Joke e-mails ... are they a threat?

Muppet81

So... I don't have to be the miserable git who won't open her messages any more :j

shandypants5

Muppet81 wrote: »

So... I don't have to be the miserable git who won't open her messages any more :j

No, you can just be a miserable git now.

:rotfl::rotfl:

Muppet81

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

ICATQ

If your forwarding joke emails at work, you might be contravening a work computer policy - just a thought - getting sacked for a few jokes !!

Muppet81

Thanks. Good point to make but in my case it is just home use.

aerostar

The BIG problem is that when people forward these e-mails, they never cutout the previous email addresses that it has been sent to, and never use the BCC option when sending to other people in their address book.

It only needs one person in the list to have a virus/malware and all the e-mail addresses could be harvested for the spammers, this is how you start getting spam.

After all you would never send the contents of your personal address and telephone number book to all and sundry as that is the equivalent.

Also people who use work computers could well fall foul of the data protection act and open the company to prosecution and to a fine.

esuhl

aerostar wrote: »

The BIG problem is that when people forward these e-mails, they... never use the BCC option...

After all you would never send the contents of your personal address and telephone number book to all and sundry as that is the equivalent.

It isn't necessarily safe to assume that addresses entered in the BCC field will be hidden from other recipients. The specification in RFC 2822 apparently does not require this.

hundredk

aerostar wrote: »

It only needs one person in the list to have a virus/malware and all the e-mail addresses could be harvested for the spammers, this is how you start getting spam.

Sorry if I'm going a bit off topic...

I receive a few emails per week from unknown recipients but the "from" name is similar, but not the same as someone I know or have emailed at sometime or have in my contacts. My question is, are there spammers out there who can run a program to look for similarities in email addresses so that when it is received the reader may at first glance think it is from someone they know and trust? There seems to be to may to put down to coincidence.

Taffybiker

aerostar wrote: »

The BIG problem is that when people forward these e-mails, they never cutout the previous email addresses that it has been sent to, and never use the BCC option when sending to other people in their address book.

Absolutely. The spammers are rubbing their hands with glee when they receive an email with hundreds of email addresses in it simply because people do not use the BCC function.

Muppet81

I am as bothered about being inundated with spam as I am about virus attacks.

I will remain the miserable git who doesn't open joke e-mails. SORRY!