Many of the computers which have viruses or other malware are a result of someone falling for a phishing email.

Phishing emails are designed to look like they are from a legitimate company such as a bank or financial institution, or an online business which you may have used in the past. A phishing email could also look like it is from a friend or family member.

So how do you determine if an email is legitimate or phishing?   If an email request you update or verify your account it is in all likely-hood a phishing email.  There are virtually no companies which will send you and email requesting you log in to your account and input your user name and password.

If you still want to proceed, then close the email, open a browser window and manually type in the address to the company.  Once there you can see if they have any notices about recent phishing incidents, or you could send in a comment to their IT or security department.  You could also call them.

Under no circumstance should you ever enter any personal information into a link provided by an email as it usually leads to bad things.

In the event you have clicked on a link embedded in an email and entered a user name and password, the best thing to do is contact the company by phone and have them reset your password.  You may also want to bring your computer in to a professional to have them make sure there are no compromises on the system.