Warning !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Eagle Guns]

I'd like some opnions on this e-mail I received this morning .This was fowarded to a friend of mine.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

DELETE THE FORWARDS

Please Read This All The Way Through



Late one evening, while online, I received an IM (Internet message) from a gentleman who said he knew me through mutual pals online. We chatted for an hour or so before deciding to keep in touch, as we had so many things in common.

Eventually after a week or so of knowing him, I trusted him with my name (first name) and phone number. After all, he knew my friends and I felt he must have been okay if they all liked and knew him. He knew a lot about them; he knew a lot about me, and he knew a lot about a lot! He seemed like such a nice person, a pleasant person, and someone whom I felt very comfortable sharing my time online (and on the phone) with.

One night, a friend from our group of friends invited me to a Chat Room where several of the friends had gathered and were chatting when this gentleman popped into the Chat Room. He popped in and then left quickly.

Then, for the first time since I met and started chatting with him, I mentioned him to one of the friends who was in the Chat Room, one whom this gentleman claimed an association with. She was in total awe, she did not know who he was! Things were beginning to look really suspicious. The more she and I chatted, the more suspicious it became. It also became apparent that this guy knew none of us.

Suddenly, he disappeared off-line for a few days, then one day he pops back in and sends me an IM saying that we need to talk. He called me at my home and I was very upset, so I asked him how he really found me and why he had felt the need to lie in the first place.



***Please pay attention to this:***


He told me that he spotted my screen name on a "Forward" that one of my friends had sent to someone else. My screen name is what attracted him. He then used the screen name of others on the list of forwards to acquaint himself with me and various others from our clique of friends. He also used the Member Directory (at AOL) to look up info about others on the list of forwards, so as not to look suspicious. He said he felt it was the only way he would have the chance to get to know me, and the main attraction to me was "My Screen name" because he thought it was "sexy". I was upset, needless to say, as I had trusted this man with my personal info, such as phone number and name. He also knew where I lived (thanks to the phone bill) and I was now his prey.

A few days after having last talked to this person and thinking that was the last of him, I received a phone call at 4:00 AM. It was this man telling me he was in town to see a friend who lived 20 minutes from my house, and wanted to know if I would like to meet him for coffee or breakfast. When I told him it was not such a good idea, he became irate and hung up on me.

I immediately called him back (caller ID) and explained to him that my husband was back home (trying to scare him) and please not be so mad (in fear of him and what he might do). Telling him that my husband had returned and we were reconciling was a lie, and I told him this to make him think I was not alone.

Imagine the feeling I felt in the pit of my stomach when he came back with the following response - - "You're a lying bitch, your husband is not there with you -- you are alone!"

I hung up on him and immediately called the Broward County Sheriff's office and told them what had happened. They sent an officer over to take a report and said that was really all they could do for me at that time. So, I packed few belongings into my car, and drove to my sister's home for the night.

Fifteen or twenty minutes after I arrived at her home, I received a phone call from this man again. He knew that I had called the Sheriff and reported him; he knew where I was and he knew my sister and her husband's names.

This man had been stalking me for weeks and I had no idea.

I walked, ate, slept and breathed in constant fear until he was finally arrested for stalking -- Not for stalking me. Nope -- for stalking another lady who lived in Kendall, Florida.

I wanted to share this with you all.

And yes, it is all true.

Friends, when you forward things and you leave your friends' names out in plain view like that, you are putting them and yourself in what could be grave danger.

I hope I have gotten this message across. I have not even begun to mention his assault (rape, using deadly force) charges the detectives from Broward County and Kendall, FL uncovered on him while investigating his prior history.

..............................................
People, please -- Be safe, be careful and use Blind Carbon Copy (BCC).



Please Remember: It is Important to remove all personal email addresses when forwarding items from this, or any other emails.

Many of us have a great deal of information in our signature files that appear at the bottom of many of our messages.

In addition, the blind carbon copy (Bcc) option makes the individuals you send email to unseen by all other recipients.

E-mailers should also cut out ALL email addresses from "Fwd's" when forwarding the message on.

You may have received unsolicited emails from individuals who have retrieved your email address via a forwarded message from a group.

IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS,

CHANGE HOW YOU SEND E-MAIL!


Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it?

Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the people that received the message before you -- namely their e-mail addresses. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some person to get a virus and his/her computer can send that virus to every e-mail address that has come across their computer.

Someone can also take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents. That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel.


How do you stop it?

Well, there are two easy steps:


1) When you forward an email: DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message. Highlight them, right click and click delete; backspace them - whatever it is you know how to do.

It only takes a second.

2) Whenever you send an e-mail, don't use the "To:" or "CC:" Use only the "Bcc:" (Blind Carbon Copy) for sending the message.

Click on the little address book beside "To" to "select recipients" but put the recipients in the "Bcc" box instead of the "To" box.

That's it - it's that easy -

This message should be forwarded (minus my email address) to everyone on your e-mail list. It should also confirm why & how we should "clean-up" our e-mails. Even if you are already using Bcc, you no doubt have friends who need this information to understand the importance of using ONLY Bcc.


ps-you could also copy and paste the email you want to forward, like I do..another thought...

[Marlin]

Good advice, Eagle.

[Texas_Shooter]

Eventually after a week or so of knowing him, I trusted him with my name (first name) and phone number. After all, he knew my friends and I felt he must have been okay if they all liked and knew him. He knew a lot about them; he knew a lot about me, and he knew a lot about a lot! He seemed like such a nice person, a pleasant person, and someone whom I felt very comfortable sharing my time online (and on the phone) with.

After a week of "knowing" somebody giving ANY type of personal information is not very bright. Bits and pieces of personal info add up and there are a lot of clever people who can make your life miserable with this information.

[Silver72]

" He also used the Member Directory (at AOL) to look up info about others on the list of forwards......" I have often wondered what people see in AOL, besides paying so much for an internet connection. All of the same things can be had for less.

I hate forwarded messages that are in broken context, filled with >>>> crap when if the message is interesting enough to send on it is not cleaned up and sent as an easy to read message. I use bcc on all as a common courtesy to my friends.

[22WRF]

Free program to clean all the crap off a a message before you forward or cut and paste

E Cleaner

[Eagle Guns]

I have that E-Cleaner,works Great !!

[Lowrider]

Another internet bulls**t story. Just like I posted on the other 500 gun forums where you posted this.

[Marlin]

This has been going around the Internet since 2000. It is not implausible that it could happen but - - - -

Go to Snopes to read the write-up on this "Legend".

Snopes on Stalking E-Mail

[Eagle Guns]

Originally Posted by Lowrider

Another internet bullshit story. Just like I posted on the other 500 gun forums where you posted this.

Gee,you belong to 500 Forums that's great.

[searcher5]

True or not, it does make a good point. I think most of us here are of the mindset that you prepare not for what is probable, but what is possible.

[Carl S]

It is definitely a hoax.

[Eagle Guns]

Originally Posted by Carl S

It is definitely a hoax.

It's not a Hoax,it's a Legend.

[Carl S]

I stand corrected!

[Marlin]

One of the things I took away from Snopes is that, even though it is legend, there is a possibility that all or part of it COULD easily take place if we are not careful to protect our information.

It is easy to slip without intending to so we must be ever more watchful and overly cautious.

[Rugster]

It was the good will jesture from Eagle,he had no way of knowing it wasnt true,or he would not have posted it. He was just trrying to help someone out.





Best!!

[SouthernMoss]

Eagle, we appreciate the message, and even if the story itself is not true, the post points out two good messages, one of courtesy (removing forward info before forwarding a message to others), and the other of safety (being extremely cautious and protective of your identity while online).

[armabill]

So what does the bcc actually do?

[SouthernMoss]

Originally Posted by armabill

So what does the bcc actually do?

bcc stands for "blind carbon copy". Just as with paper correspondence, a bcc means that no one else knows you received a copy of the correspondence. With email, you can send a message to a long list of folks using the bcc feature, and no one sees the whole list of addresses to whom the message was sent. This serves two purposes: (1) it keeps the header cleaner, because you don't have a long list of names, and (2) it keeps your recipients' email addresses private so that they can't be harvested by someone to whom the message may be subsequently forwarded.