2. Turn Off Automatic Image Downloads
Sadly, you needn’t click a link for a spammer to know that you opened his message. Many spammers now use embedded image links to track their campaigns. As soon as your mail client downloads the image from the spammer’s server, the spammer knows that his message was received, making your email address an even more attractive target.
To turn off these automatic downloads in Mail, click Mail > Preferences. Select the Viewing tab, and remove the check from the box next to Display Remote Images In HTML Messages.
Most people attach important images to email rather than embedding them, so you risk little by ignoring images hosted on remote servers.
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3. Assume That Links Are Fraudulent
Never follow a link in an email to an online account that’s protected by a password. Instead, use the link saved in your bookmarks. The danger here is phishing, a type of scam where criminals send messages that appear to be from PayPal or your credit card company but really aren’t. By including a fraudulent link in the message, the scammer can collect the usernames and passwords that safeguard your financial information. Phishers have become so sophisticated that even some experts can’t tell the difference between a fake link and an authentic one.
PayPal is a longstanding favorite for criminals who want to snag the username and password protecting your cash. This message looks legit, but the included link leads to a shady server.
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