One of the oldest rules, or guidelines if you will, is the use of all capitalized letters. Whether you are sending an email, typing a letter in a word processor, or any other means of sending or printing information, the use of capitalizing all words within the world of computers is meant to convey that you are yelling or screaming something. So, unless you are looking to scream at someone, please turn your caps lock off and STOP YELLING! I know, it's easier. Especially for those who may not be proficient typists. However, the use of all capital letters is considered rude.

So, unless your computer has been living in a cave somewhere, odds are you've received spam, and more than likely, a LOT more of it then you want. Once again, whether or not your particular email is the cause of further inquiry by the FTC or not, the email you forward to them will be data-based and then grouped with any other emails pertaining to the company or individual sending the spam from all over the country. (even internationally)

If you would like to learn more, just read below and/or use the link provided below to visit the FTC yourself. Or once again, simply start forwarding your spam (with headers if you can) to the email address listed above or here: spam@uce.gov

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The government implemented a law on January 1, 2004 referred to as the CAN-SPAM act. This legislation is an effort to not only help slow spam down, but to also attempt to track and possibly take action against those who do not comply. You can read the entire text of the law by clicking the following link. It will take you to http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.htm , the Federal Trade Commission's page explaining the act in detail. In brief, the headers contain the following information:

* It bans false or misleading header information. Your email's "From," "To," and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email.

* It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of the message.

* It requires that your email give recipients an opt-out method. You must provide a return email address or another Internet-based response mechanism that allows a recipient to ask you not to send future email messages to that email address, and you must honor the requests. You may create a "menu" of choices to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to end any commercial messages from the sender.

* Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your commercial email. When you receive an opt-out request, the law gives you 10 business days to stop sending email to the requestor's email address. You cannot help another entity send email to that address, or have another entity send email on your behalf to that address. Finally, it's illegal for you to sell or transfer the email addresses of people who choose not to receive your email, even in the form of a mailing list, unless you transfer the addresses so another entity can comply with the law.

* It requires that commercial email be identified as an advertisement and include the sender's valid physical postal address. Your message must contain clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation and that the recipient can opt out of receiving more commercial email from you. It also must include your valid physical postal address.

The list just goes on, and on, and on. They're worse then the energizer rabbit! So what do you do about it? Tell all your friends, family and associates that if an email contains such important information, pick up the phone and call you! Tell them you will no longer accept forwarded emails. If you receive an email with multiple FW's in the subject line, just DELETE it, and I don't care who it's from. Almost all these emails contain code which collects the email addresses of everyone you forward it to. Your friends complaining about spam? You might just be the cause! I simply tell people if they are going to forward me something, to send me an email first "telling me" they intend on forwarding something. Even then, I follow the rules as outlined below.

Don't click on ANY links within an email. (links include text links or graphic links) Should I repeat that? DON'T CLICK ON ANY LINKS within an email. You have NO IDEA what they are and where they will take you, and in many cases, they will install spyware and/or identity theft software on your computer or take you to a website that will. The following is a good example of how it works. If you click on the link below, where will it take you?
http://www.DD715.org

You would think it would take you to our website, would you not? Well it doesn't. It is a very simple trick. The actually coding of what you see is NOT where the link is going to take you. In this example, the underlying coding would take you to the Federal Trade Commission's website. It could have taken you anywhere! It could even of been a link to a website that would automatically download and install malicious spyware, trojans or viruses.

Note: Don't be fooled into thinking that because an email seems to be from someone you know that it's safe. Email forging is a regular way for hackers to trick you and gain access to your system. As with the website link example above, it is just as easy to "mask" the "From" field in an email.

So what do you do? Simple. Simply manually type in the address you "see" into your browser's address bar. Now, if you type in http://www.DD715.org, that is where you will go. If you click on the link example above however, it is NOT where you will go.

The same holds true when you see special text characters, such as:
ALT 0204 gives you Ì
commonly used
ALT 0224 gives you à