Apart from changing your E-mail address, buying an E-mail spam filtering service or using some advanced software like Outlook 2003® there are some basic rules that should keep your spam E-mail to an absolute minimum.

(1) Turn off the Preview Pane in Microsoft Outlook Express® or the Reading Pane in Microsoft Outlook 2003® (Microsoft Outlook 2003® users can then select the Autopreview feature under View once the Reading Pane has been turned off.) This will prevent you from accidental virus infection and stop spammers from learning via a Web Beacon that their E-mail has been read by a real person. For more information open the Microsoft E-mail Programs information window after closing this window. (2) Make sure that your Outlook® or Outlook Express® E-mail client is not automatically replying to their spam E-mail messages. Again, for more information open the Microsoft E-mail Programs information window after closing this window. (3) Never respond to a spam E-mail as that just gives the spammers confirmation that your E-mail address is real and that you read their mail. Just totally ignore the spammer and delete the mail. (4) Never ask a spammer to take you off his or her mailing list or click an unsubscribe button for exactly the same reason as in (3) above. (5) Stay out of chat rooms because you will be flooded with spam E-mail. (6) Many pornography sites make it a point to learn visitors' E-mail addresses using cookie information, your IP number and large databases of E-mail addresses. If you don't want pornographic spam, stay away from pornographic web sites. (7) Keep your primary E-mail address for your friends and family only. (8) Open a highly filtered E-mail account in Hotmail® or some other E-mail service for all of your other transactions. (9) Check with your ISP to see if they offer some sort of free spam filtering software or service. Many do.

PROTECT E-MAIL ADDRESSES

You should also make it a point to protect your friends' and families' E-mail addresses and here is how you do it;

(1) Never forward E-mail you have received because the new recipients will be able to read all of the previous E-mail addresses. Even if you can't see them they are there for those who know how to retrieve them. (2) Never mass E-mail as you would on a one to one basis. Instead:    (a) Create a special Hotmail® account or some other E-mail account for yourself named "Undisclosed Recipients" so you have a place to send unnamed E-mail.    (b) When you mass E-mail; send the E-mail only to your "Undisclosed Recipients" address and blind copy (BCC) everybody else. That way everybody will know that the E-mail came from you but they won't know who you sent it to besides themselves. It doesn't get any easier than that.

"If It Seems Too Good To Be True Then It Isn't!"

Those are good words to live by on the Internet because rest assured someone will always be trying to separate you from your money and the Internet is a really good way to do that very thing.

(1) Do not get involved with anything dealing with giving money, even if they mail you a cashiers check as a show of good faith. (The check will ultimately bounce and if you used your money for their purposes in the meantime, you will be left holding the bag.) The money scams from Nigeria (and recently Sierra Leone and Morocco) are run like a business and they have stolen countless millions of dollars from people who thought they could get rich quick or that they could help some desperate people in need. Think about it for a minute! Do you really think you are going to get a large sum of money from some person you really do not know in a third world country in Africa? That's ridiculous! (2) Never, never give out personal information to anyone on anything dealing with money. (Bank account numbers, Social Security Numbers, Social Insurance Numbers, passwords, credit card numbers etc.) You can of course use credit cards on the Internet at secure sites when you initiate the transaction and know that the web site is legitimate. (3) If the price of some item is ridiculously low, there is something wrong and alarms should be going off in your mind. If it's software, it's probably an illegal copy. Remember the old saying, "Buyer Beware". It is more true today than it ever was before. (4) For security reasons, never give out personal information about yourself or your family (names, phone numbers, home address etc.) and that includes the currently popular computer dating programs. Teach your children this long before they ever get on the Internet and never let children go on-line without adult supervision. Moreover, never let a child have a computer with an Internet connection in his or her bedroom. Finally, never ever go alone to meet someone in real life that you met on the Internet.

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN WELL

Kim Komando has come up with what she calls her "10 Commandments for Kids Online". It is a contract type document and if printed, it can become a real contract between you and each of your children. You can find Kim's parent/child contract here.

PFISHING or PHISHING

Phishing or phishing is a scam to find what can be stolen from you and then to steal it. Here are some good rules for protecting yourself from pfishing:

1. Never respond to an E-mail that looks like it came from your bank or any of your credit card issuers, no matter how official it appears. Phishing scam E-mails will tell you that there is some problem with your account and that you have to click on an embedded link to correct that problem. They may threaten to close your account, or report you to the credit bureau, if you do not respond. DON'T DO IT. Don't call the telephone number that appears in the E-mail either. Get out one of your old bank or credit card statements and instead call the number that appears there. Explain what the E-mail says and follow the directions that you receive from a real and live employee. Chances are they'll tell you its a scam. 2. Never give your bank account information, credit card numbers, Social Security number, Social Insurance number, passwords, personal identification numbers (PIN), or Date of Birth to anyone who asks you for that information by E-mail. No legitimate company will expect you to reveal sensitive information via email. Moreover no company that issues you a PIN will ever ask you to reveal that PIN to any of their employees. 3. Never respond to any offer to buy anything by clicking on the link in the E-mail. Even if the E-mail looks like it comes from your favorite department store, it still might be a scam. To avoid being hooked by pfishing, type in the URL to the department store by yourself, never use a link. Go to Google® to look it up if you don't already know it. 4. Forward copies of all pfishing E-mails to the actual company or bank that is being imitated by the scammers. 5. If a Pfishing E-mail seems particularly threatening or worrisome to you, you should report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center in the United States or RECOL (RCMP) in Canada. 6. If it's too late because you have already provided any of your personal information, account numbers, or PINs, you should immediately contact your banks and credit card companies to make arrangements with them to protect your financial interests. These companies and institutions are familiar with these scams and they know what needs to be done. 7. If you receive evidence of identity theft, such as unauthorized charges on your credit card bills, or unexplained transactions in your bank account, contact the police and file a report. Be sure to get a copy of the report for your own records and to send to the companies that are involved in the transactions. In the United States, you also need to contact all three major credit bureaus (Equifax at 800-525-6285, Experian at 888-397-3742 and TransUnion at 800-680-7289) and tell them that you need a fraud alert placed on your credit file.

HOAXES

We also recommend that you open the Hoaxes and the Microsoft E-Mail Programs information windows and review those after closing this window.