Avoid Internet nuisances and crime
From time to time, you may be sent an e-mail which carries a virus or links to a fraudulent website. This type of e-mail is very common, and it is important to learn how to deal with it, in order to prevent your computer or your personal details from being compromised or misused.
Such messages are often received from total strangers. However, sometimes an e-mail may appear to be from someone you know, when really it is not. This is because it is possible to include a fake sender e-mail address in e-mails.
Unwanted (unsolicited) mail tends to fall in to one of several categories:
Spam (junk) e-mail, where people offer unwanted services and products
Scam e-mails, where people pretend to ask for help in exchange for large sums of money
Phishing e-mail, where the message appears to be from a bank or other online service, asking you to enter your personal and financial details, or passwords.
Below are some tips for keeping safe online:
You should never reply to unsolicited mail, or even click on the links in the mail. Doing so usually results in more junk mail being sent to you.
Never click on links in e-mails which lead to websites asking for your password or similar. It is possible for the text of the link to give one address, when really it opens up another (possibly dangerous) address. Instead, type the link into your Web browser yourself and proceed from there.
When visiting a website that asks for your financial information, ensure that it is secure. In Konqueror and in Firefox there are two areas that will provide notification if the current page is secure. The first area is the address bar. If the page is a secure page, the address bar will have a yellow background as well as a lock to the right of the address. The second area is the status bar which is located at the bottom right of each browsers window. If the page is a secure page, a lock will appear in this area. Clicking on either of the locks will provide you with a dialogue that will explain in detail the type of licensing and security for that page.
Only download and run software from sources that you trust. By default, you can only download software directly from Ubuntu.
