Shorter URLs help phishers hook more victims

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Outlook express (OE)

To defeat most preview pane "call backs" to home do as the previous poster said.

Go to tools, then options, then click on the Read tab. Check the box that says "Read all messages in plain text."

Now when spam arrives you can see the text but it will not go online when the mail is opened and verify your address as real.

You then can view pictures or other content in your emails from trusted sources like these zdnet alerts by simply clicking on the view tab at the top of OE and then clicking "message in HTML" to view the email normally.

While this extra step seems like a pain at first, it actually becomes the easier way to view emails. All personal emails are in text anyway, and the spam becomes obvious at a glance, in fact some of the text only spam and malware actually has some funny text as they know you caught em. They used to taunt to " Get a real browser" etc.

I get less than one spam a week anymore.

But I do other things too. When a new friend online or off adds me to their joke forwarding list or sends me the latest hoax, with my email, along with from 10 to 20 others, in the clear in the header of the email, and does not know how to at least use bcc (Blind Carbon Copy) to hide them, I politely email them back asking to be removed from their email list for any forwards, but that I am looking forward to any personal emails between us.

Some get their feelings hurt but oh well, better that than to have that email reforwarded to 10-20 people on the forward lists of the first 20, then again exponentially to a possible million strangers that I did not send my email address to nor wanted to have it.

First off I can go to joke sites or to Hoaxbuster sites if I want to read jokes or the latest Internet hoaxes.

You see forwarding junk that I did not ask for and sending my email address in the clear to strangers on their list I consider to be the worst kind of spam. If they disregard and send me another joke or hoax with my email on their email header along with many others I then send a demand to please remove me from your address book.

Noobs and some not so noobs think they are popular when they send forwards I guess. What they are actually doing is spamming their acquaintances.

I also never open any attachments or pics when a noob sends them to me because by their very act of being that ignorant they are the very ones most likely to become infected and have their address book compromised by a bot.

Instead of popular they become just an irritant to me, one I need to distance myself from immediately before their poor practices result in my becoming infected too.

Even barring infections, their spam is as bad as the commercial spam, worse because I did not subscribe for them either.

Aside from a good security program (I use Kaspersy Internet security for all my security) I do not sign up for free offers, nor click on banner ads offering to scan my computer for spyware, most of which actually infect you, nor click the blazing you have won! banners.


I use Acronis True image 10 to do a disk image every week for my computers to an external drive that is not connected except for that chore. If an infection occurs or my hard drive fails I can be up and running again in twenty minutes losing only a weeks worth of home emails and data in the event of a hard drive failure, and up in twenty minutes saving my data only with the image.

I do business online securely with only well known companies, and I do not use companies from overseas selling software at ridiculous (Read pirated) prices.

There is not one pirated piece of software on my computer, I am not afraid of WGA for my three computer home network, because they are legal.

Besides, I want company support for my software so I can troubleshoot any problems and choose companies like Go Daddy with great American telephone support, or Tiger Direct.

I use almost no freeware, instead preferring to buy the top utilities by test, and security programs.

And I know how to lock my Internet access instantly if I inadvertently wander across a website that tries to start downloading anything I didn't ask for.

I don't do porn sites, nor most Asian sites unless I have a direct need and it is a major biz, and even those here and abroad have been hijacked, so I pay attention to those.

If all of that seems daunting, or expensive, it really isn't. What's your time worth? If you uset the Interent just for fun, and have no work involved like pics, or writing, or business, or even several years worth of emails and addresses, then you have no time to protect on your computer and it may not be necessary for you. Like driving a car, it is instinctive after you become more experienced. Like doing mechanical work, having the right tools, even though you have to buy them, saves lots of time and frustration. Like software, I buy my tools, and if they fail they have a warranty and I am back in business. Software is the same. If you need it, there is no workaround that will suffice for support and no worry about getting caught.

Hope that helps.

Posted by: derekgore   Posted on: 12/04/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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