Spam e-mails?

[UmaThurman]

Does spam e-mails affect macs? I clicked on a link in an e-mail (which i'm pretty sure was either a scam, or virus) and then exited out before a 5 second re-direct after i read on the bottom that it required registration. I know that there is no viruses or adware for macs, but my professor recently was talking about how e-mails can lead to identity theft. I'm sure it's nothing, but just wanted to get a second opinion. Thanks.

 

[makismagoo99]

The main way emails can lead to identity theft is when they get you to provide your own credit card information. For example, the email may contain links sending you to a site that will sell you a brand new Mac for $0.50. Clearly a scam, but there are people that are suckers for a good deal. Also, they may contain links to websites that LOOK like popular sites (eBay is often cloned), but if you look in the address bar of your browser it actually took you to iwillstealyourcreditcardinfo.com.

For Windows, there are viruses that that make pop-ups with ads for services like those. None of those yet exist on the Mac, so if you get one that is passed to you via email, it won't be able to execute itself. But if you open that email on a Windows PC, it may do some damage.