by Don Rose
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Face it, we all hate spam email. To help everyone spot spam faster, here are some tips I have gathered over the years that may help you. Here goes:
(1) Did you expect to get this email from the person sending it to you?
If the sender did not tell you he/she was sending this message, read it carefully. Does it sound like something he/she would send? Is it in their “voice”? If not, ask them if they sent it. If not, delete. (Or, delete, then ask; they can always send it again if it was actually legit.)
(2) Has the person sending the email had NO contact with you in a long time?
If not, and there is no explanation or preamble setting things up (like, “Hey, I know it has been a while, but here is something you will like” etc), then this is probably spam. Always best to just ASK the sender if they actually sent it or not. Remember the golden anti-spam rule: when in doubt, ask first, open later.
(3) Is the email just a link and nothing else in it? Or just an attachment with no text in the body of the email?
In general, links and attachments should always be suspect. Be very careful before clicking a link or opening an attachment. Unless you are expecting the person to send you the link or attached file, you can always ASK the sender before clicking or opening.
If it is a link, see number 4 below. If it is an attachment, does it end in .exe? If so, the odds are high it is dangerous spam - since exe means executable file, or program! Most likely a program to infect or otherwise harm your computer.
(4) Look closely at the link URL address - is the root “(domain).com”, or something else?
If it is NOT a .com address, that link may be dangerous. For example, .ru means it is a Russian URL address, .cn is China, .it is Italy, etc. Beware foreign TLDs (top level domains).
Even if it IS a .com, is it a legit site like yahoo.com or cnn.com, or something with an odd or unheard of name (like thiswillkillyourpc.com)? Use your common sense.
(5) Is the email riddled with grammar and spelling errors, and weird formatting?
If so, probably spam.
(6) Is the email overly friendly, or otherwise in a tone you don’t normally hear from your friends?
If so, probably spam.
(7) Is the “story” of the email contact totally implausible or unlikely or too good to be true?
If so, probably spam. (Don’t be suckered in by your inner greedy bastard.)
(8) Does the subject title of the email have mispellings or a character embedded in one or more words?
If so, probably spam. (Spammers often put characters like asterisks inside words to hide them from spam spotting programs, since such programs may be looking for viagra but not v&iagr*a.)
(9) Does the sender name look to be from another language, or planet?
If so, probably spam.
(10) Is money involved - how to get it yourself or for someone else?
I find that over 50 percent of all spam I get involves money somehow, so if you want to weed out spam fast, a good rule is to delete when dollars are involved.
the Newsweek databeast that almost was…
It will ‘always be’ in our eyes!
Filed under: Podcasts
Bruce Johnston, Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, Mike Love and David Marks have been rehearsing with the 2 younger bands for the Grammy show (click link for photo of the 5 reunited Beach Boys taking a break, and a gallery of other rehearsal photos of the Boys plus Maroon 5 and Foster the People). Based on these pics (posted by USA Today) there are two songs we know will be performed at Sunday’s Grammys: “Surfer Girl” and “Good Vibrations”.
—Don Rose
Tesla Motors Unveils Model X Electric Minivan/SUV [PICS] -
![Tesla Motors Unveils Model X Electric Minivan/SUV [PICS]](http://mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/125,tesla-model-x.jpg)
Tesla Motors has introduced the Model X, its third electric car, and like its brandmates, this one is an all-electric vehicle. