WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:07.490 --> 00:00:11.950 The internet has become an essential tool for communicating, which is partly why it 00:00:11.950 --> 00:00:16.730 has also become a popular target among scammers and cybercriminals. 00:00:16.730 --> 00:00:22.510 In order to safeguard yourself from email scams, harmful software, or identity theft, 00:00:22.510 --> 00:00:26.150 it's essential that you understand the ways you might be at risk. 00:00:26.150 --> 00:00:30.429 In this video we'll go over the basics of identifying and avoiding potentially harmful 00:00:30.429 --> 00:00:33.070 content on the internet. 00:00:33.070 --> 00:00:36.850 The first line of defense begins with your email inbox. 00:00:36.850 --> 00:00:41.790 You've probably heard the term Spam before, in reference to junk email. 00:00:41.790 --> 00:00:45.540 Spammers can send an email to thousands of people at the same time - and they can do 00:00:45.540 --> 00:00:50.150 so anonymously, making anti-spam laws hard to enforce. 00:00:50.150 --> 00:00:54.140 So it's important to be cautious when it comes to opening emails. 00:00:54.140 --> 00:00:59.050 Fortunately though, many email services now provide customizable features to help you 00:00:59.050 --> 00:01:00.940 protect your inbox. 00:01:00.940 --> 00:01:05.120 For example, the ability to turn off email images. 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:08.220 Spam contains images that the sender can track. 00:01:08.220 --> 00:01:12.500 When you open the email, the images load, and the spammer will be able to tell if your 00:01:12.500 --> 00:01:18.110 email works, possibly resulting in more spam. 00:01:18.110 --> 00:01:26.350 If you're using Gmail like I am, you can turn off email images by clicking the gear icon 00:01:26.350 --> 00:01:32.159 and then selecting Settings from the drop-down menu. 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:48.780 Choose Ask before displaying external images, then click save. 00:01:48.780 --> 00:01:57.950 Now if I get an email with images, Gmail will ask if I want the images to be displayed. 00:01:57.950 --> 00:02:02.610 Most email services also check to see if incoming messages are spam. 00:02:02.610 --> 00:02:07.880 If it finds spam, it will store the mail in a spam folder so you don't accidentally open 00:02:07.880 --> 00:02:10.310 it when you're checking your email. 00:02:10.310 --> 00:02:15.010 Spam blocking systems aren't perfect though, and there may be times when legitimate emails 00:02:15.010 --> 00:02:19.670 end up in your spam folder, so it's a good idea to regularly check and make sure you 00:02:19.670 --> 00:02:25.750 aren't missing important emails. 00:02:25.750 --> 00:02:34.670 To check your spam folder in Gmail, click More in the left pane, then select Spam. 00:02:34.670 --> 00:02:41.220 And here you can see all the emails that have ended up in your spam folder. 00:02:41.220 --> 00:02:45.740 Many email services have a feature you can use to mark emails as spam. 00:02:45.740 --> 00:02:52.870 In Gmail, I can just select the email and then click this button to mark it as spam. 00:02:52.870 --> 00:02:59.590 This helps your email provider to filter out these types of messages in the future. 00:02:59.590 --> 00:03:04.570 Some spam emails are simply annoying advertisements. 00:03:04.570 --> 00:03:08.980 Others will claim to be contacting you about something important, when what they're really 00:03:08.980 --> 00:03:12.630 trying to do is steal your personal information. 00:03:12.630 --> 00:03:17.350 This is known as Phishing - it's a type of scam in which an email pretends to be from 00:03:17.350 --> 00:03:21.960 a bank or another trusted source in order to trick you into handing over your personal 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:26.370 information by asking you to complete some sort of action. 00:03:26.370 --> 00:03:31.400 They may want you to re-enter a password, "verify" or "update" sensitive information 00:03:31.400 --> 00:03:36.450 like phone numbers, addresses, or credit card numbers - and they almost always tell you 00:03:36.450 --> 00:03:40.070 to do so by following the links they provide. 00:03:40.070 --> 00:03:43.930 It's a good idea to avoid clicking links in emails. 00:03:43.930 --> 00:03:48.540 Instead of clicking the link, re-type the URL into your browsers address bar to ensure 00:03:48.540 --> 00:03:50.890 that you go to the correct website. 00:03:50.890 --> 00:03:56.930 For example, here's an email that looks like it's from Bank of America, saying that some 00:03:56.930 --> 00:04:01.510 personal information has been changed, and asking me to verify the changes by following 00:04:01.510 --> 00:04:03.210 a few links. 00:04:03.210 --> 00:04:08.010 It looks real enough at first glance, but it's surprisingly easy for scammers to create 00:04:08.010 --> 00:04:10.590 deceiving details such as these. 00:04:10.590 --> 00:04:14.470 Remember, phishing emails won't always look like they're phishing. 00:04:14.470 --> 00:04:19.350 Their whole purpose is to look like they're from your bank, credit card, or another trusted 00:04:19.350 --> 00:04:21.000 company. 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:25.150 Think of it this way - if someone came to your house saying they worked for your bank 00:04:25.150 --> 00:04:29.240 and they needed your social security number to verify that you're the account holder, 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:30.710 would you give it to them? 00:04:30.710 --> 00:04:34.020 Chances are you wouldn't give out that information. 00:04:34.020 --> 00:04:39.100 Look at emails the same way - just because an email says it's from a familiar company, 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:41.180 doesn't mean it really is. 00:04:41.180 --> 00:04:47.759 Spam, scams, and phishing schemes will keep evolving just as the technology to stop them 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:53.030 does, but if you know what to look for, and what to avoid, you can keep your inbox that 00:04:53.030 --> 00:04:53.840 much safer.