Upper Macungie Township Police recently issued an advisory via Nixle from the Maryland Judiciary System warning the public about an email being sent to residents claiming the recipient is involved in a court case.

The email, however, contains a virus that infects the recipient's computer.

According to the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team website, unsolicited commercial email or spam is the starting point for many email scams.

The team recommends you can minimize your chances of falling victim to an email scam by:

·Installing antivirus software and keeping it up-to-date;

·Installing and keeping up-to-date a personal firewall;

·Configuring your email client for security; and

·Filtering spam email

According to the website, ignoring these steps may leave the computer user vulnerable to identity theft, information theft, use of the computer for illegal activity, the receipt of bogus or illegal merchandise and financial loss.

Upper Macungie Police Commander of Criminal and Community Service Division Lt. Pete Nickischer offers the following suggestions:

·Do not open any attachments, click on any links or unsubscribe to it. Doing so may install malware or a virus onto the computer.

Everyday scammers are learning new ways to send scam email through the Internet.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane, offers the following three ways to protect against spam emails:

·Be careful where and when you put your email address on the web;

·If you must give out an email address regularly on the web, use an alternate email address; and

·Never buy anything advertised in spam emails.

There are several ways to protect yourself from spam emails:

·Immediately write down the address and enter it into the sender filter section in your spam settings and save the new settings to block the email address;

·When using a spam filter, set it on the highest setting;

·Delete any email if you do not recognize the sender's email address;

·Check with your Internet provider to see what protection the company offers for spam email.

To learn more about spam emails, visit the US-CERT website us-cert.gov, an official website of the Department of Homeland Security and click on the link "Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams."

The hours and hours it takes to repair your finances and regain your identity only leads to anger and frustration.

Protection against dangerous email viruses is essential because they can destroy your computer, steal your identity and ruin you financially.

Susan Bryant

editorial assistant

Parkland Press

Northwestern Press