E-MAIL ETIQUETTE HINTS

Forwarding E-mail
As a matter of etiquette, it is best to copy and paste an interesting e-mail into a new e-mail composition. Then address it to a single recipient. This prevents a long list of e-mail addresses being given out to many people, including spammers. This often results in unsolicited junk mail (spam).

Group Mailing
If you need to send the same exact message to many recipients in a group, use the “Blind Carbon Copy” (BCC) option of your mail program. You will need to send the e-mail to one person as a normal letter (you can send it to yourself). Then add all the other recipients as BCC. Each person will receive the e-mail with only their personal e-mail address visible.

Virus Alerts
Many well-meaning persons actually perpetuate viruses by obligingly sending it on to everyone in their address book. Most virus alerts are hoaxes. One website to check out the latest virus hoaxes is: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html

Hoaxes, Scams, Phishing
Unbelievable stories are often just that. Most are hoaxes, often used by spammers to collect e-mail addresses of real people. Go to Bing and do a search for “hoax”. (Be sure to take 'hoax-busting' sites with a grain of salt as well).

Chain Letters
No matter how well-meaning, these e-mails are usually spamming devices to collect a multitude of e-mail addresses of real people. When an e-mail ends with something like “Send this letter to everyone in your address book or suffer 7 years of bad luck,” the best place to send it is to the trash.

Password Courtesy
When another person logs into a computer or site, it is courteous for a bystander to turn away for a moment during log-in.