All the elementary rules outlined below relate primarily to business correspondence with your partners, colleagues, customers and performers. Using them in personal correspondence is a private matter for everyone. However, following these rules in personal correspondence will only create a good impression of you.

Ethics in business email

If you suddenly do not want to read further, limit yourself to at least the following basic rules:

• When answering, use the “Reply All” button. This will cc the recipients of the initial email so your reply doesn't get past them. I strongly recommend hiding the “Reply” button in the interface settings. If necessary, you can delete unwanted recipients manually.
• Do not leave the Subject field blank. The people you correspond with may receive hundreds of emails a day, and they use this field to quickly assess the importance and content of the email.
• Quote letters. Don't start your reply with a new email, click "Reply All" on the received email, and don't disable the quote when replying and forwarding feature in your email client settings.
• With full citation(if your answer is to the entire letter) write the text of the answer at the BEGINNING of the letter, and not at the end, below.

SHALL WE CONTINUE?

Receiving letters

1. The letters received must be read. If you received a letter, it means that someone sent it for some reason (of course, spam is not considered here). If a person has letters marked as unread, and they are older than one day, he does not know how to work with mail. However, this can be forgiven if:
   • the person died or unexpectedly fell ill;
   • working with mail is not part of his job responsibilities (then he has no need for a service e-mail).
2. If you are not a manager, check your email at least 2 times a day: in the morning and in the afternoon. Not answering a production question from you can stall other people's work and delay the resolution of issues.
3. If you are a manager, your workday should start by launching an email client that stays on all day and automatically checks your email. Set up automatic mail delivery/receipt at least every 10 minutes (preferably 1-3 minutes).
4. You have received a letter. If you are very busy, immediately assess who it is from, the subject and skim it - this will help you quickly decide whether the letter requires an urgent response or can wait a bit.
5. If you can, please respond immediately. This is the easiest and most effective way to move things along and not collect mail.
6. If you understand that you cannot answer within 24 hours, it is better to immediately write “I will answer within a couple of days” or at least “I will answer a little later.”

Fields “To”, “Cc”, “Bcc”

1. Remember that there are To, CC, and BCC fields. Your further actions (and the actions of your correspondence partners) upon receiving the letter depend on them:
   • “To” (“To”) - the letter and the information or questions contained in it are addressed directly to the recipient. If you send a question, you expect a response from the addressee specified in the “To” field. If you are the recipient, then you should be the one to respond.
   • “CC” (“Copy”) - recipients appearing in copies receive a letter “for your information”, for information or are “invited to witness”. The recipient of the copies should not generally respond to the letter; Moreover, it is considered polite if, if there is such a need, you begin with the phrase “Sorry for interfering.”
   • “BCC” (“Blind Copy”) is a field for “palace intrigues.” By indicating a recipient in this field, you “secretly” send this letter to him: the fact that the letter was sent to this person will not be known to the main recipient or those in the copies. It is also used for mass mailing so that your address book is not known to all recipients.
2. When answering, use the “Reply All” button. This will save a copy to the recipients of the initial email so your response will not pass them by.
3. DO NOT remove people added by your correspondent from copies of the letter. If you want to answer something personal so that other correspondents do not receive your answer, then delete everyone from the copies except the one who wrote the letter (yes, we never use the “Reply” button).
4. If there are more than two recipients in the “To” field in a letter received, this means that both of these correspondents or any of them must respond. Consider that BOTH should answer - if the letter is addressed to you and someone else, answer too (even if it is an answer like “This question is definitely not for me, let so-and-so answer”).
5. In turn, it is highly recommended NOT to include more than one addressee in the “To” field. To a letter sent to two, you will not receive an answer from either, since each will think that the other will answer. Not everyone read this article.
6. Forwarding private correspondence to a mailing list without the consent of the participants in the correspondence is unethical!

Subject field

1. Don't leave it blank.
2. The subject line of the letter should be brief, but reflecting the main content and topic of the letter. Titles like “Question”, “Hello!” or empty headings reveal that you are a beginner who lacks basic business writing skills.
3. When you respond to one of several emails with different subject lines, respond to the correct ones. Reply to the letter with the subject “Meeting on Tuesday, April 18” about the meeting and to the letter “Printing Materials” about printing materials. This involves quoting previous correspondence (see Letter Writing section below).
4. If you need to periodically send e-mails such as weekly reports, try to keep the header constant, or at least part of it should be constant, so that the recipient can set up automatic rules for sorting such mail.

