notice that it is actually a different website. If you enter your name and password, the phisher can then log into your account. If you think you’ve ever gotten scammed into giving up your password like this, change them immediately.

Others use email to try to scam you to get your bank account information. We’ve all gotten the email that said you’re long lost 2nd aunt has passed away and left you a fortune. Use your smart judgment and blacklist these email addresses. They will ask for your bank account information, and if you give it up, you’ll notice all your money will be gone in a matter of seconds. So much for that fortune from Aunty.

In order to protect yourself and your email address, make sure your computer has some good anti-virus and email scanning software. This software will scan the emails before they enter your inbox, and if they are spam they will go immediately to the junk box. Always make sure you keep your email private, and don’t post it in the open on the Internet. Many scripts are used to find open email addresses posted online, and if it finds yours, you will just keep getting more and more spam.

Use common sense with your email address and inbox messages. If it looks like spam, it probably is, so avoid opening it at all costs.