Email correspondence as evidence. Rules for business correspondence
We send dozens of emails every day. Sometimes these are very short messages, for example: “Shall we go to lunch?” Sometimes - with the help of which you present your business or website. When there are a lot of letters and little time, we begin to rush and make mistakes. Usually trivial, like a typo, but sometimes things happen that can seriously damage your reputation and spoil your relationship with a client or employee.
This can be avoided, you just need to be collected and know about some pitfalls. Here are the most common mistakes made when sending emails. Read carefully and remember that you first need to take a short pause, check if everything is in order, and only then click on the “Send” button.
You are typing the wrong address
The most common and most unpleasant mistake. Imagine you want to send rather personal photos to a friend, but you automatically type the address of your boss or customer. And only after the letter has left do you realize with horror what has just happened. If it’s any consolation, each of us has found ourselves in this situation at least once in our lives: lawyers sent confidential documents to the opposite party, designers sent website layouts to the wrong client, etc. But when this happens to us, it seems that the ground disappears from under our feet.
Fortunately, many email services, for example Gmail, have a function. Turn it on and specify a large time interval - it’s quieter, you know.
You forgot about the attachment
You wrote that a certain file was attached to the letter, but you forgot to attach it. Another common mistake that often leads to misunderstandings and apologies. On the one hand, it’s okay, no one is perfect, but it’s better to check everything first and only then send the letter. And to avoid questions from the recipient, we recommend listing all attached files directly in the body of the letter. For example, like this:
Hello, Maxim! I am sending you several files, they are attached:
Service Agreement
GIF with a cat
You don't think about the design
They greet you, as you remember, by their clothes. If you want to prevent your email from making you want to immediately delete it, work on its form. They say you need to devote as much time to it as to the content. Fortunately, today it's easy. To do this, we recommend using the Wix ShoutOut application, selecting a suitable template and adding your text to it. No special knowledge is required, just make sure everything looks neat and beautiful. By the way, a good newsletter has its own secrets and rules, so we recommend reading our email marketing director. Don't thank me.
You do not specify the subject of the letter
The subject of the letter performs approximately the same role as the title of the text. It appears next to your name, the recipient sees it and understands what you sent him: an invoice, meeting results, job offer, website layout, etc. Remember that the topic must be clearly formulated so that if necessary, a person will quickly find your letter, and convincing so that he becomes interested if we are talking about, say, a newsletter. Not so long ago we wrote about how, if you have forgotten, it’s worth re-reading.
You don't save drafts
If you like to write letters in text editors, then save often, otherwise you will end up writing a letter all day, and then suddenly your computer freezes and everything is gone. Or write directly in the mail service - then all your sketches will be automatically saved in the “Drafts” folder.
You are being rude
Politeness in correspondence is no less important than in life. Here are the basic rules that must be followed by everyone:
Always thank the sender for the letter, especially if you see that he did a good job. Remember when we were all taught “magic” words as children? Let's not forget them, even though we are adults.
Stay calm, even if the matter is extremely urgent and important. Nervousness and reproaches will definitely not lead to anything good.
Begin and end your letter with common phrases. The degree of formality will depend on who you are corresponding with. If this is your boss or just an official person, do not use “Hello”, “Bye” or “Kisses”. And vice versa, if you are writing to a colleague or friend, you can do without the traditional “Sincerely.”
You don't proofread the text
Typos can ruin the whole impression, so carefully re-read the written letter, preferably several times. If you have any doubts about spelling or syntax, go to Gramota.ru. It’s better to measure seven times, that is, check, than then apologize for typos and prove that you are actually literate.
And by the way: if you are afraid of accidentally sending an unfinished letter, first write the entire text in full, and only then type the recipient’s address.
You are not putting the right people on the copy of the letter
Let's figure out who might actually receive your letter. The To field is the primary recipient. Field "Ss" - the person who will receive the copy. He is not directly related to the issue being discussed, but wants or needs to be aware. The "Bcc" field is the hidden recipients. You add them, but the primary recipient doesn't see them. And here you need to be careful: you can confuse Cc and Bcc, and then the recipient will think that he is being spied on.
