(If you need Email Virus Scanning and Junkmail/Spam Filtering for your email, you may be interested in the services we offer with all our Email hosting plans.  CLICK HERE for more information.)

EMAIL:   GENERAL


1. Take the time to type your message in upper and lower case letters.  In internet communications and email messages, ALL CAPS usually indicates shouting.  Using all lower case letters may indicate to the recipient that you don't consider your message to be important enough to be written in a correct manner and are just jotting notes down.
   
2. Make sure the "Subject" line of your message is relevant to the message content.
   
3. Reply to questions and keep the same message subject.  It is helpful to retain the previous message below your reply for reference.  You can delete all messages except the last one, which will have the complete thread of the conversation.
   
4. Start a new message when a new "topic" is discussed rather than changing the stream of thought in a message with a previous "Subject" line.
   
5. Think twice before using "stationery" or adding a "background" to your message.  Dark colors, especially, can make your message difficult to read. 
   
6. Think 3 times before using fancy fonts (or unusual fonts).  If the fonts you use are not installed on the recipient's computer, your message may look completely different; a substitute font will be used, which can make the message difficult to read.
   
   
   EMAIL:  ATTACHMENTS
   
7. When sending attachments, be sure they are not too large.  In general, you should limit the size of the attachment (or the total of all attachments in a single message) to 1 MB.  Larger attachments are acceptable under some special circumstances.   If you need to send larger attachments, ask your mail host if it is possible.  Many hosts will allow 2-3 MB attachments, if need be.  Also, ask the recipient if a large attachment can be received.
   Keep in mind that larger attachments may not reach the recipient and may cause serious problems for several reasons:
• Larger attachments may be blocked by your mail host or the recipient's mail host because of their size.  Large attachments can cause servers to crash, which will adversely affect many users.  If you need to send larger attachments via the internet, you should use FTP.  If you do not choose to use FTP, you should host your domain on a dedicated server so that your actions affect only the users on your domain.
• Larger attachments can take a very long time (hours) to be delivered to a recipient, especially if the recipient uses a dial-up internet connection service.  It can even be costly for the recipient to receive your message if they connect to the internet through a dial-up, limited time service. During the time your message is being delivered, it will also prevent other mail from being received and limits other internet activity.
  
8. Because viruses are spread via email attachments, some dangerous file types will be blocked by mail servers to prevent infection of recipients' computers.   If you must send a .exe, .scr or .pif file, first, be sure it is virus-free, then compress it into a ZIP file.  The ZIP file can be safely attached to a message.
   
9. Be sure to send your attachments in a universal, acceptable format that can be opened in a program on the recipient's computer.  The best format for pictures is JPEG or GIF.
   
10. Do not open attachments that you are not expecting.  If someone you "think" you know sends a message with an attachment, it is best if you ask if they really did before opening it. 
    
11. Never run .exe files that you receive by email.  These are very often viruses. The same is true for .scr (screensavers), .com, .dll, .pif files, and many others.  Images (.jpg or .gif files) are usually safe to open.
    
    
    EMAIL:  PERSONAL, CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
    
12. Email is not secure, in general.  DO NOT send credit card or other private information by email. The expiration date on your credit card can be updated by email. You should send all other confidential information by fax to protect your privacy.
    
    UnCommonDays.com, LLC and UCDLink will never ask you to send passwords, credit card information, or other confidential information by email.
    Passwords that we send to you by email are "temporary" passwords only. We will always include instructions that you should follow to change the password to something that only you know and that you keep in a safe place. If you lose your password, we can reset your password, but we have no way of knowing the password you set.
    
    
    EMAIL:  PRIVACY
    
13. Respect the privacy of your recipient.  Sending messages in which the email addresses of other's are visible invades their privacy.  Email addresses can be copied by others.  One or more of your recipients may forward your message, with all the recipients' email addresses showing, to another list! 
    If you must send a message to many recipients, you can hide the recipients' addresses by sending the message to yourself with a bcc to everyone else.
    
    
    EMAIL:  SPOOFS & SCAMS
    
14. Be careful not to fall for bogus requests to forward a message to "15 friends" so you and they will receive something special.  It is highly unlikely.  More likely, you will only be contributing to the huge problem of junkmail.
    By forwarding these messages, you also may assist in the spread of viruses.  Some computers automatically add email addresses to their address books.  Since some viruses work by sending infected messages to everyone in an address book this can be a major problem.  Without your knowledge, messages sent from your computer can infect the computers of your colleagues, friends and family.
    
    Messages may "appear" to come from someone other than the actual sender.  Spammers and scammers use many tricks to make messages appear to be from someone you know or someone who looks official, hoping to get a response from you with your personal & confidential information. 

    Messages that appear to come from admin@yourdomain.com are often viruses. We do not use these addresses to communicate with our customers.

    Scam artists ask you for your usernames and passwords by email.  We do not.  Rather, we encourage you to change every password that has been transmitted by email.

    Scam artists ask you for payment information (credit card numbers, etc.) by email.  We do not.  Rather, we request that you to fax that information to us.

    Scam artists ask for your bank account number, social security number, PIN, PayPal address and password, and other personal, private or confidential information.   Do not send this information or enter it into any web form that you are not ABSOLUTELY certain is SECURE and bona fide.  Banks, credit card firms and PayPal do not update their records in this way!  This is a trick.

    If you receive a message from "Microsoft" telling you that it is the latest security patch or update, do not believe it.  Microsoft does not send such patches and updates by email.  To date, these are all viruses.

    Stay on your toes. Unscrupulous people are trying to trick you.

Cyberscrub:  Before you sell or give your old computer away, use a program such as Cyberscrub to "scrub" the hard disk, removing all traces of your data.