...if only more people understand how SPAMmers gain access to your address, it may eventually help to greatly reduce, if not put an end to the problem of SPAM.
All of us have wondered how on earth we end up getting onto so many SPAM lists. Would you believe that gentle, loving, very well-meaning friends and family are responsible for a large part of it? There are two very simple, but poorly understood problems that invariably result in SPAM. More often than not, these two mistakes are made in a single e-mail, which greatly increases the likelihood of SPAM.
1. Sending e-mail with addresses "In the Open" rather than "Blind". When you go to address a e-mail, by clicking on "To", your Address Book appears. All of your contacts appear in the left hand column. On the right are three boxes labeled, "To", "Cc" & "Bcc".
If you are sending a e-mail to multiple recipients and put all of the addresses in either the "To" or "Cc" boxes, every recipient will be able to read, (and use), the address of every other person to whom the e-mail is sent. This is referred to as sending the addresses "In the Open." If you are sending a e-mail to multiple recipients and put all of the addresses in the "Bcc" (Blind Carbon Copy) box, each person will receive it -- but none of them will be able to see the address of anyone else to whom it is sent.
Many servers will automatically reject any e-mail that lacks an entry in the "To" box. For this reason, if you use "Bcc" for the addresses of those to whom you are sending the e-mail, you will need to place your own address in the "To" box. This will ensure that everyone receives it -- but yours is the only address that appears "In the Open."
2. Using the "Forward" button, without first deleting any and all previous addresses that appear "In the Open," All of us receive items that we want to share with friends and family. All too often however, people find it just too easy to hit the "Forward" button and then add the "In the Open" addresses of their own friends and family.
Just recently, I received a single e-mail that contained almost two hundred "In the Open," readable, SELLable, e-mail addresses. It had been forwarded five times and not once had anyone bothered to remove any of the previous addresses or use the "Bcc" line! To a SPAMmer, this is pure gold. He can sell every address on the SPAM market. And the SPAMmers not only use them -- they then reduce their overhead costs by selling them again to others. And suddenly, everyone is wondering just how on earth they are getting so much SPAM from around the world -- and much of it would make a sailor blush. The original sender of this e-mail knew only two of the people on the first "Forward," and not a soul on those that followed.
The e-mail you are now reading has been received by over two thousand other people on my mailing list, but it is totally worthless to a SPAMmer, because all of the addresses were entered in the "Bcc" line and the only address anyone can read is my own. Now! As to "Other E-mail Courtesy."
If you feel that the information I have provided is worth sharing with friends and family then, for goodness sake, care enough about them not to impose a constantly growing number of >>>>>>>'s on every line, every time it is forwarded! "Click," "Drag" to highlight and "Copy" onto a new e-mail. The only thing on the Internet that is as nearly frustrating as SPAM, is trying to read what would otherwise be a beautiful piece, while trying to ignore the >>>>>>>'s on every line
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