The importance of writing

1. If the letter contains information about urgent changes, the text of the contract or other information that you need to pay attention to first, use the “high” importance, this will highlight the letter in the inbox.
2. Do not use “high” importance in vain - “noisy” people are annoying, be more modest.
3. For a personal letter to a business correspondent or a letter with a funny picture or link, mark the importance as “low.”

Writing letters (responses)

1. Start with a greeting, it's polite. "Hello, Gria!" indicates that you are too lazy to write the person’s name. Even just “Andrey!” or “Good afternoon!” quite polite and sufficient.
2. Speak the same language with the person. This applies not only to the Russian/English language, but also to the form of the text. If you receive a formal letter, an informal response to it will be disrespectful to the respondent and a demonstration of your own low culture. A formal response to an informal appeal is either a call to comply with regulations, or this is simply required by corporate rules.
3. Try to always respond to the last letter in the correspondence chain, and not to some intermediate one.
4. Ne ispolzuyte translit except for cases of sending letters from conditions in which it is difficult to type text differently (for example, from a mobile phone or from a computer without a Russian keyboard layout).
5. If your email client does not support the Russian language or spoils the encodings, then attach the text of the response as an attachment.
6. A business letter should be precise, concise and specific:
   • Accuracy - be sure to include the exact details you are referring to (date and subject of another email, meeting date, meeting agenda item, file name, link to online document, etc.).
   • Conciseness - some people present in three pages what could be written in three sentences. He who thinks clearly speaks clearly, and your correspondent sees this.
   • Specificity - from the letter it should be clear exactly WHAT EXACTLY is required from the recipient, what actions they want from him.
7. Business correspondence is not a place for exercises in the epistolary genre and not a place for expressing emotions. For this purpose, there are forums, chats and other means of electronic interpersonal communication. A laconic business text is not dryness, but time saving and precision of thought.
8. If the letter contains several questions, topics or tasks, structure them and separate them into paragraphs with or without numbering. A continuous “stream of thought” is difficult to read, and it is easy to miss the main point of the letter. Moreover, some people tend to immediately throw a poorly structured letter into the trash bin (although this is probably extremism).
9. Keep in mind that the answer to a request or task is “Let’s do it!” incomplete “We’ll do it by such and such a date,” “in so many days,” “after such and such an event” are more definite and accurate answers.
10. If the letter is worded in such a way that it can be answered with a simple “ok”, then the answer will most likely be received much faster. For example, if there are several options for what to do, offer some default option.
11. The text must not contain errors. Ochepyatki are not scary, but if you write and spell a word incorrectly in every letter, it becomes noticeable very quickly, and your “C” with a minus in Russian becomes obvious (as well as speculative further conclusions about your general level of education and culture).
12. Try not to use html formatting of the letter. Unfortunately, this format for writing letters is the default in Outlook, but when using it, especially when quoting (replying and forwarding), a lot of questions arise.
13. If you received a letter in html format, DO NOT change it to plain text, this breaks the sender’s perception of information when receiving your response. The more important your correspondent is to you, the more important it is to maintain an adequate perception of him. You can handle highlighting your answers in html citations using color, or you can also use the “Reduce indentation” button on the html formatting panel (although there are capricious nuances there).
14. Quote the text of the original letter. What do you think this would mean? I don’t know either: To: AIST is a creative bird Subject: Re: Re: Re: Question Ok! Vasya
15. Never edit another person's text when quoting it! This is a kind of forgery of letters.
16. When quoting in full (if your response is to the entire letter), write the text of the response at the BEGINNING of the letter, not at the end.
17. If you are answering point by point using a quotation, separate the quotation with blank lines at the TOP and BOTTOM and use Capital Letters at the beginning of sentences. Try to find the answers here: > we suggest replacing the logo with the one included, > since this very colorful background did not find the logo in the attachment > correct the inscription - instead of “fish” you should write “slave”! > otherwise we will be misunderstood, the inscription has been corrected, sorry > and the last thing...

