Excellent. Useful. Everybody, read it. Thank you.
------ Forwarded Message From: Stan Jakuba <...> Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:53:47 -0500 To: "U.S. Metric Association" <...> Subject: [...] Safe EMAIL ETIQUETTE Safe Email Etiquette > > By John Roy, President, The PC Users Group of Connecticut www.tpcug-ct.org/ > <http://www.tpcug-ct.org/> > > Do you really know how to forward an e-mail? It is estimated that over fifty > percent of email users do not know how to do it properly. Do you wonder why > you get viruses or junk mail? Email messages get forwarded countless times > without concern for the security of the previous sender¹s addresses. > > Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the > people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses and > names. As the messages get forwarded along the list of addresses builds and > builds creating a huge resource for spammers. All it takes is for someone to > get a virus and the infected computer can send that virus to every e-mail > address that has come across that computer. > > Even if the address collection doesn¹t result in a virus it surely will be > harvested by spammers or someone looking to make a couple of cents for a > listing of good email addresses. How do you stop or at least minimize the > propagation of email addresses? There are several easy steps that we should > all practice. > > (1) Before you send out a forwarded e-mail, DELETE all of the other addresses > that appear in the body of the message (at the top). That¹s 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 Forward¹ > button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the > body and headers of the message. If you don¹t click on Forward¹ first, you > won¹t 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 addinge-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 don¹t see your BCC: > option click on where it says To: and your address list will appear. > Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that¹s it, it¹s that easy. When you > send to BCC: your message will automatically say Undisclosed Recipients¹ in > the TO:¹ field of the people who receive it. > > (3) Remove any FW:¹ 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 of email addresses 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, who¹s supposed to send the petition in to > whatever cause it supports? And don¹t believe the ones that say that the > email is being traced, it just isn¹t so!) > > (6) One of the main ones I hate is the ones that say that something like, > Send this email to 10 people and you¹ll see something great run across your > screen.¹ Or, sometimes they¹ll just tease you by saying something really cute > will happen IT AIN¹T TRUE, IT¹S NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!!!! (Trust me; I¹m still > seeing some of the same ones that I waited on 10 years ago!) I don¹t let the > bad luck ones scare me either, they get trashed. (Could that be why I haven¹t > won the lottery?) > > (7) 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 that¹s been circling the net for Years! Just about > everything you receive in an email that is in question can be checked on > www.snopes.com <http://www.snopes.com/> or www.truthorfiction.com > <http://www.truthorfiction.com/> -- And if it is not correct, don't send it > on! > > ------ End of Forwarded Message