Keep in mind that it is important for some people to be aware of what is happening. You don’t want to listen to reproaches about “How could you not add me to the copy?! I worked on this project for two months!” If in doubt, add everyone who has anything to do with the question. Maybe not everyone will be happy that they are being distracted, but there will be no complaints against you.
There is no way in business without business correspondence. It doesn't matter whether you're writing on behalf of a company or on behalf of yourself as an individual entrepreneur - business correspondence will always play an important role. 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 this “face”, it is important to know about the golden rules of business correspondence.
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 email is the address from which it was sent. Many people underestimate the importance of this point and send business letters from their 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 business letter from such an email account 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. Such addresses are simply not taken seriously, and there is a high probability that the letter will not 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 recipient and copy other recipients. Recipients in the copy of the letter are not supposed to respond to it. They are like invited observers. Therefore, before sending the letter, determine in advance from whom exactly you want to receive an answer to the letter, and arrange the addressees 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 each 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 there is a need to respond specifically to you, then you can do this, but it would be polite to apologize at the beginning of the letter for “interfering.”
Formatting a letter
Official business style. In business correspondence, of course, a formal writing style is used. This style is characterized by the absence of descriptive adjectives, unnecessary qualifications and details. Only specifics, clarity and logic. After writing a business letter, 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 was written. 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 a business letter must be written correctly and without errors is the same as saying “a snowman must be made of snow.” However, this rule cannot be ignored. Literacy is a fundamental element of any writing. 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. Moreover, try to write it briefly, but succinctly - so that at one glance it immediately becomes clear to the recipient what the letter will be about. The topic should never 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 letter 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 of the letter should not be extended to more than 4 lines of text. When we read very long paragraphs, the text blurs together and the main idea can be lost.
Any enumeration 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 letters only with this template. This will allow you to stand out from the rest, but maintain the formality required by a business letter. However, you should not overdo it with “branding” - excessive creativity will only harm the letter. Still, we are talking about business communication, not entertainment. Don't forget also that recipients can read your emails 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 include several questions, suggestions or requests to the recipient in one letter at once.
Any business letter should be divided into the following parts:
- introduction;
- main part;
- conclusion.
In the introduction, briefly state the purpose of the letter 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. The letter should not contain 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 letter itself, but attach it as a separate file. Images may not display correctly on different devices or may be completely disabled in the recipient's email program interface. In the body of the letter, where necessary, simply indicate “the information is in the attached file.” If there are several such files, be sure to write their names.
If you use abbreviations and shortened words, you must be 100% sure that the recipient will understand what you mean. 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. A business letter should be restrained and even, to some extent, 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 business vocabulary. To link sentences in business correspondence, the following stable expressions are used:
1) for that reason;
2) on what basis;
3) due to (something);
4) in accordance with;
5) based on;
6) taking into account;
7) considering;
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 letter is written. If you doubt whether the addressee will understand a specific abbreviation, then it is better to write the phrase in full.
Greetings. Please never use the cliche "Good afternoon." This, one might say, is bad form not only for business correspondence, but also for emails in general. The optimal greeting option is “Hello, First Name/Middle Name.” By the way, it’s good to address the recipient of the letter by name not only in the greeting, but also further along the text. If you are writing a letter to a person you do not know personally, you must indicate at the very beginning of the letter where you got the recipient's address from.
Letter size. A business letter is not a work of fiction or your personal thoughts “on a topic.” The letter 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 an email you receive, always click the “Reply” button rather than the “Write Email” 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. Especially if more than 5 days have passed since the last letter. You can absolutely safely quote your interlocutor when answering his letter. This will give him the opportunity to remember what was discussed in the previous letter.
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 your interlocutor sent you a letter 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 to the letter, 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 the maximum 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 letter requires more time from you to respond, then be sure to write that you received the letter, accepted it for consideration and will respond within a certain time. This way, at least the sender won't feel ignored.