    Good time! Today we will talk about SMS backup by sending all messages from your smartphone to email. This may be required both simply for the purpose of saving correspondence, and for further processing of messages, for example, searching messages for the necessary information (contacts, names, prices, etc.) by third-party applications, which in turn work with E-Mail. Let's look at an option for such copying using a smartphone running Android.

    Create a mailbox

    To send and save all messages by E-Mail, you first need to register a mailbox; mail from yandex.ru is perfect for this. You can also use your existing mailbox, but I recommend registering a new one. Firstly, over time, a large number of SMS messages will accumulate in it, which can interfere with working with regular letters, and secondly, if you connect your mailbox to a third-party service for analytics, do not indicate the login and password for the main E-Mail in it. .

    Install the SMS Backup + application on your Android smartphone

    To send all SMS messages to your mailbox, you will need to install and configure the special SMS Backup + application, which can be downloaded from play.goole.com or apk-dl.com (an alternative for smartphones that do not use Google Play) or.

    The application has been tested on Android: 3.xx, 4.xx, 5.xx, 6.xx; Support for version 2.xx is declared.

    Setting up SMS Backup +

    1. Launch the application;
    2. After launching the application, in the menu that opens, select the item: Advanced settings;
       
    3. Next, go to Backup settings;
       
    4. Check the boxes for Backup SMS and Email subject prefix, uncheck the boxes for Backup MMS, Backup Call log (we don’t need MMS and call history, although you can backup them too);
       
    5. Return to the previous menu and go to the IMAP Server settings section;
       
    6. Select the Authentication menu item,
       
       set the parameter value to Plain text;
       
       
    7. Select the Server address menu item, enter the value: imap.yandex.ru:993
       
       
    8. Select the Security menu item and enter the value: SSL
       
       
    9. Select the Login (You IMAP account) menu item, specify your login, then select the Password (You IMAP account password) menu item, specify the password for yandex.ru mail;
    10. In the main menu, check the box for Auto backup;
        
    11. Next, go to Auto backup settings, select the Regular schedule menu item and set the time interval at which SMS will be sent to the mailbox account we specified (for example, every 2 hours).
        

    The SMS Backup + application allows you not only to make backup copies to E-Mail, but also to restore messages from it. The corresponding recovery settings can be found in the Advanced settings -> Restore settings section.

    After sending messages by E-Mail, they will all be placed in a folder called: SMS.

    

    Analyzing SMS sent to Email

    After receiving a list of SMS messages to your email address, you can use special software to analyze the data they contain. For example, you can track SMS from the bank with messages about cash receipts and debits, based on which you can keep financial records automatically. I implemented a similar solution for a “joint shopping site”, when all SMS messages from the Bank received by the JV Organizers are collected in one place, analyzed and based on them, the system displays data in the control panel about which user who placed the order made the payment.

    You have probably already noticed thatupon receiving letters from some authorsin the “to” section there is a list of several dozen emails of different people. Moreover, neither you nor these people gave their consent for these emails to be “exposed.” Naturally, some of the recipients will unsubscribe from this mailing list (we are all tired of the flow of spam to our emails). But one thing is certain - all recipients will treat the author of the newsletter as an unprofessional person. And they are unlikely to agree to accept his offer.
    
    

    
    How can you do it so as not to send a letter to each addressee separately and at the same time “not to shine before everyone else”?
    Almost any email service allows you to do this.

    Let's consider this opportunity using the example of the most popular email address for business mailings: gmail.com
    
    

    Typically, you use the Compose window to send an email. By clicking on it, you see a new “New message” window, into which you insert everything that is necessary to create and send the letter itself.

    We usually insert the emails of our recipients into the “Recipients” window.

    
    
    
    

    Copy means "exact copy". This field is used when you simply want to send an email to someone who is not the primary recipient. This way, you can keep the person in the loop while letting them know that they don't have to respond to the email. But all recipients of this letter see each other’s addresses (and even names).

    
    BCC means "an exact hidden copy." It works the same as Cc, but this field hides all recipient addresses.
    

