1. Email Hoaxes

Some email hoaxes are relatively harmless, other than causing some anxiety and misinformation. If you get an email about deodorants causing cancer or HIV-infected needles in pay phone coin returns (oldies but goodies), please don't forward it. There are thousands of hoax emails in circulation that do nothing but waster our time and clutter our Inboxes.

 

Other emails are downright dangerous. If you get an email saying you've won a $50 ITunes gift certificate, don't open the file that's attached, as it contains a computer virus! And if you receive an email from PayPal that says an error has been detected in your Paypal account and you must submit an attached form verifying your details or risk having the account suspended, delete it immediately.

 

Visit Hoaxbusters to learn how to recognize hoaxes and what to do about them, and use the site to check out any email that might be a hoax before opening an attached file or forwarding it.

 

 

2. Forwarding Emails

Please be courteous when forwarding emails. Only forward stories or jokes that are REALLY funny or inspiring, as most people don't have time to read a lot of this type of thing. I used to get about a hundred funny stories a week from a friend that had a lot of free time. I had to tactfully tell him that I enjoyed an occasional email, but didn't have time to read more than that. I asked him to be elective about what he sent. He was not at all offended by my request and complied right away, greatly reducing the size of my Inbox.

 

 

3. Respect Others' Privacy

Do you ever get emails that include lists of other people's email addresses? There is software that businesses and identity thieves use to "mine" addresses from emails, just like coal is mined from a deposit. The software scans the email and pulls email addresses from it, adding them to a distribution list. This list is then used to send you email ads, or worse, to send you emails that scam you into giving personal information that can be used to steal your identity (phishing). Tricky, eh?

 

To avoid subjecting all of your friends and coworkers to this, delete all email addressed from emails before forwarding them. Also, instead of listing the people you want to send to using the "To" field, use the "Bcc" (blind carbon copy) field instead. This keeps everyone from seeing everyone else's email address. This is a great way to respect the privacy of others.