Conclusion of the letter. You should not write phrases at the conclusion of the letter that could be perceived as an attempt at manipulation: “I really hope for profitable cooperation,” “Thank you in advance for your answer,” and so on. It is better to say goodbye in electronic business 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.
Time to send the letter. Of course, emails do not mean that they should be read immediately upon receipt. However, in business email ethics it is considered inappropriate to send emails on weekends and holidays, or late in the evening or at night. Try to stick to standard working hours.
And of course, before you click the “send” button, carefully check the spelling of the recipient’s name and email address, and also re-read the entire text of the letter and check it for typos or incorrect phrases.
Today, courts often accept electronic correspondence as written evidence. However, to do this, it must have legal force. Meanwhile, clear and uniform rules and methods for determining the legitimacy of virtual correspondence have not yet been developed, which leads to a large number of problems.
Let's look at several ways to give emails legal force.
Long gone are the days when the only means of communication were letters written on paper. The development of economic relations between economic entities is no longer conceivable without the use of information technology. This is especially true when counterparties are located in different cities or even countries.
Communication via electronic communication helps reduce material costs, and also allows you to quickly develop a common position on specific issues.
However, such progress should not be viewed only on the positive side. Various disputes often arise between subjects of economic relations; to resolve them, they turn to the courts. The court makes a decision based on an assessment of the evidence provided by the parties.
At the same time, the relevance, admissibility, reliability of each evidence separately, as well as the sufficiency and interconnection of the evidence in their totality are analyzed. This rule is enshrined both in the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (clause 2 of Article 71) and in the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation (clause 3 of Article 67). In the process of determining the admissibility and reliability of the evidence provided, the court often asks questions, the solution of which significantly affects the outcome of the case.
The use of electronic document management in relations between business entities is regulated by the norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. In particular, in paragraph 2 of Art. 434 states: an agreement in writing can be concluded by exchanging documents via electronic communication, which makes it possible to reliably establish that the document comes from a party to the agreement.
In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 71 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation and paragraph 1 of Art. 75 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, written evidence is business correspondence containing information about circumstances relevant to the consideration and resolution of the case, made in the form of a digital record and received via electronic communication.
To use electronic documents in legal proceedings, two conditions must be met. Firstly, as already indicated, they must have legal force. Secondly, the document must be readable, that is, it must contain information that is generally understandable and accessible to perception.
This requirement follows from the general rules of legal proceedings, which presuppose the immediacy of judges’ perception of information from sources of evidence.
Often, the court refuses to admit as evidence to the case materials electronic correspondence that does not meet the above conditions, and subsequently makes a decision that does not satisfy the legal requirements of the interested party.
Let's consider the main ways to legitimize electronic correspondence before and after the start of proceedings.
Working with a notary
If the proceedings have not yet begun, then to give electronic correspondence legal force, you need to involve a notary. In paragraph 1 of Art. 102 of the Fundamentals of Legislation on Notaries (Fundamentals) states that, at the request of interested parties, a notary provides evidence necessary in court or an administrative body if there are reasons to believe that the provision of evidence will subsequently become impossible or difficult. And in paragraph 1 of Art. 103 of the Fundamentals stipulates that in order to secure evidence, the notary inspects written and material evidence.
According to paragraph 2 of Art. 102 Fundamentally, a notary does not provide evidence in a case that, at the time interested parties contact him, is being processed by a court or administrative body. Otherwise, the courts recognize notarized electronic correspondence as inadmissible evidence (Resolution of the Ninth AAS dated March 11, 2010 No. 09AP-656/2010-GK).
It is worth recalling that, based on Part 4 of Art. 103 Fundamentals, provision of evidence without notifying one of the parties and interested parties is carried out only in urgent cases.