    Thus, using this field is one of the best ways to send an email to a large number of people and maintain confidentiality. This means you won’t ruin your relationship with them. Using this feature, you can insert up to 30 emails. This means that with one click of a button you can send this letter to 30 recipients at once, without showing their emails.

    And, if necessary, you can insert a picture into the body of the letter ( 4 ) or attach a file ( 5 ).

    It is this mail that provides the maximum number of editing opportunities.

    
    
    

    Similarly, you can send a letter to several recipients at the same time via yandex.ru mail.
    
    

    Only there are fewer options for editing the text of the letter on this mail. Therefore, I will only show the procedure required to send letters.

    Click on “Write” and then in the “To” window ( 1 ) insert the email of the first recipient, and then select the “Copy” function ( 2 ) or "Bcc" ( 3 ). Depending on whether you want all recipients of your letter to see all emails or preserve their right to confidentiality of addresses, select one of the functions. To add each next email to the list, you need to click on the button with the image of a man with a plus sign in front of it ( 4 ). Then you can select your regular recipients from the drop-down list or enter their emails manually.

    Pictures can be downloaded from Yandex Disk and files can be attached as usual.

    Click on the “Write” button, a window appears in which when you click with the mouse in the “To” window ( 1 ), a drop-down list appears with a list of your regular recipients ( 2 ). You can choose from this list what you need. Or just insert the desired email destination manually.

    There is nowhere in business without business correspondence, regardless of whether you write on behalf of a company, or on behalf of yourself as a private entrepreneur. Or rather, how you follow its rules. Your potential business partners or clients will largely judge you by how you communicate with them. A business letter is, one might say, the “face” of a businessman. And in order not to lose it, it is important to know about the golden rules of communication in this format.

    Rules for business correspondence by email

    Since e-mail is now used much more often than regular mail, we decided to pay attention to how to properly conduct business correspondence online. Here are a few recommendations that, if followed, will prevent you from losing face in front of your interlocutor.

    Mailbox name

    The first thing that catches our eye when we open a new message is the address from which it was sent. Many people underestimate the importance of this point and send business letters from personal email accounts. There's nothing wrong with this as long as the email address only contains your name in a human-readable format. But if there are various nicknames like “kissa1988” or “pupsik-26”, then sending a message from such a mailbox is simply unacceptable. Imagine what emotions a person will have when he receives a business proposal from a “babe” or “sweetie”.

    Also, postal addresses that begin with info@, inbox@ and the like are not welcome in business correspondence. They simply aren't taken seriously, and there's a good chance the email won't even be opened. The best option is to conduct business correspondence from a mailbox [email protected], where name is your first and last name, company is the name of the company.

    Recipients

    In email correspondence, it is possible to send a letter to a direct addressee and copy other recipients. Recipients in the copy of the message are not expected to respond to it. They are like invited observers. Therefore, before sending, determine in advance who exactly you want to receive an answer from and arrange the recipients correctly. However, if possible, do not list multiple people as direct recipients of your email. A situation may happen that none of them will answer you if everyone mentally decides to “shift” this responsibility to another addressee.

    If you yourself find yourself in a copy of a business letter, then, as you already understand, the sender is not waiting for your response. But if it becomes necessary to respond specifically to you, then you can do this, but it would be polite to apologize at the beginning of the message for “interfering.”

    Formatting a letter

    Official business style. In business correspondence, of course, the formal style is used. It lacks adjectives, unnecessary qualifications and details. Only specifics, clarity and logic. After writing a business message, it is useful to read it again and remove all phrases that do not carry any special meaning and do not change the essence of what is being stated. Only when you are sure that all such words and phrases have been removed, then you can say that this rule of writing a business letter has been followed.

    Literacy. Saying that it is important to write a message correctly and without errors is the same as saying “a snowman must be made of snow.” However, this rule cannot be ignored. Literacy is the basis of any correspondence. A person writing a business letter with spelling errors is unlikely to be taken seriously by anyone.

    Letter subject. It is a must to write it. Try to make it short but succinct, so that the recipient can immediately understand at one glance what the letter will be about. The topic should not consist of one word. “Information”, “Question”, etc. – incorrect business letter topics. “Proposal from Company X” is the right topic. If the information in your letter is especially important, then you can mark it with a special “importance” flag, which is available in almost all e-mail services.

