Well I just opened an email that has me e-spooked.

[CloudWatcher]

6. Generally safe to open email

Just reading an email is generally safe.

Opening unexpected attachments or clicking on web links is generally a terrible idea. Use whatever tools you have in your email reader to check a link before clicking on it, and then still be very careful that the link goes where you expect. And basically never open an attached file that you've not requested.

But ... there is more one thing. Email often has "remote content" associated with it. Pretty images and logos and stuff. And from both good guys and bad guys, this "remote content" is frequently tagged with a unique id so they can track that you have opened their email to you.

And when you've read an email from a bad guy, that basically triggers more junk email, since they've identified a live account.

Almost all email software have some kind of preference setting to "load remote content" automatically or wait until you ask for it. I tend to leave it disabled, but others find the convenience of seeing all of an email right away outweighs the inconveniences of getting more junk mail. Your choice!