In order to inspect evidence, a protocol is drawn up, which, in addition to a detailed description of the notary’s actions, must also contain information about the date and place of the inspection, the notary conducting the inspection, the interested parties participating in it, and also list the circumstances discovered during the inspection. The emails themselves are printed and filed with a protocol, which is signed by the persons participating in the inspection, by a notary and sealed with his seal. By virtue of the Determination of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated April 23, 2010 No. VAS-4481/10, the notarial protocol for the inspection of an electronic mailbox is recognized as appropriate evidence.
Currently, not all notaries provide services for certification of emails, and their cost is quite high. For example: one of the notaries in Moscow charges 2 thousand rubles for one page of the descriptive part of the protocol.
A person interested in providing evidence applies to a notary with a corresponding application. It should indicate:
- evidence to be secured;
- the circumstances that are supported by this evidence;
- the grounds for which evidence is required;
- at the time of contacting a notary, the case is not being processed by a court of general jurisdiction, an arbitration court or an administrative body.
Notaries inspect the contents of an electronic mailbox either remotely, that is, they use remote access to a mail server (it can be the server of a provider providing an electronic communication service under a contract; a mail server of a domain name registrar or a free Internet mail server), or directly from the computer of the interested person , on which an email program is installed (Microsoft Outlook, Netscape Messenger, etc.).
During a remote inspection, in addition to the application, the notary may need permission from the domain name registrar or Internet provider. It all depends on who exactly supports the operation of mailboxes or an electronic mail server under the contract.
Certification from the provider
Resolutions of the Ninth AAS dated 04/06/2009 No. 09AP-3703/2009-AK, dated 04/27/2009 No. 09AP-5209/2009, FAS MO dated 05/13/2010 No. KG-A41/4138-10 stipulate that the courts also recognize the admissibility of electronic correspondence , if it is certified by the Internet service provider or domain name registrar who are responsible for managing the mail server.
The provider or domain name registrar certifies electronic correspondence at the request of an interested party only if it manages the mail server and such right is specified in the service agreement.
However, the volume of electronic correspondence can be quite large, which in turn can complicate the process of providing paper documents. In this regard, the court sometimes allows the provision of electronic correspondence on electronic media. Thus, the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region, making a Decision dated August 1, 2008 in case No. A41-2326/08, referred to the admissibility of electronic correspondence provided to the court on four CDs.
But when considering the case in the appellate instance, the Tenth AAC, by its Resolution dated 10/09/2008 in case No. A41-2326/08, recognized the reference to electronic correspondence as unfounded and canceled the decision of the court of first instance, indicating that the interested party did not submit any documents provided for by the concluded parties agreement.
Thus, emails relating to the subject of the dispute must be submitted to the court in writing, and all other documents can be submitted on electronic media.
Confirming the contents of letters by referring to them in subsequent paper correspondence will help prove the facts stated in virtual correspondence. The use of other written evidence is reflected in the Resolution of the Ninth AAS dated December 20, 2010 No. 09AP-27221/2010-GK. Meanwhile, the court, when considering the case and assessing the evidence provided by the parties, has the right not to consider paper correspondence with links to electronic correspondence admissible.
He only takes it into account and makes a decision based on a comprehensive analysis of all the evidence presented.
Get help from an expert
If the proceedings have already begun, then to give electronic correspondence legal force it is necessary to exercise the right to attract an expert. In paragraph 1 of Art. 82 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation stipulates that in order to clarify issues that arise during the consideration of a case that require special knowledge, the arbitration court appoints an examination at the request of a person participating in the case, or with the consent of the persons participating in it.
If the appointment of an examination is prescribed by law or a contract, or is required to verify an application for falsification of the evidence presented, or if an additional or repeated examination is necessary, the arbitration court may appoint an examination on its own initiative. The appointment of an examination for the purpose of verifying the evidence presented is also provided for in Art. 79 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.
In a petition to appoint a forensic examination, it is necessary to indicate the organization and specific experts who will carry it out, as well as the range of issues for which the interested party decided to apply to the court to order an examination. In addition, information about the cost and timing of such an examination should be provided and the full amount to pay for it should be deposited with the court. The involved expert must meet the requirements established for him in Art. 13 of the Federal Law “On State Forensic Expert Activities in the Russian Federation”.
