If you’ve been following the news, you know that lately there has been an outbreak of bogus email ecards. These emails claim that you can pick up an ecard at a link included in the email, which actually contains a virus, Trojan, or other harmful software. More and more people are afraid to open any email that claims to be an ecard due to this outbreak of spam email. This article will teach you how to protect yourself from bogus email ecards, and how to identify problematic email before it damages your computer.
The first part of the email that you should carefully examine is the subject line. Most valid ecards will contain the name of the service that sent them, as well as the sender’s name. Bogus email ecards will have a statement like “a classmate has sent you an ecard” “a family member has sent you an ecard” or “x username has sent you an ecard”. If the subject line of the email you receive is very general in nature, it is probably not a valid ecard and you should delete the email without opening it. If an ecard arrives in your inbox from an unknown source, or you are not expecting a card, you should consider deleting it as well.
You should always examine the text of your ecard, as well. Take time to look over the message before clicking on any links. Does the text identify the sender? Is it someone you know? Does it mention the company that has sent the card? Are there glaring grammatical errors, unclear English, or other tip-offs that make you hesitate? If so, don’t open the links and delete the email.
Many bogus email ecards contain a link that connects you to a site where harmful programs are downloaded to your email. If there is a link in your email, hover over it with your mouse to see where it goes. Does it go to a valid ecard site? Beware of links that end with a .exe suffix. This means that the link is an executable program – most likely a virus or Trojan. Valid ecard sites send an email with a link, as well as a code that you can copy and paste onto their website to pick up your card. If your email does not contain such a code, it’s probably not from a valid source.
In general, if you have any hesitation at all, avoid clicking on a link in your email. Instead, delete it without reading. Doing so will help protect your computer from problematic software. If the email is unclear, difficult to read, or from an unfamiliar sender, most likely it is not a real ecard and should be avoided. If it contains a link that ends in .exe, it should be avoided. And if the subject line is overly general and does not contain the name of a known sender, it should be avoided. Following these guidelines will help you to protect yourself from bogus email ecards, and allow you to open cards from friends and loved ones with confidence.
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