Have you been SPOOFED?

Let me pull up my soap box! Yes, I'm going to get on it! If you see capitalization in this post I am yelling and possibly shaking my fist!

This last week I have gotten countless emails from warm loving souls I know. I get so excited when I see their name appear in my inbox. The trouble is I open up their email only to discover they didn't send it to me at all. Someone else sent it to me using their identity. It's called SPOOFING!

Email spoofing is defined as masking the sending address to make it look like someone else is sending it rather than the sending party. It is often used to try to simulate emails from various websites in order to phish information from the user and steel identities.

Luckily in getting so many spoofed emails I have come to recognize them. Usually a spoofed email has no subject in the subject line. Remember I said, "Usually."

Today I actually got an email from myself. For reals! The criminal was actually faking being me and then sent it to me at one of my other email addresses! Ok, this is where I'm throwing my hands up in the air and screaming. The problem arises in how people SEND their emails. This is where it's going to get a little heated!

Everyday I get a few emails from lots of different people. Cute funny clever goodies to read. The trouble is when I open up the email there in the "To" box are a gazillion addresses. (this is where I go ballistically wild and rant and rave.) Now I can see every single address in the "To" box. The trouble is so can EVERY SINGLE COMMON CRIMINAL! DO YOU WANT EVERY CRIMINAL OUT THERE VIEWING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS? I DON'T!
I'm going to try and calm down now. Maybe if I talk real soft and slow, maybe if I plead and beg, everyone who reads this will comply. I think I will pray as well!

In order to keep an email address PRIVATE there is a very SIMPLE fix. The fact that it is so simple and such an intelligent wise responsible choice leads me into a rage when people refuse to do it. I think the reason people don't apply this simple measure is because they lack knowledge. I'm hoping it's not because they are lazy and irresponsible.

I have to say here though, not knowing how to use this simple tactic is as idiotic as standing in front of a faucet and saying, "I'm thirsty and I don't know how to get water."

SO HERE'S THE FIX!

PEOPLE! WHEN YOU SEND MASS EMAIL TO MANY ADDRESSES AT ONCE, PUT THOSE EMAIL ADDRESSES IN THE BCC BOX!  PULLLLEEEEESE! Yes, every single one of them! You don't have to put a single address in the "To" box. You can put ALL of your addresses in the BCC box and that way you keep the creepy people from getting all the information! All the mail is delivered the same. Trust me it will get to the person you are trying to send it to. Nothing will happen other than all of the people that have now had their email address held private will thank you, esteem you, and sing praises to your name forever more! RESPECT THE PRIVACY OF OTHERS BY KEEPING THEIR EMAIL PRIVATE. You can do this by using the "BCC" box instead of the "TO" box. BCC BOX. say it over and over again. Use it! You'll love it! I sound redundant don't I? It's because I'm at the end of a short rope with a little tiny knot!

Alrighty, I'm taking a deep breath now. I'm relaxing. I'm calming down. I'm hoping people will read this and go, "Oh, that's easy, I didn't know I could do that. Groovy, I'm down with it!"

I'm putting my soap box away now. Thank you for listening! Thank you for your patience. I apologize if I wasn't my best self. Forgive me. I'm going to try to go back to being a really nice person.

BCC box . . .

PEOPLE. . . USE IT!

Oops, sorry. I almost got out of control! Calm, I'm thinking calm. . . . .

 Check out this link for more on spoofing and phishing. http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/consumer/a/aaspoofing.htm