Attachment to the case materials as evidence of an expert's opinion on the authenticity of electronic correspondence is confirmed by judicial practice (Decision of the Moscow Arbitration Court dated 08/21/2009 in case No. A40-13210/09-110-153; Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow Region dated 01/20/2010 No. KG-A40 /14271-09).
Based on the contract
In paragraph 3 of Art. 75 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation notes that documents received via electronic communication are recognized as written evidence if this is specified in the agreement between the parties. Accordingly, it is necessary to indicate that the parties recognize the equal legal force of correspondence and documents received via fax, the Internet and other electronic means of communication as the originals. In this case, the agreement must specify the email address from which electronic correspondence will be sent, and information about the authorized person authorized to conduct it.
The contract must stipulate that the designated email address is used by the parties not only for work correspondence, but also for transferring the results of work, which is confirmed by the position of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow Region in Resolution No. KG-A40/12090-08 dated January 12, 2009. The Decree of the Ninth AAS dated December 24, 2010 No. 09AP-31261/2010-GK emphasizes that the contract must stipulate the possibility of using e-mail to approve technical specifications and make claims regarding the quality of services provided and work performed.
In addition, the parties may stipulate in the agreement that notifications and messages sent by email are recognized by them, but must be additionally confirmed within a certain period by courier or registered mail (Resolution of the Thirteenth AAC dated April 25, 2008 No. A56-42419/2007).
To summarize, we can say that today there is a practice of courts using electronic correspondence as written evidence. However, taking into account the requirements of procedural legislation regarding the admissibility and reliability of evidence, virtual correspondence is taken into account by the court only if it has legal force.
In this regard, a large number of problems arise, since a unified methodology for determining the legitimacy of electronic correspondence has not yet been formed. The right of an interested party to contact a notary in order to secure evidence is enshrined, but there is no regulatory act of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation regulating the procedure for the provision of such services by notaries. As a result, there is no single approach to determining their value and forming a clear mechanism for implementing this right.
There are several ways to give electronic correspondence legal force in order to present it as evidence in court: securing electronic correspondence from a notary, certification from an Internet provider, by reference to emails in further paper correspondence, as well as confirmation of their authenticity by forensic examination.
A competent approach to the timely provision of electronic correspondence as written evidence will allow business entities to fully restore their violated rights when resolving disputes.
Sometimes it becomes necessary to forward all letters that come to one of your emails to another email automatically. To make it clearer, here is an example. You have mail on Yandex and Google (Gmail). You use GMail all the time, this is your main mail, and Yandex from time to time. So, in order not to periodically log into your Yandex mail, you can make sure that letters from there are sent to GMail automatically and then you won’t have to log into your Yandex account at all to regularly check new letters.
In this article I will show you how to set up the forwarding of letters from one mail to another using the example of different mail services.
All this works the same in all email services, the only difference is in their interfaces, i.e. the corresponding settings are located differently.
Earlier, in a series of articles, I looked at another way to receive letters to the desired email from other email accounts. It lies in the fact that you do not set up the automatic forwarding of letters, which I will talk about today, but connect the desired mailbox in the settings (the function is called “Mail Collection”), for example, via the POP3 protocol, and from there the constant collection of new letters begins. The method is similar, but in some cases it is more difficult to set up than a regular transfer.
If you are interested in the method of collecting mail, then this is described in the relevant articles: collection in GMail, in Yandex, in Mail.ru
Below I will show in detail how to set up the forwarding of letters from Yandex mail. And then I will briefly touch on 2 more mail services (GMail and Mail.ru), on which everything is done in a similar way, with the only difference being the interface.
Setting up mail forwarding from Yandex to any other email
Go to your mail settings and select “Email processing rules”.
Click “Create Rule”.
Now our task will be to create a rule by which the mail service will determine that all letters must be sent to another address that you specify.
If you want those letters that are marked as “Spam” to be sent, then you will have to create 2 separate rules on Yandex.
