Useful ways to prevent email hacking

Recently, I received several emails from a few colleagues that has similar content. First, they said they were trapped in a hotel room without any reception (except internet access). They were asking for my help to get them out of there. For example, bank in USD20,000 into this account before this particular time. I swear they came to work on that day. So, there's no other explanation other than their email accounts are hacked!

This is a serious problem. This cannot happen to me! So, how can I prevent my account from being hacked? First of all, use a difficult password with capital letters and numbers. Change the password regularly. Do not leave any important emails in your inbox for the fear of losing them.

Sounds easy but the truth is these tips will never work! Hackers can easily download a free software online and get it running at no time. To know how to prevent, we must first know how email account hacking software works. The key is to think like a hacker! :p

Here's some useful tips I found:

• Do not open any email if you don't know the sender.
• Never reply any email that ask for your email or password. Can't believe people still fall for this!
• Another trick hackers used is to create an identical webpage similar to your login page. Once you type in your account and password, your email account is gone.
• Never download any files from unknown sender. You might install the hacking software into your computer. It can run automatically like a trojan horse and send your information to the hacker. Your anti-virus might not be able to detect it.
  
• Safeguard your computer. Never give anyone a chance to install the hacking software in your computer.

For safety reasons, I will delete any blog comments containing email address.