Stop the Endless Forwarding of Garbage Emails!
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Lean to Say NO!
Chain letters have been around since at least the late 1700's. The advent of the internet, and the ease of email has taken chain mail to a whole new level.
Is it really bad to forward that email out to all your friends, family, neighbors and anyone else in your address book.
The answer is an unequivlacal yes! This lens will explore how to idenify fradulent emails, hoaxes and urban legends. In addition, I will explain the reason why forwarding these emails aren't just annoying, but can be putting your family and friends at risk. Lastly, if you do have somehting you have to share, I'll show you how to SAFELY forward the email on to provide the most privacy to your mailing list!
Jump To...
Find the tips and tricks quickly!
- The Chain Letter Defined
- Do You Like Spammers?
- So where did the term spam come from anyway?
- Why is SPAM so bad?
- Check it Out
- What Can I do to Help?
- More Resources
- More information on scams, frauds and just plain bad news
- Confessional and Resolutions
- Simple Tips for Idenifying Bad Emails
- Learn to Love and Use Your Blind Carbon Copy Feature
- Protect Yourself from Spammers
- Learn More About Uban Legends
- Stop Spreading Bad Information
- Spam in the News
- New Cool Tools
“No one bill will cure the problem of spam. It will take a combined effort of legislation, litigation”
The Chain Letter Defined
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A typical chain letter consists of a message that attempts to induce the recipient to make a number of copies of the letter and then pass them on to one or more new recipients. A chain letter can be considered a type of meme.Common methods used in chain letters include emotionally manipulative stories, get-rich-quick pyramid schemes, and the exploitation of superstition to threaten the recipient with bad luck or even physical violence or death if he or she "breaks the chain" and refuses to adhere to the conditions set out in the letter.
Chain letters are capable of evolution, generally improving their ability to convince their hosts to replicate them over time.
This sometimes occurs through deliberate modification of the chain letter by a recipient, or sometimes through purely accidental imperfect copying.
Do You Like Spammers?
You do if you forward emails!
Spammers count on us, the public, to be uninformed and ignorant of their tactics. The more anti-spam software that gets put on the market, the more ways they come up with to get through those barriers.
So where did the term spam come from anyway?
See the Monty Python Skit that inspired our name for junk email
Why is SPAM so bad?
And we are talking about the email, not the tinned meat.
First, studies have been done that show SPAM has an actual economic impact. How you might ask?According to Ferris Research Inc., a San Francisco consulting group, spam will cost U.S. organizations more than $10 billion this year. The figure includes lost productivity and the additional equipment, software and manpower needed to combat the problem.
Each and every message sent uses up bandwidth, slowing down mail servers and delaying legitimate messages. Internet Service Provides have to continually invest time and money into developing new and improved spam filters. Each time the filters improve, spammers find a new hole in the fence.
SPAM reduces productivity and takes up time. Each message that has to be reviewed by an employee for validity is time not being spent on the company. Digging through spam messages keeps employees from focusing on the emails you want them to see, either internal or from valued customers.
Spam filters can also erroneously move legitimate emails into spam or "bulk" mail folders. These messages can be missed, thus not responded to in a timely manner, if ever.
Spam can bring in viruses, spyware and trojan horses. A virus can bring down a company and cost thousands upon thousands of dollars. The worldwide cost of the Code Red virus unleashed in July and August of 2001 cost upwards of $2.6 billion dollars (6 years ago).
Check it Out
Confirm emails before forwarding!
Chances are, if you have received a chain email, someone else has gotten it before you. Instead of being one of the sheep that blindly forward everything that hits their inbox, check out your sources! Find out if the email is true before you forward it on.
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What Can I do to Help?
Or how to improve your forwarding habits in 6 easy steps
- Don't forward EVERYTHING that comes into your inbox. Read it and then really think about it. Is it truly funny? Is it applicable to anyone you know? Only send those things that you know will give someone a smile on.
- Don't forward anything that might be a hoax. Missing Children, Internet Taxes, Virus Warnings, Gas Boycotts, Toxic Product Reports or anything that promises to pay your or someone else for forwarding the email should be checked for validity prior to sending. See the section about Myth Busting and Hoaxes for more information.
