Out of office emails can be bad for security

There is also the issue of security. If you have any contact information (e.g. your email address, work and phone number, supervisor contact info) or your signature added to the out-of-office reply, it could help scammers piece together the elements needed for identity theft.

 

When your auto-reply is turned on and someone sends you a message, your mail server will send the out of office reply back to the spammers, confirming that your email address is a valid one.

 

In turn, they will get confirmation that their spam reached a real live target. Your address will likely be added to other spam lists as a confirmed hit.

 

Moreover, by replying that you are on vacation, you are offering vital information to others. It’s possible – though perhaps unlikely – that your message might get sent to someone who then knows when the best time is to break into your home or company.

 

Imagine letting everyone know that all company employees are away for one week during the holidays, or that you and your family are not at home because you are flying out for two weeks of vacation. Better safe than sorry: no out-of-office emails, no risks!

 

If you want to avoid putting yourself at risk and creating an unpleasant experience for your customers, it’s better to talk to one of your colleagues to see if they can take over your external communication while you are gone.

 

Of course, if you are away for a longer time of period and no one can take care of your emails, then its best to check often. But keep in mind when if you do decide to use out of office message that strangers, spammers, and scammers may see and crawl your automated out of office.

 

Don’t put any personal info (e.g. phone number, address, name, etc.) in your email if you normally wouldn’t give it to strangers.

 

 

Out-of-office email messages present a safety risk if you include personal information in them like your phone number, email address, and secondary contact details.

 

Scammers can try and use these pieces of information to steal your identity. What’s more, if your out-of-office email message reaches the wrong person, they might attempt to break into your home or office while you’re away.

 

Luckily, some email clients allow you to choose to send your out-of-office reply only to your contacts. If you aren’t sure whether your email service provider offers this option, the smartest thing to do is not use out of office emails at all.

 

If you decide that using out-of-office emails is the right choice for you, you should make sure to include the following pieces of information in them:

 

The reason for your unavailability (sick leave, business conference, family vacation, etc.)

Your delayed response times (when you’ll be able to get back to the email sender)

Secondary contact details (a teammate’s email address and/or phone number, but only if they’ve agreed to it)

 

No one really wants to get their inbox filled with useless emails;  the importance of a clean inbox is to improve your workflow and professional life.

 

It can be especially annoying when the emails which are flooding in aren’t even helping your business, but are simply out of office (out of office) messages from someone who is currently on holiday!

 

There are a lot of reasons to not use out of office emails: security threats, irrelevance for your company, and the simple fact that they aren’t necessary.

 

On the other hand, there are situations when an out of office message is really needed for your email inbox this is for you to decide i hope this look into the security side was useful