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Email etiquette and security for Valentine’s Day

Email etiquette and email security.  It’s that time of year again, Valentine’s Day is here.  It’s not just the high street that’s bursting with Valentine fever. The internet is full of online shopping sites covered with hearts, pushing last-minute gift ideas and online dating services, trying to get you to sign-up to make this year THE year that you find that special someone.

Electronic cards are ideal for the busy or last-minute romantics out there. Sending an eCard for a special occasion seems to be a growing trend – it’s cheap to do, environmentally friendly and a convenient alternative to traditional cards.

I think the concept is great and there are a lot of trusted sites which offer you the option to create animated videos or cards to send by email to your Valentine, but there are just as many spammers hiding behind bogus messages, so beware!

Security companies monitor the activity of spammers at this time of year and see spikes in spam related to Valentine’s Day such as emails with subject headers like, ‘An original gift for Valentine’s Day’, ‘Very Hush-Hush Valentines Day Offer’, ‘Quick and Easy Valentine’s Day Gifts’ and lots more*.
Hackers often use Valentine’s Day to try and sneak malicious software on to your computer, or to lure you to what looks like a legitimate website to make purchases, allowing them to steal your bank account details and passwords, without you realising.

Be cautious and do not open emails from unknown senders even if they flatter your ego!

Tags: email etiquette, email security

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