Don't believe everything that you receive in your email. It is really easy to do. Take the key words of the story and search in the search engines. You know you don't want to look silly when someone writes you back saying you passed on a false story. Frequently run a virus check on your computer.
New viruses show up everyday.
The numbers get encrypted over a secured link on the internet but doesn't over a phone line. Think about it. Sometimes when people email you junk email, they are trying to see if your email address is current. By replying to their email, they don't usually take you off of their list. They would either keep sending you things, or sell your email address since they now know it is current.