Emails

[Brooke]

I've recently received a couple emails that I think (I hope) are legit and would help others, so I'm posting them here.

I get this kind of email all the time and always feel guilty if I don't forward:

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The man that sent this information is a computer tech. He spends a lot of time clearing the junk off computers for people and listens to complaints about speed. All forwards are not bad, just some. Be sure you read the very last paragraph.

He wrote:
By now, I suspect everyone is familiar with snopes.com and/or truthorfiction.com for determining whether information received via email is just that: true/false or fact/fiction. Both are excellent sites.

Advice from snopes.com VERY IMPORTANT!!
1) Any time you see an email that says "forward this on to '10' (or however many) of your friends", "sign this petition", or "you'll get bad luck" or "you'll get good luck" or "you'll see something funny on your screen after you send it" or whatever --- it almost always has an email tracker program attached that tracks the cookies and emails of those folks you forward to. The host sender is getting a copy each time it gets forwarded and then is able to get lists of 'active' email addresses to use in SPAM emails or sell to other spammers. Even when you get emails that demand you send the email on if you're not ashamed of God/Jesus --- that is email tracking, and they are playing on our conscience. These people don't care how they get your email addresses - just as long as they get them. Also, emails that talk about a missing child or a child with an incurable disease "how would you feel if that was your child" --- email tracking. Ignore them and don't participate!

2) Almost all emails that ask you to add your name and forward on to others are similar to that mass letter years ago that asked people to send business cards to the little kid in Florida who wanted to break the Guinness Book of Records for the most cards. All it was, and all any of this type of email is, is a way to get names and 'cookie' tracking information for telemarketers and spammers -- to validate active email accounts for their ownprofitable purposes.

You can do your Friends and Family members a GREAT favor by sending this information to them. You will be providing a service to your friends. And you will be rewarded by not getting thousands of spam emails in the future!

Do yourself a favor and STOP adding your name(s) to those types of listing regardless how inviting they might sound! Or make you feel guilty if you don't! It’s all about getting email addresses and nothing more.

You may think you are supporting a GREAT cause, but you are NOT!

Instead, you will be getting tons of junk mail later and very possibly a virus attached! Plus, we are helping the spammers get rich! Let's not make it easy for them!

ALSO: Email petitions are NOT acceptable to Congress or any other organization - i.e. social security, etc. To be acceptable, petitions must have a "signed signature"and full address of the person signing the petition, so this is a waste of time and you are just helping the email trackers.

[Prettymaid]

Good tips Brooke. I never do any of that stuff anyway.

[Brooke]

Well, I've fallen for it many times. I'm just too gullible I guess.

[MikeA]

After something like 15 years of the same eMail address, I've a spam filter larger than the one that I accept eMails from! I never "forward" eMails like the ones described. At most, I'll copy them and paste them into a new eMail....or paste them here on the Forum if I think they are worthy. To get the pictures if there are any, I individually save them and then upload them to my own website. That way, I KNOW there is no chance of carrying an infection on to those with whom I share them.

There really is no way to completely avoid getting on SPAM lists. At least not if you are going to be active on the Internet. But following tips like the one posted here will definitely slow down the exploitation of your Web Presence. It is good advise.

[Prettymaid]

It's funny - I read this while I was home for lunch and when I went back to work somebody I work with had emailed one of those to every one of us! When I told her what I had just read here she said she's too superstitious not to pass them on!

[Ive always been a dreamer]

After something like 15 years of the same eMail address, I've a spam filter larger than the one that I accept eMails from! I never "forward" eMails like the ones described. At most, I'll copy them and paste them into a new eMail....or paste them here on the Forum if I think they are worthy. To get the pictures if there are any, I individually save them and then upload them to my own website. That way, I KNOW there is no chance of carrying an infection on to those with whom I share them.

There really is no way to completely avoid getting on SPAM lists. At least not if you are going to be active on the Internet. But following tips like the one posted here will definitely slow down the exploitation of your Web Presence. It is good advise.

I totally agree with you here, Mike. Very good advice.

[bernie's bender]

this is great stuff, I'm gonna forward it to all my friends...

mostly because I'll have a lot of free time... this guy from Nigeria is sending me like 40 million dollars... and all I had to do was send him 3,000.00! What a great guy! he is like a prince or something...

That extra money will come in handy because I told all the guys on my softball team that I'm buying the whole team some male enhancement (whether they need it or not)... our team is called the Long Bombers....

[Eve]

this is great stuff, I'm gonna forward it to all my friends...

mostly because I'll have a lot of free time... this guy from Nigeria is sending me like 40 million dollars... and all I had to do was send him 3,000.00! What a great guy! he is like a prince or something...

That extra money will come in handy because I told all the guys on my softball team that I'm buying the whole team some male enhancement (whether they need it or not)... our team is called the Long Bombers....

LOL!
Anything that comes to me that says to forward to 10 people etc etc...gets immediately deleted. I don't go for that crap.

[Glennsallnighter]

I get a lot of 'personal messages' from people I have never heard of. Now I recognise them and just bin them without even opening them. Again they are from African people (Nigeria and DR Congo feature high). They need somebody to 'mind' a big fortune (like billions) and promise me a small fortune (like millions) to do this. They just need my bank account details to transfer the money!!

Lol!!

Do I have the word 'Gullible' as part of my email address????

[Freypower]

I don't actually get those. But when I get emails that claim to be Paypal or similar doing a 'customer survey' they become junk. They don't look right.