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This ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send e-mails.
Please read this short letter and read the "using BCC" narrative below it, even if you're sure you already follow proper procedures.
And,
What is Spam? How to report
& block Spam, Spam Blockers, Phishing, Fraud eMail.
(harrold.org/links)
A System Administrator for a large corporate system, has this to say: "Do you really know how to forward e-mails?" 50% of us do; 50% of us DO NOT. Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it? 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 & 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. That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel! How do you stop it? Well, there are several easy steps: (1) When you forward an e-mail, 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 will 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 Its really easy to find out if its 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. source, credit: the above email received from jrp There are exceptions to this 'use BCC field' rule, obviously;
however, in most emailings using the BCC (blind carbon copy) is best for
everyone.
Remember, before forwarding email, delete
prior email recipients addresses/email names and previous senders'
names/addresses.
source: http://www.hamra.net/fun/bcc.htm
Use BCC field when
addressing mass mail
PLEASE READ and become a better E-mail user. This information is intended not only to make you a neater "E-mailer" but one that is more considerate and more thoughtful... Your friends will be thankful. Would you write your friends' phone numbers on the walls of public places? If you answer no, then why would you share their private E-mail addresses with a group of strangers, many of whom will CARELESSLY forward the same addresses to even more strangers? Don't do it! Instead, use the BCC feature of your E-mail program. BCC means Blind Carbon Copy. It is a way of addressing mail to more than one person so that everyone's address is not displayed for all to see. Every E-mail program (including the free, web-based E-mail services) allow you to address messages using BCC, in other words, to "BCC" one or more recipients. Some require that you provide at least ONE address in the TO: field. If this is the case, place YOUR OWN address in the TO: field and all your recipients' addresses in the BCC field. WHY:
HOW:
Related Links
Actual Stories (yeah, right!):
Resources/The Truth - (there's help out there; SEEK IT.)
Finally, here's an idea!!! Let's send this to everyone we know. This is something that SHOULD be forwarded. Harrold note about: eMail Rumors, Chain Letter Fraud, Electronic Ephemera, Hoaxes, Jokes, Myths, Urban Legends You can find Snopes.com and many other hoax reporting web sites at: http://www.harrold.org/rfhextra/hoax.html It is astonishing how many email are re-circulated around the Internet that are pure hoax and fabrication. If you receive an email that contains a rumor, check one of the "Hoax" sites at http://www.harrold.org/rfhextra/hoax.html to check if it has been reported and/or researched for authenticity before you elect to perpetuate the hoax yourself. |
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