    Font. The text of the message must, first of all, be readable. Therefore, use the font Arial or Times New Roman, select a medium size (for example, in mail.ru the optimal font size is 3). Don't experiment with fonts or colors. This is inappropriate in business correspondence. Do not use Caps Lock, exclamation marks or any special characters (including emoticons). The only thing that is allowed is highlighting some phrases in italics or bold. But try to use this only when absolutely necessary.

    For ease of reading and better communication of ideas, you can use subheadings throughout the text of the letter. But there should not be too many of them - no more than 3-4.

    One paragraph should not be longer than 4 lines. When we read very long paragraphs, the text blurs together and the main idea can be lost.

    Any enumerations and lists should be drawn up using special markers.

    Corporate template. It would be great if you developed a branded email template in your corporate style. And you will send all business messages only with this template. This will allow you to stand out from the rest and maintain the formality required by a business message. However, you should not overdo it with “branding” - excessive creativity will only do harm. Still, we are talking about business communication, not entertainment. Don't forget also that recipients can read your messages not only on a computer, but also on mobile devices. Therefore, the template must be optimized for different screen resolutions.

    One letter should contain only one news item. And accordingly, only one target action should be expected from the recipient. It is considered incorrect to place several questions, suggestions or requests to the recipient in one message at once.

    It should be broken down into the following parts:
    - introduction;
    - main part;
    - conclusion.

    In the introduction, briefly state the purpose of the message and the reasons for writing it. The main part is the very essence of the letter. In conclusion, you need to summarize the above - these can be conclusions, requests, instructions, suggestions, and so on. It is highly undesirable to use any “postscripts” in business correspondence. Also avoid aphorisms, metaphors, proverbs, and so on.

    If you need to submit a graphic image in a letter, do not insert it into the text of the message itself, but attach it as a separate file. Images may not display correctly on different devices or be completely disabled in the recipient's email program interface. In the text, where necessary, simply indicate “information is in the attached file.” If there are several such files, be sure to write their names.

    If you use abbreviations and abbreviations of words, you must be 100% sure that the recipient will understand what is meant by them. In general, it is better to play it safe and not use such things.

    Lack of emotions. Business letters should not contain any emotional overtones. At all. Even if you are writing a complaint and you really want to show the fullness of your indignation, or, on the contrary, you sincerely thank your partner for a successful transaction. The message should be restrained and even somewhat cold-blooded. Every person values ​​their individuality, but business correspondence is not the best way to show it. An official letter from a cheerful or sad person, a janitor or a CEO should be the same.

    Use of vocabulary. To link sentences in business correspondence, the following stable expressions are used:

    1. for that reason;
    3. based on what;
    4. by virtue of (something);
    5. in accordance with;
    6. based;
    7. pay attention to;
    8. considering;
    9. what served.

    And so on. Also in business letters it is allowed to use abbreviations and abbreviations that are generally accepted in the industry within which the message is written. If you doubt whether the addressee will understand a specific abbreviation, it is better to write the phrase in full.

    Greetings. Please never use the cliche "Good day." This, one might say, is bad form not only for business correspondence, but also for emails in general. The optimal greeting is “Hello, First Name/Middle Name.” By the way, it’s good to address the recipient of the message by name not only in the greeting, but also further along the text. If you are writing to a person you do not know personally, you must indicate at the very beginning where you got the recipient’s address from.

    Letter size. This is not a work of fiction and not your personal thoughts “on the topic.” The message should be as short as possible to convey all the information in it. It is optimal if the text of the letter fits into one “screen”. Reading long letters is tiring, and many people find it annoying.

    Replies to letters. When you reply to a message you receive, always click the Reply button, not the Write button. With the first option, your entire correspondence history will be automatically included in your response. This is correct, because a person may not immediately remember who you are and what you want from him if he does not see the background story. Especially if more than five days have passed since the last correspondence. Feel free to quote your interlocutor while responding to his message. This will give him a chance to remember what you talked about before.