- If you do forward, protect the people who are the recipients. Always use the BCC feature (Blind Carbon Copy) to protect their email addresses from spammers. If the person who sent you the email was not as courteous, remove the email addresses that appear in the forwarding text.
- Remove the chain letter aspects of the email. If you received a truly touching poem, prayer or anything else, delete the part about "If you send this to 7 people in the next 7 minutes...." There are people superstitious and gullible enough to continue to send these emails in never ending circles until the end of time. If you like the message in the email, go ahead and send it. Don't make others feel obligated to do the same.
- Review the email. How many times have you gotten the same message from the same person? Do you really need to share the same cartoon with everyone AGAIN? If you have seen this email before, chances are everyone in your address book has too. You wouldn't keep calling your friends and leaving the same voice mail over and over and over again would you?
- Consider an alternate place to share these messages. I use my blog to post emails that I get that I really like. This way, my friends, family and random internet users can see the message, but they don't have their email box filled up, and they can view it at their leisure.
More Resources
- BreakTheChain.org - Stop Junk E-mail and Misinformation
- Stop junk e-mail and misinformation.
- Undesired Email Flavours: Internet Hoaxes and Chain Letters
- Why people shouldn't forward chain letters and hoaxes
- Chain Letters Anonymous
- Can't give up sending chain mail cold turkey? We can help!
- OnGuard Online - Spam Scams
- OnGuardOnline.gov provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.
More information on scams, frauds and just plain bad news
- Scam o Rama: The Lads from Lagos
- funny scam letters
- Ripoff and Scammer Alerts
- Ripoff and Scammer Alerts
Confessional and Resolutions
It's ok, you can admit that you have in the past, spammed your friends with hoaxes and chain letters. Go ahead, feel free to confess and turn over a new leaf. It's never to late to stop your forwarding frenzy.
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morach2009
Nov 13, 2010 @ 3:31 am | delete
- My wedding gift mixer (a Sunbeam Mixmaster) turned 33 a week before Christmas, and my husband thought it was time for me to have a new one. He gifted me on Christmas with the KitchenAid 5 Qt. Artisan in white. I love this mixer and leave it out on my counter, something I never did with the Mixmaster. I recently purchased the citrus juicer attachment from Amazon and am very pleased with it as well. I have not read all 109 previous reviews on this site, but I have read a few that were disgruntled because their Artisans did not mix well.
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Emily
Dec 18, 2008 @ 3:16 pm | in reply to gorkybo | delete
- Chain mail REALLY annoys me.
I'm a teen, so I get loads of stuff daily. Really bugs me. I too am tempted to send emails telling people to stop chain mail with links to this and other site, but a lot of the people who send these to me would find this waaay too ironic and then slag me for it...
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Mickie_G
Sep 18, 2008 @ 6:31 pm | delete
- Nice work. I, too, get lots of chain email. Hopefully, my friends will read my two Squidoo lenses and quit sending it!
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gorkybo
Jun 2, 2008 @ 1:44 am | delete
- Spam are really a sort of pest in the internet community. If you can only get rid of them all. It's really frustrating to find unwanted emails in your inbox, and lots of it in fact, not knowing where they came from or what they are (virus or spyware maybe). Is there a complete solution to solve this, I haven't find anything yet, maybe a antispam software that can solve all this. Meanwhile, I'll follow your advice. Thanks.
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Pappu
Feb 29, 2008 @ 3:05 pm | delete
- Mandi,
i've been dyin to spread the same message across. Ppl still keep sending me spam in the name of philanthropy or luck. I'm sick. May be i should start a chain mail saying "stop sending chain mails"
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- Load More
Simple Tips for Idenifying Bad Emails
- If it sounds too good to be true - it is.
- No on, and I mean no one, is going to pay you for forwarding emails. Not AOL, not Time-Warner, no one. End of story.
- Beware of anything that TELLS you to forward it to your friends and family.
- Be wary of attachments. Don't click on any attachments if you don't know who the sender is. Even if you do know who sent you the email, exersize caution, use virus protection or verify that they did send you the attachment and that it's safe to open.