Creation of the 1st mandatory rule. Forwarding all emails except spam
In the rule settings, remove the “If” condition that will be added initially by clicking on the cross next to it. Because we don’t need to set conditions for selecting any specific letters. After all, we will forward everything that comes in the mail to the “Inbox”.
At the top, where you can configure for which emails the created rule should be applied, select “to all emails except spam” and “with and without attachments.”
Below, check the “Forward to address” checkbox and indicate your email to which you want to forward all letters from the currently open email. Also enable the “Save a copy when forwarding” option.
Click the “Create Rule” button.
Yandex will ask you to enter a password. Enter your password for your current email and click “Confirm”.
The rule will be created, but you will see the message “Waiting for address confirmation” next to it.
Now you need to go to the email address that you specified for sending letters and confirm sending there. This is done in mail services so that you cannot forward letters to random addresses that you do not have access to.
In that mail, find a letter from “Yandex.Mail”, open it and follow the link from there.
Click “Confirm Forward”.
Ready! Now all letters that end up in your second mail (Yandex) in the “Inbox” folder will be automatically forwarded to your main mail, which you specified in the rule.
Note! According to the rule created above, letters from the Spam folder will not be forwarded! Because the rule states “for all emails except spam,” and you won’t be able to immediately include “Spam” in the rule, because forwarding for spam emails does not work and you would get the error “For emails from the Spam folder, forwarding emails with using a filter is not possible.”
But you can make sure that spam is also sent. To do this, you need to create another rule that will automatically transfer all spam to the Inbox folder. Therefore, if you need to send spam too, then see below for information on creating the 2nd rule.
Sometimes the necessary letters end up in spam, so if you don’t plan to go in and check your second mail at all, counting only on the automatic forwarding of letters from there, then I recommend setting up the forwarding of spam letters as well!
Creating the 2nd rule. If you need to forward “Spam”
Let's create another rule.
Here we need to indicate that all letters that are marked by the service as “Spam” should be transferred to the inbox.
To do this, at the top, where “Apply”, select “only to spam” and “with attachments and without attachments”.
Remove the “If” condition, we still don’t need it here.
Check “Put in folder” and select “Inbox”.
Click “Create Rule”.
The rule is ready!
After all the manipulations done, all letters that come to your second mail (where you set up forwarding) will be processed according to the created rules. That is, if you receive a letter in your mail that the service has identified as spam, then this letter will automatically be placed in your inbox, according to the created rule No. 2 (if you decide to set it up). And everything that is in the “Inbox” folder, in turn, will be sent to the email address you specified, according to rule No. 1.
Setting up forwarding using Mail.ru as an example
Go to your mail settings and select the “Filtering Rules” section.
Select “Add forwarding”.
Specify to which address the letters should be forwarded and click “Save”.
Confirm your action by entering the password for your Mail.ru email.
Go to the email address where you will forward the letters, find the letter from Mail.ru there and click on the link from the letter (this is necessary to confirm the forwarding).
In the next window, click “Confirm” and a message will appear that the transfer is confirmed.
At Mail.ru, return to the “Filtering Rules” section and enable forwarding:
If you need to forward emails marked as “Spam”, then you need to create the same rule as in the example with Yandex mail. In the “Filtering Rules” section, add a new rule where you specify the following settings.
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 do 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 on 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 the 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.
But one in 10 thousand is being targeted and this person is an ideal victim who is completely out of touch with reality and does not know how to use search engines. At risk are mentally ill people and people who suffer from severe drug addiction and alcoholism.
A spammer who trades in extortion absolutely does not need relatively normal people to respond to his letters. They will not transfer the money, but will simply distract you with questions. He needs contacts of standard eccentrics who will gladly send Daenerys $500, because the squirrel in their head approves of it.
From these priceless specimens, the most solvent are selected and subjected to careful personal psychological treatment. For example, a 50-year-old woman from the Kamchatka Territory recently transferred 4.5 million rubles to an American military man who found her on Odnoklassniki, fell in love, promised to marry, but after three months
