Some rules concerning spam, a hoax or a suspicious file attachment
>> What is SPAM?
Spam refers to unsolicited e-mails sent to a number of recipients. Possible synonyms for spam are: unwanted mail, junk mail or junk e-mail.
What should I do?
To protect yourself, activate your Internet service provider's anti-spam filter, if one is offered. If that is not sufficient, install anti-spam software on your computer. In addition, you can also activate your message service's junk mail filters, if provided.
When you receive some spam, destroy it. Never reply to the spam to deregister: you could validate your address for the spammer, who would continue to pester you.
In the future, if you do not want to receive any junk mail, avoid giving your address on sites, forums and other Internet places.
>> What are hoaxes, or «chain» e-mails?
In the computer field, «hoax» refers to an e-mail spreading information and urging the recipients to do something and/or send the news to all their friends and colleagues. The information in a hoax is always something disturbing (sick child, death, news of a new virus, etc) or else a promise of something wonderful (certain good fortune, champagne, etc.).
What should I do?
When you receive an e-mail from the Internet insisting that it is essential to spread the information to as many people as possible, do not pass it on, never click on the attached file, and delete it, because it is certain to be a hoax!
What should I do about suspicious or unidentified e-mails?
If you receive an e-mail from the Internet where the sender is unknown or not properly identified, you must destroy it; above all do not click on the attached files received, so as to avoid a possible risk of being infected with a virus.
>> What should I do about attached files?
An attached file is a document that has been attached to the body of an e-mail. It is represented by an icon. The file's extension indicates the software to be used to open the document. The extension corresponds to the part of the document's name that is on the right-hand side of the dot.
Example with Outlook
The file CRendu05122005.doc is a Word file because the extension is .doc.
The most common extensions are .doc (for Word), .xls (for Excel), .ppt (for Powerpoint), .swf (for Flash animated files), etc.
Do not open files with extensions that look odd, such as XDF, NIF, YGH.
Files with multiple extensions, such as EXE.DFG.HJY, should be deleted immediately.
When you receive an e-mail written with strange characters, do not open the document, and warn the sender.
Evitez d'ouvrir, d'une façon générale, les courriers non sollicités.
As a general rule, avoid opening unsolicited e-mails. If someone you know sends you an e-mail that does not have the usual content, contact the sender to check that he or she has not been trapped by a system that has sent the same type of e-mail that you have just received to his or her entire address book.
Beware of downloading files from public forums; this is a major cause of contamination by computer viruses.
Example with Lotus Notes
The file CRendu22122005.doc is a Word file because the extension is .doc. The file home_jr3.jpg is a JPEG file because the extension is .jpg.
