Rules of thumb
Treat All contests as fake. Treat all emails that promise free things as scams. Delete or report as Spam to block future correspondence.

Email
Email is the de facto standard to communicate in the Internet. Email is the equivalent of a fax machine. It is a very convenient way to send documents without needing the receiving party to be by the phone. They can read the document or message at their leisure in full clear color at virtually no cost.

Power of Three
If you are new to the Internet setup 3 email addresses. If you already
have an email you need to have at least 2 web based email i.e.: Yahoo
or Gmail

1. One email for personal contacts. People you know in real life. This should be your name preferably your full name if you have to, add a memorable number behind it. Sample JohnSmith911@gmail.com

2. Second email is for website registrations. Free website registrations are common and are usually very useful sites. Sometimes though they might build mailing list for Spam or advertisement which you don’t want getting mixed with your personal correspondents. Sample JohnEmail@gmail.com

3. Third email address is for beginners and use this if you don’t know that company your singing up with at all, but you want to get some quick info from them such as they require an email address to check out one page. You’ll probably never go back to the site, but you are curious. Also for experimental memberships, so you can check out a site and if you like it then you can change your email address with them to your secondary email address which you do check often. Sample JohnSurvey@gmail.com

The reason that I recommend web based email is two-fold. You can access it from more places than having to be tied to your computer at home. Most phones let you access web based email. The second reason is simply because in the future you might move and switch internet providers. Having email setup away from your internet provider means you can move and switch and still your email address stays unchanged.

In conclusion, never enter any of the emails you’ve setup unless you were already planning to do so. Never email passwords or sensitive information to anyone. Never respond to advertisements, not even to tell them to stop sending you information, just mark them as Spam.

Always be aware that sending an email is very unsecure. It is the equivalent of screaming your message across the net and so expect little privacy.