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Forwarding E-mails the Correct Way 1
Forwarding E-mails the Correct Way 2

 



BACK TO BASICS:

Got SPAM?

Avoiding Junk E-mail

One of the most common methods for an unscrupulous SPAM company to obtain and use your e-mail address is actually a direct result of how you, your friends and your relatives forward e-mails to one another.

  Illustration
 

Receiving unsolicited, SPAM e-mail into your e-mail programıs "Inbox" is one of the most aggravating results of being online today. If you've been surfing the Web for any length of time, chances are pretty good that you receive many SPAM e-mails on a daily basis. Subjects include everything from get-rich-quick schemes, to weight loss plans, to low mortgage rate offers as well as invitations to pornography sites. Most experts predict this problem will only get worse. But how do these SPAMMERS get your e-mail address in the first place and is there anything you can do to reduce the amount of SPAM coming to you?

How SPAMMERS Get Your E-mail Address
One of the most common methods for an unscrupulous SPAM company to obtain and then use your e-mail address is actually a direct result of how you, your friends and your relatives forward e-mails to one another. Let's look at an example:

You read an e-mail containing an inspiring story and forward it to twenty of your friends using the "Forward" button found on your e-mail program's toolbar. You utilize either the "To:" field or the "Cc:" (carbon copy) field on your e-mail form to "copy in" your friends. (These are the most common methods utilized when forwarding e-mails.) Your friends then open and read the inspiring e-mail message and each friend forwards the message to twenty of their friends using the same methodology described above. This is where the problem occurs. In each follow-up forwarding incident, the recipient receiving the e-mail is able to see the e-mail addresses of others copied in on the message once they select the "Forward" button to send the message to their friends. Each previously carbon copied friend is listed at the top of the e-mail message (which is then forwarded) as well as the e-mail address of the original person forwarding the message ­ that's you. If this same procedure were followed just five times whereby each recipient forwards the same e-mail message to twenty friends, and those twenty friends send it to twenty of their friends and so on, your e-mail address, as well as those of your original twenty friends, will have been given to over 3.2 million people ... one of whom is probably a SPAMMER who collects e-mail addresses and not only sends you SPAM but sells your e-mail address to other SPAMMERS!

Reducing SPAM By Forwarding E-mails Correctly
When forwarding interesting stories or jokes via e-mail to your friends, be sure to put the e-mail addresses of your friends into the "Bcc:" (blind carbon copy) field on your e-mail form rather than the "Cc:" field. Recipients will not see who else you sent the story to when they go to forward the message, nor will the people your friends forward the message to. If you do receive a message from a friend that contains the e-mail addresses of other people, help protect the privacy of these people's e-mail addresses by highlighting and then deleting their addresses from the message before forwarding the e-mail. Encourage your friends and relatives to follow these same guidelines when forwarding e-mails. It will protect the privacy of your e-mail address and help cut down on everyone's receipt of SPAM!
 

 
     

Correctly Forwarding E-mails Method 1 Tutorial

Correctly Forwarding E-mails Method 2 Tutorial

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Cover Story  |  Different Strokes  |  Internet Connections  |  Browser Basics  |  E-mail Basics  
Frequently Asked Questions  |  Website Reviews   |  Back to Basics  |  Glossary  |  Helpful Sites  |  Tutorials