How to Assure the Safety of Opening Email Attachments

Have you ever received an email you wanted to download the attachment from but weren't sure if it was a scam or not? Even emails sent from someone you think you know can turn out to be someone trying to send a virus to your system. But with a quick check, you can determine whether an email attachment is real or a virus waiting to happen.

Instructions

1. Load the Virus Total website. The link is in the Resources section below. Virus Total checks email attachments for viruses before you open them.

2. Download the email attachment to your hard drive and upload it to the site, or forward the message to Virus Total to check it for viruses. To download the message to your hard drive, right-click on the attachment and select "Save As." If you want to forward the email, skip to Step 6.

3. Select a destination for the file, such as the desktop, and enter a name for the file. "Email Attachment" works well. Make sure the file is saved in a location and with a name you can easily find again later. Click "Save."

4. Click the "Browse" button on the Virus Total home page. From the menu that opens, select your desktop, or the location of the saved email attachment. Click the attachment and click the "Open" button.

5. Click "Send File," and your file will be sent to the Virus Total website. A report will appear on-screen after the scan is done, telling you the results and whether any viruses were detected.

6. Click the "Email/Uploader" option on the Virus Total home page. Forward the email message containing the attachment you want scanned from your email inbox. Type [e-mail] as the recipient and SCAN as the subject line. The email attachment cannot be larger than 20 MB.

7. Wait for an email to be sent to you from Virus Total telling you the results of the virus scan. Waiting time can vary depending on the number of requests it has received and how large your email is.

Tips & Warnings

• Many larger sites, such as Yahoo!, scan email attachments automatically when you open them and let you know if the attachment appears safe.

• Saving a file to the hard drive may cause the virus to activate. Although most viruses can't affect your system unless you download the attachment, there are a few that can. If you think an attachment has a high risk of being a virus, forward the email instead of downloading it.

References

• Scan Email Attachments

Resources

• Virus Total Email Attachment Scan