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Email can be a nightmare for older people. While a few intrepid souls over the age of 60 do attempt to understand and use email, the vast majority find it an insurmountable challenge. With Senior Citizens Day coming up this weekend however, we thought we could do our bit to make email usage safer and easier for seniors who like using email or just have no other choice. If you are one of these seniors, here are 3 important tips that can help make your email experience, way safer.

1. Don't talk to strangers
This is a very basic safety rule and it's no longer just for kids. The internet can be a dangerous place to the novice user and older people who aren't as savvy about what could be lurking around every corner, must be extra careful. A good rule of thumb is to ignore emails from senders that you don't recognize. Scammers and fraudsters abound in the online space and the easiest way to stay safe, is to just not engage strangers in any way. If you do engage, be careful not to divulge details about your location, finances or other personal details.

2. Don't believe everything you hear
As we've already mentioned, the world wide web is not the most straightforward place in the world. And senior email users unfortunately already have a target painted on their backs. So if you receive email about winning a million dollars in the lottery or about a considerably large financial bequest from an African prince's widow, please take it with a pinch of salt. These are simply scams designed to steal from you. To stay ultra safe, don't even open these emails. Simply select and hit 'Delete'.

3. Be very careful before you click on a link or download an attachment
While it goes without saying that it's not a good idea to download email attachments from strange senders, there are also times when you may receive dangerous viruses or malware as attachments from people that you do know. This usually happens if they themselves have fallen prey to some virus that can access their address books and shoot out more of these viruses to the people in it. A good way to avoid downloading a virus or unsafe software into your system is to simply not click on suspicious-looking link or download any attachment that is an .EXE file. Also, avoid downloading attachments that have no explanation in the body of the email. These are usually bogus. Even better, if you aren't expecting an attachment from someone, checking with the sender first whether at all they meant to send it to you, can save you a ton of grief!

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