- Check for links to log in sites. Phishers are counting on you to click that link and log in, so they can steal your user name, account info and password. If you aren't expecting something, don't click. If you think it's legitimate, check out the sources real website by going directly there.
- Watch out for masked emails. Some emails will contain one name in the display name, and have an actual email address that does not even come close. Spammers do this hoping that you know a John Smith, and will open their junk mail.
- Beware of charity requests. Legitimate charities and companies do not need to use spam to raise money. The have donor lists with opt in and out options, as well as many other ways to raise funds.
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You will NEVER, NEVER EVER, make any money helping someone who lives in another country get their funds into the US. Really, I am going to get a little sarcastic, but they keep sending them because someone out there is falling for them! Seriously people....No, just stop, all you are doing is spending your hard earned money on some slimy spammer who lives better than you or I ever will. If you really feel the need to throw money away, give it to me, I will at least spend it in the US and boost the American economy.
I can't make this point strong enough. Why would they pick you? Out of how many million people, they found your I love to knit kitten sweaters 1986265 email address and decided you were an honest person?
Learn to Love and Use Your Blind Carbon Copy Feature
Here's how it works
There are several fields at the top of every email. Here is a basic explanation, and how to enable and use the BCC feature.The "To" field is the main person the message is intended for.
The "CC" field is for Carbon Copies - people who should be kept in the loop, but are not meant to be the direct recipient.
The next field, "BCC." stands for Blind Carbon Copy - in other words and invisible recipient list.
How to use Blind Carbon Copy:
Not all mail programs will support this feature, but most of them do include it these days.
Add all emails that you are sending the forwarded email to into the BCC Field instead of the To or CC fields. This will prevent anyone from seeing who you sent the email to, thus helping protect your family and friends from spammers who would gladly harvest their addresses.
If you do not see a "BCC" field, check out the options tab on your email program. Often times it is as simple as checking a box to enable this feature to automatically appear on each and every email.
If you aren't sure how to enable this feature, check out the help files for the program. If this is not an option, go to Google or the search engine of your choice and type in "BCC [The name of your email program] and you will probably find several articles on how to use the feature.
If your email program prohibits you from sending email with out someone specified in the "To" box, put in your own email address. This will allow the message to go out, and still protects everyone since they already knew the email was from you.
Protect Yourself from Spammers
Learn More About Uban Legends
Stop Spreading Bad Information
How to determine if something is a hoax
It's so tempting to think that emails that are presented as informative, helping school children, or trying to find missing or exploited children are all sent with the best of intentions. However, this is often far from the truth.Emails can change over time. An email that started out with good information can, like a game of telephone, change after passing through countless inboxes. Text is added or deleted, images are lost - and suddenly you have a message that is no longer what was intended.
Email can become outdated rapidly. In the case of the email that was to "Help Identify Two Year Old Tsunami Victim" was spread across the net rapidly, and actually did what it was meant to do. Because of this message, According to a USA Today article, the boy, Hannes Bergstroem , was reunited with his father after his uncle saw a photograph of him on the Internet. I saw this email being spread a year after the Tsunami tragedy. You may wonder "What's the harm?" in continuing to send these missives out. Well, the more invalid emails about something as serious as a missing child that are posted, the more jaded we become, and the more likely they are to be ignored.
Some emails are just malicious hoaxes. They use fear to motivate us. There have been cases where fake virus warnings have advised users to delete a specific file on their computer, saying it was dangerous. Unfortunately, those were operating system files that belong there. Thus the virus warning became a virus of sorts for those who fell for it's message.
If it sounds too good to be true it is. Use common sense. There is no reason to believe something just because it's in written words on your computer.
When in doubt double check or delete. Don't send on anything if you feel that it's fake. You can't applicate those people who send you oblivious scams, why would your friends want them?
Spam in the News
It's still a huge problem
New Cool Tools
A great blog
by Mandi
Hello Squidooers! I work in the IT and internet industry and as a web designer. I have a variety of interests, and love making up new lenses... more »
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