email question

[Richard]

I get the obligatory junk email like many. One thing that confounds me is some of them are totally senseless.

My question is, what is the logic behind these next 2 examples? (if any logic)

Example 1: I just got an email for some weight loss that is sure to better my life.. at the bottom of it, is the following

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( cowry clothier germane gothic accuse forsaken directory hallmark respond paris inductee
decry phone salamander poinsettia sickroom coarsen arab epitome february memorial drudge anecdotal illegitimate pixy bloodshed leland cacti diorite madeira dublin bounty back gay angle constrain sean
florid defraud admire primrose halo fulminate iniquity dolphin drive grant deflect sectarian anonymity restive hartman content eagle finitary birthright potentate gaul francoise imperceivable euthanasia foundry arkansan farmington lethe arturo extinguish degassing protest puncture mccluskey barbour morrissey
conflagrate debris algae nathaniel eyelash angie cashier dependent majesty potash commendation provocateur inspect geiger ingest complacent davis proscribe irreverent fourfold chicano hydrochloride
hindsight family beatify bony leaf nullstellensatz diphthong monkish moen prolegomena mesquite missionary chastise florida
arcing juno carolinian saloonkeeper emerald hockey conform gigahertz consider feedback crass alder platte incomparable boyhood meridional drugging diagnosis cutover hillman minion joyce blatz aphasia conflagrate poultry deferent gremlin distort frustrate appeasable bodybuild powerhouse condiment evenhanded bud
indeterminable silicon carefree baylor pallid priest kate esmark knapsack archery
bedside domesticate got abbreviate sepal butler buckhorn gator graphite catapult lipschitz caramel flat geodesic scripture penchant hang irene chrysler meal goof contestant centum diaper delimit fuel megabit
rattail epicyclic atom physician febrile crackpot algenib chummy babylonian continua
indistinguishable autobiography outlawry nautilus avert find chert karen fail fluency continued hightail rainfall inclination dreamt ferocious gnomon amid guest dilate infantrymen pupal hollandaise cairo augustan fritter must granary doll have avoid ku prostrate instable learn chemist bluebonnet
)</font>

What's up with that diatribe?

Example 2, just today, I received about 10 emails, the senders name was blank, the subject matter was blank and there were no known attachments. Why and how on earth would someone just send a page of nothingness, or can there be something hidden within that void?

an example of the second one is as follows








Ok, I lied, I didn't copy anything, I just showed the blank /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[KubotaSteve]

I make it a rule of thumb that if I don't recognize who the e-mail is from then I delete it. Too much of a chance to get a virus these days. Also they use a combo of words sometimes to get by the spam filters in some e-mail software.

 

[Gatorboy]

I'm not positive, but I believe it is to get you to REPLY -- such as, "What was the meaning of this", etc. -- thus validating that they have sent to an active email address.

 

[RobertN]

We have a filter with our ISP. They quarentine probably 10 emails a day, mostly what you note. I check it every few days for good email, since some forwarded messages get caught in the filter.

All those words at the bottom are search words they use to get your email.

Another thing was described to me, that a lot of Spammers get emails from forward lists. You know, where there is a long trail of forwards, each with all the addresses it was forwarded to. The gentlman is our 4H shooting instructor, and has various email lists he uses for club info, other youth and adult shooting courses he does, business, ect. He always sends out to his list using "BCC" or "Blind Carbon Copy". When you recive an email from him, it shows his name, but not the rest of the list that you normally see whne the list is in the "To:" group.

This also prevents those "reply to all" messages that come back and forth to big groups that have nothing to do with the group!

 

[trkbldr]

I get the exact same stuff. I hear people say to delete it without opening it. My question is, how do I do that ? When I delete an e-mail, the next one automatically opens itself. Is there a setting somewhere in Outlook Express that I can change to stop this? I have looked but to no avail. I ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to computers /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif but I know there are some sharp minds on TBN that can point me in the right direction.

 

[MadReferee]

On Outlook Express go to the View menu and select Layout. Then uncheck the Show Preview Pane box. Click Apply.

 

[JASTN70D]

You can turn off the preview or reading pane. Use email options to set this

John

 

[thcri]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I get the exact same stuff. I hear people say to delete it without opening it. My question is, how do I do that ? When I delete an e-mail, the next one automatically opens itself. Is there a setting somewhere in Outlook Express that I can change to stop this? I have looked but to no avail. I ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to computers /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif but I know there are some sharp minds on TBN that can point me in the right direction. )</font>

Outlook allows you to set some rules and deletes them automatically without you even seeing them. Outlook Expess I don't think allows that at all. But even in Outlook with all the rules these guys find ways to get around it. I keep getting the "Larger thing a ma ding" and every time it comes the subject is different or spelled different. To delete in either program you have to hi-lite it to delete it and in some cases it is at this point you actually open it even though you don't think you did. Speed is of essence. Hi-lite then delete quickly. About the only thing you can do to get around it is to change your email address every so often, which you can't do without losing contacts or some ISP's have spam software to catch it.

murph

 

[MadReferee]

Outlook Express also supports message rules. I have setup rules on my systems that send anything suspicious that the ISP spam filter misses to the Deleted Items folder.

 

[RobertN]

That just deletes them into the "Deleted Folder". Can't you do a "Shift-Delet" or something to permanently delete a file?

Where's the great Unix commands like "rm -r" and
"mv file.name /dev/null" when you want them?