After yet another round with the spam bots and spammers - I've lost the plot slightly. So when someone I know just forwarded on yet another email hoax, I wrote following letter and BCC'd it to everyone he'd sent it to - since their address was for all and sundry to see.
Why your email address is about to compromised!
Who am I? I'm the guy who just received your email address from Steve, after he forwarded yet another chain email - this one was about a dying baby.
Rachel Arlington
Claim: AOL and ZDNet are donating 32¢ to the care of Rachel Arlington, a child with brain cancer in need of an operation her parents can't afford, for every e-mail forwarded.
Status: False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2000]
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/medical/arlington.asp>
Pretty old baby by now!
Now, I'm all for passing on a joke or two - but poorly thought out chain letters really get up my nose. And especially when they are just cc'd on, with everyone else's email address still embedded in the original letter from the dozen or so other forwardings from gullible Internet users - which in the long run will be harvested by those naughty spammers who for some reason think I've got a small member and need some help in my sex life, or that I really want a Rolex watch, or any of the other types of spam.
That's if we're lucky - there are still those miscreants who think they're funny by spreading virus's about via collected emails, which if you're lucky will just install porn links onto your computer - if you're really unlucky can actually physically destroy your computer.
So, do you forward the email on now?
If you receive a chain looking email, do a quick bit of research in Google and Snopes.com - you'll see they're hoaxes, and should be consigned to the bin, to eventually die away.
A quick fact - with the sheer volume of email being sent - 80% of which is spam - it's starting to get more expensive to send than a normal letter with a stamp through British Mail - and the ISP's are thinking of charging for you to send an email, buying stamps effectively.
So what now? You've received a funny email, and I've hopefully scared you enough to think twice about forwarding, well do think, email etiquette is something that is as relevant as etiquette in real life, follow the steps listed below and make your friends smile and keep them safe from spam:
More info' at http://www.emailreplies.com/
- Check it's not a spam, chain letter.
- Think about who would appreciate the message.
- Edit the title - remove the FW RE FW FW:
- Delete any email addresses from previous senders.
- Put people that you're sending to in the BCC - otherwise don't send it, CC should be used sparingly.
- Tidy out the >'s it's not easy to read a message broken up with those marks.
- Think again before hitting send!
And if you receive an email you really don't want, then email them back to this site for a polite message:
http://www.thanksno.com/
Hopefully this will be taken in the spirit of education and not as an attack, the Internet is getting to be a dangerous place - trust me, I've seen a lot of it. Now BCC this onto several thousand people and win a Bugatti Veyron!
Tim Knight
Caxton Theatre Webmaster