    Always thank the other person where appropriate. For example, you can write “Vladimir, thank you for your letter” or “Irina Alekseevna, thank you for such a quick response.” Such nuances will show your respect for the interlocutor and soften the mood of electronic communication.

    If the interlocutor sent you a message in which he expressed his dissatisfaction or even was openly rude to you, try not to answer him in the same way, no matter how much you would like it. Situations vary, but always respond politely and with restraint.

    Of course, the sooner you respond, the better. It's great if you can respond within a few hours. This period is optimal. But let's say we get a response within a few days. Psychologists say that a comfortable time for a person to wait for a response to an email is 48 hours, that is, two days. If you have to wait longer, this may already be perceived as disrespect or ignorance. If the question raised in the message requires more time from you to respond, then be sure to write that you received the letter, accepted it for consideration and will respond as soon as you can. This way the sender will at least not feel ignored.

    Conclusion of the letter. You should not write phrases that could be perceived as an attempt at manipulation: “I really hope for a profitable cooperation,” “Thank you in advance for your answer,” and so on. It is better to say goodbye in email correspondence with the phrases “With respect,” “My sincere wishes,” and the like. Yes, such phrases are cliched, but they are perfectly suited for business communication. In the signature, write your first name, last name, position and company name. Also leave contact details where you can be contacted, other than email.

    Dispatch time. Of course, emails do not mean that they should be read immediately upon receipt. But in email business ethics, it is considered inappropriate to send email messages on weekends, holidays, late in the evening or at night. Try to stick to standard working hours.

    And of course, before clicking the “send” button, carefully check the spelling of the recipient’s name and email address. Re-read the entire text of the message and check it for typos or incorrect phrases.

    According to various sources, from 50 to 95% of all emails in the world are spam from cyber fraudsters. The goals of sending such letters are simple: to infect the recipient’s computer with a virus, steal user passwords, force a person to transfer money “to charity,” enter their bank card details, or send scans of documents.

    Often spam is annoying at first glance: crooked layout, automatically translated text, forms for entering a password right in the subject line. But there are malicious letters that look decent, subtly play on a person’s emotions and do not raise doubts about their veracity.

    The article will talk about 4 types of fraudulent letters that Russians most often fall for.

    1. Letters from “government organizations”

    

    

    

    Fraudsters can pretend to be the tax office, the Pension Fund, Rospotrebnadzor, the sanitary and epidemiological station and other government organizations. For credibility, watermarks, scans of seals and state symbols are inserted into the letter. Most often, the task of criminals is to scare a person and convince him to open a file with a virus attached.

    Usually this is an encryptor or a Windows blocker that disables the computer and requires you to send a paid SMS to resume operation. A malicious file can be disguised as a court order or a summons to appear before the head of the organization.

    Fear and curiosity turn off the user's consciousness. Accounting forums describe cases where employees of organizations brought files with viruses to their home computers because they could not open them in the office due to the antivirus.

    Sometimes scammers ask you to send documents in response to a letter in order to collect information about the company, which will be useful for other deception schemes. Last year, one group of scammers was able to deceive many people using the "request to fax papers" distraction trick.

    When an accountant or manager read this, he immediately cursed the tax office: “There are mammoths sitting there, oh my!” and switched his thoughts from the letter itself to solving technical problems with sending.

    2. Letters from “banks”

    

    

    Windows blockers and ransomware can hide in fake letters not only from government organizations, but also from banks. Messages “A loan has been taken out in your name, please read the lawsuit” can really be scary and make you want to open the file.

    A person can also be persuaded to log into a fake personal account, offering to see accrued bonuses or receive a prize that he won in the Sberbank Lottery.

    Less often, scammers send invoices for payment of service fees and additional interest on the loan, for 50-200 rubles, which are easier to pay than to understand.

    3. Letters from “colleagues”/“partners”

    

    Some people receive dozens of business letters with documents during the working day. With such a load, you can easily fall for the “Re:” tag in the subject of the letter and forget that you have not yet corresponded with this person.

    Especially if the poisoner field indicates “Alexander Ivanov”, “Ekaterina Smirnova” or any simple Russian name, which absolutely does not linger in the memory of a person who constantly works with people.

