people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses &
names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses
builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to
get a virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every E-mail
address that has come across his computer. Or, someone can take all of
those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes
that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit.
How do you stop it?
(1) When you forward an e-mail, click on FORWARD then DELETE all of the
other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top).
That's right, DELETE them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace
them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a
second. You MUST click the "Forward" button first and then you will have
full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message.
If you don't click on "Forward" first, you won't be able to edit the
message at all.
(2) Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do NOT use the
To: or Cc: fields for adding e-mail addresses.
Always use the BCC:(blind carbon copy) field for listing the e-mail
addresses. ;This is the way the people you send to will only see their
own e-mail address. If you don't see your BCC: option click on where it
says To: and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and
choose BCC: and that's it, it's that easy. When you send to BCC: your
message will automatically say "Undisclosed Recipients in the "TO:"
field of the people who receive it.
(3) Remove any "FW:" in the subject line. You can re-name the subject if
you wish or even fix spelling.
(4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual e-mail you are
reading. Ever get those e-mails that you have to open 10 pages to read
the one page with the information on it? By Forwarding from the actual
page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to open many
e-mails just to see what you sent.
(5) Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a
position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to
10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded
on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses. A
FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a
professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email
addresses contained therein. If you want to support the petition, send
it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position
may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names
and email address on a petition. (actually, if you think about it, who's
supposed to send the petition in to whatever cause it supports? And
don't believe the ones that say that the email is being traced, it just
ain't so!) One of the main ones I hate is the ones that say that
something like, "Send this email to 10 people and you'll see something
great run across your screen." Or sometimes they'll just tease you by
saying 'something really cute will happen.' IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!!!!
I don't let the bad luck ones scare me either, they get trashed. Before
you forward an 'Amber Alert', or a 'Virus Alert', or some of the other
ones floating around nowadays, check them out before you forward them.
Most of them are junk mail that's been circling the net for YEARS! Just
about everything you receive in an email that is in question can be
checked out at Snopes. Just go to www.snopes.com . It's really easy to
find out if it's real or not. If it's not, please don't pass it on.
So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses.
Finally, here's an idea!!! Let's send this to everyone we know (but
strip my address off first, please). This is something that SHOULD be
forwarded.
--
Waccamaw Mac Computer Club Websites:
http://MacElements.org/
http://WaccamawMacClub.zelf.us
