Suspicious emails?

It doesn't matter if you click on them. Mail, Outlook and eM Client (and probably all email clients), don't download any images in an email unless you tell it to.

Why is that important? When your email client downloads any images meant to be viewed in the email, it has to request the image from the server where the image(s) reside. That server then logs the information of the user who retrieved the email. Why do they care? That tells them it's a live address and means you'll get even more spam, and your address will be added to any number of validated lists spammers sell to each other.

That's why Outlook and eM Client don't download any images until you tell them to. Apple's newer version of Mail takes a different approach. Rather than not downloading images like it used to, it now does, but then prevents the information of who retrieved from going back to the server.

So, short version. Click away. Just opening the email doesn't do anything nefarious. You'd have to actively do something you shouldn't for anything to happen. Like opening an attachment, following a link, or calling an unknown telephone number.

Along with IdrisSeabright's excellent advice:

Is there any risk whatsoever to open and read them as long as nothing is clicked on? 

Can the sender then see that the mail is opened, the account is active and information be leaked this way?

As I already explained, as long as you have your email set to only retrieve embedded images from your contacts, or not at all (the default in Outlook), then spammers don't even know you've looked at their junk. They get no feedback the email has been retrieved.

Also, as IdrisSeabright noted, the info they stick in these "you were naughty" emails is pulled from the many data breaches you've seen in the news over the years. The thing is, that's all they have. Your email address. So they try to make it look like they have more information on you than they really do.

That's the goal of all of this junk. Try to scare the user into doing something they shouldn't. If they didn't need your help to access your Apple ID, bank accounts, or whatever, then they wouldn't waste their time sending you this junk in the first place. They'd just dig into anything they could access.

I can't even count how many of those emails I've gotten. And very likely hundreds more I've never seen as I have a couple of filters set up to catch them on my web hosting site. Those get deleted immediately, without ever going to my inbox.

It isn't hard to tell they're fake. Especially for me since I don't have any cameras on my Mac. So, just where would this supposed video come from?

Open Outlook's settings. Under the Reading section, make sure the radio button shown below is set to Never. Or at least In messages from my contacts, since those would already be trusted sources. But definitely not In all messages.

RS1250 wrote:

I am using Outlook web version, and there I see pictures that are sent to me without downloading them in a small but full version at the top left of the email.

You are worrying about this far out of proportion to the actual danger. By doing that, you are, as the expression goes, allowing the spammers to live rent-free in your head.

Unless you click on a link in the email, the worst that is likely to happen is that the spammer may know your email address is active. But honestly, I don't think most of them even care that much. They are not spending the time to check on that. They are just sending out tens of thousands of emails and hoping a few people click.

Don't click. Delete. Done.

If an e-mail looks suspicious, I would recommend NOT opening it at all. Scammers can use image files that, when loaded or clicked on, will collect your IP (location, device type, etc). Stay safe.

Can it do any harm to use the mouse pointer over image links, attachments etc. in suspicious emails to get more information about them?

No, and in fact Apple used to advocate that technique.

The following is a screenshot from an older version of Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support:

Strictly speaking merely clicking a link in an email message does exactly nothing other than load a web page. However, be advised webpages that load as the result of clicking a link sent in a malicious phishing email can look exactly like a legitimate one.

That's the reason most of us follow the generally sound advice of "never click links in an email".

RS1250 wrote:

Do I understand it correctly that the scammer who sends such a mentioned message cannot gain access to any private information if i simply opening such an email with images that load, but are not clicked on?

Correct. If you haven't set things so the images don't load, the scammer may know that you've opened the email. All that can lead to is more spam. But, as you're going to get more spam no matter what you do, it's not a huge concern.

Is what apples_aregreat says then wrong, or what do apples_aregreat mean by that?

They are being overly cautious.

As noted, though, there is no reason to open the emails. Periodically, scan through your spam folder to see if there are any legitimate senders then delete everything else. Don't waste any more time or thought on it than that.

Never open suspicious emails.

Scammers have proven themselves to be capable of circumventing pretty much every electronic attempt to control them to one degree or another. What works today may not work tomorrow.

Th best advice is still don't open any email, file, folder or what have you if you don't know the originator. You need to rely on that small voice in your head that says something about this is just not right. Unfortunately, that small voice is usually good because of slip-ups in past.

I hover over some, but never click anything suspicious. often I can check the source such as banks and credit card companies. I can also send an email to a known contact to verify they actually sent something.

Eternal vigilance is the price of peace and thwarting spammers. Purely electronic measures can always be negated and some scammers are masters at imitation.

RS1250 wrote:

In many cases, people want to read spam to see if it's real, or to find out if the content is a scam or not - and then they have to be opened.

Is there any risk whatsoever to open and read them as long as nothing is clicked on? 

Can the sender then see that the mail is opened, the account is active and information be leaked this way?

What is the general advice here and what do you do?

The reality is that you're going to get spam no matter what you do. I find that in the vast majority of cases, when I review my spam folder, it's pretty easy to tell just from the subject line that it's spam. I occasionally open some of the "Nigerian Prince" scams because they can be amusing. As long as you don't give the spammers information, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Let the spam filters do their job.

In threat emails, ransom emails, adult scams etc. then you want to see what personal information, passwords etc. the sender may have obtained, so that you can act by changing passwords, closing accounts, closing bank cards, reporting etc. - and then you have to open the email.

You really don't need to do that. As I mentioned above, if they truly had usernames and passcodes that were usable, they wouldn't be emailing you to confirm that. They are trying to get you to give them that information or, they are using old information to scare you into giving them money. You don't need to change all of your accounts just because a spammer claims to have information.

You also get a deadline for these, and then you can change your password, close your account, close your bank card, report etc. in the meantime?

Why are you paying attention to those scams? Delete them. You can read them if they amuse you but you don't need to do anything else with them.

What is the general advice here and what do you do?

Stop overthinking this. Mark things as spam if they make it past your spam filter. Do a quick check periodically to make sure nothing legitimate has gotten caught in your spam filters. Delete spam. Accept that you will get more.

Per IdrisSeabright:

You are worrying about this far out of proportion to the actual danger.

It literally doesn't matter if you open a spam/scam email. Nothing evil will happen. Zip. Nada. Zero.

As I and John Galt have already said, the worst that can happen, if you click on a link in the email, is you'll be jumped to a web site. Big deal. Nothing can happen there, either, unless the user foolishly continues on and fills in personal information, downloads some sort of junk they want you to install, or call a crook's phone number. All of those require YOU to do something foolish.

Until you do something like that, there is not one tiny thing to worry about. Zip. Nada. Zero.

Basically, stop believing what you read on the web where they make it sound like just breathing can cause malware to take over your computer. It won't, and can't happen.

If the scammer has your personal information already, they aren't going to send you an email to tell you. They will just use the account information for whatever they can get. The whole point of most of these emails is to trick you into giving them that information.