    If the goal of scammers is not to collect SMS payments for unlocking Windows, but to cause harm to a specific company, then letters with viruses and phishing links can be sent on behalf of real employees. The list of employees can be collected on social networks or viewed on the company website.

    If a person sees a letter in the mailbox from a person from a neighboring department, then he does not take a closer look at it, he may even ignore antivirus warnings and open the file no matter what.

    4. Letters from “Google/Yandex/Mail”

    

    

    Google sometimes sends emails to Gmail account owners saying that someone has tried to log into your account or that Google Drive has run out of space. Fraudsters successfully copy them and force users to enter passwords on fake sites.

    Users of Yandex.Mail, Mail.ru and other mail services also receive fake letters from the “service administration”. The standard legends are: “your address has been added to the blacklist”, “your password has expired”, “all emails from your address will be added to the spam folder”, “look at the list of undelivered emails”. As in the previous three points, the main weapons of criminals are fear and curiosity of users.

    How to protect yourself?

    

    Install an antivirus on all your devices so that it automatically blocks malicious files. If for some reason you do not want to use it, then check all even slightly suspicious email attachments for virustotal.com

    Never enter passwords manually. Use password managers on all devices. They will never offer you password options to enter on fake sites. If for some reason you do not want to use them, then manually enter the URL of the page on which you are going to enter the password. This applies to all operating systems.

    Wherever possible, enable password confirmation via SMS or two-factor identification. And of course, it is worth remembering that you cannot send scans of documents, passport data or transfer money to strangers.

    Perhaps many of the readers, when looking at the screenshots of the letters, thought: “Am I a fool to open files from such letters? You can see from a kilometer away that this is a setup. I won't bother with a password manager and two-factor authentication. I'll just be careful."

    Yes, most fraudulent emails can be detected by eye. But this does not apply to cases when the attack is aimed specifically at you.

    The most dangerous spam is personal

    
    If a jealous wife wants to read her husband’s mail, Google will offer her dozens of sites that offer the service “Hacking mail and social network profiles without prepayment.”

    The scheme of their work is simple: they send a person high-quality phishing letters that are carefully composed, neatly laid out and take into account the person’s personal characteristics. Such scammers sincerely try to hook a specific victim. They find out from the customer her social circle, tastes, and weaknesses. It may take an hour or more to develop an attack on a specific person, but the effort pays off.

    If a victim is caught, they send the customer a screenshot of the mailbox and ask them to pay (the average price is about $100) for their services. After receiving the money, they send you the password for the mailbox or an archive with all the letters.

    It often happens that when a person receives a letter with a link to the file “Video compromising evidence on Tanya Kotova” (hidden keylogger) from his brother, he is filled with curiosity. If the letter is provided with text containing details that are known to a limited circle of people, then the person immediately denies the possibility that his brother could have been hacked or that someone else is pretending to be him. The victim relaxes and turns off the antivirus to hell to open the file.

    Not only jealous wives, but also unscrupulous competitors can turn to such services. In such cases, the price tag is higher and the methods are more subtle.

    You should not rely on your attentiveness and common sense. Let an emotionless antivirus and password manager protect you, just in case.

    P.S. Why do spammers write such “stupid” letters?

    
    Carefully crafted scam emails are relatively rare. If you go to the spam folder, you can have a lot of fun. What kind of characters do scammers come up with to extort money: the director of the FBI, the heroine of the series “Game of Thrones”, a clairvoyant who was sent to you by higher powers and wants to tell you the secret of your future for $15 dollars, a killer who was ordered to pay you off, but he sincerely offers to pay off .

    An abundance of exclamation marks, buttons in the body of the letter, a strange sender address, a nameless greeting, automatic translation, gross errors in the text, a clear overkill of creativity - letters in the spam folder simply “scream” about their dark origin.

    Why do scammers who send their messages to millions of recipients not want to spend a couple of hours composing a neat letter and spare 20 bucks for a translator to increase the response of the audience?

    In a Microsoft study Why do Nigerian Scammers Say They are from Nigeria? the question “Why do scammers continue to send letters on behalf of billionaires from Nigeria when the general public has known about “Nigerian letters” for 20 years” is deeply analyzed. According to statistics, more than 99.99% of recipients ignore such spam.