We all receive many emails every day.  However, be on the lookout for emails addressed to you that have subject lines that have any of following:

Invoice #7832456-4456 (whatever number)
Instagram
IRS lawsuit against you
Website design
Your website problems
Samantha
Any emails with many exclamation points!!!!!!!
Or other interesting, but curious subject titles

You should assign such emails to your Junk mail (Spam) folder and delete them daily.  The above are part of some of the latest email spammer tricks and scams to try to induce you to open those emails.  The mere act of your doing so could unleash horrible viruses into your computer (you should have Norton or other quality virus protection software, by the way).  Or, those emails could demand that you phone the sender or email them, with your birth date, social security number and other identity information that could allow them to steal your identity.  Or cookies could be released into your computer, tracking your every key stroke and reporting them back to the evil sender, who can then steal your information and charge thousands of dollars in your name, obtain loans in your name and do other financial damage to you, or hold your computer ransom (this is happening more each day).

And the emails that come to you with provocative names or overt suggestions: think about that.  Even if you are an attractive person, single and interested, why would any person you don’t know be trying to come on to you through the Internet?  Seriously.  They are trying to get your wallet or pocketbook or wherever you keep your money.

As former political figures have said: “Just say no.”  Or better yet, don’t say anything at all: assign the sender to Spam/junk on your email software and then delete them.  Never, ever open them.

While you’re at it: every evening  or whenever the end of your day occurs, consider doing the following:
Daily: Back up all the new work your company has done that day:
Do this at least twice: to an external hard drive and to a portable flash drive (that you can take in your pocket).  This will not only save your practice from computer malfunctions, it will also allow you to never be held hostage by an evil computer criminal who may have managed to hack their way into your computer and has shut you down, until you pay them a ransom.  Always have fresh copies of your firm’s data in your pocket.  Buildings can burn down, but you will have your data right with you, every day.

Safe computing, everyone!