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Unless you are narcissitic, don't open emails from yourself.
Be suspicious of emails from countries where you don't know anyone.
Don't open attachments from strangers.
Refer to the incidents page for recent phishing attempts.
Have a virus scanner installed to scan email for viruses.
If you use an online email service, ensure virusscan is enabled from the email provider.
Be suspicious of emails that have the subject IN ALL CAPTIAL LETTERS. Many times they are spams and scams.
Don't get hooked by phishing attempts. If you receive email from your bank, did you give your bank THAT email address?
Don't click on links to your bank/credit card/paypal/ebay accounts. It is better to open a new window manually with your browser, type in the www address of your bank/paypal, etc, and login to perform the requested task (usually updating your information).
Examine the email for misspellings. This is a tip off that it did not originate from a company.
Examine the link in the message - does it point to the company it originates from?
Examine the "from:" address. Is this message that is supposably from your bank originally sent from a Hotmail/Gmail/Yahoo address?
This is not for the faint of heart. Ensure you have a good anti-virus/anti-spyware program and firewall installed before you begin. You want to track the originating domain. If you visit the domain the email originated from, such as www.domain.com, see if the site offers free email. These types of sites are often used by spammers because they won't likely be traced. Once you have located a domain where spam originates, you may block the ENTIRE domain in your spam filter. Exercise caution when blocking entire domains because you might block email you actually want. I would not block gmail, aol, or yahoo for this reason.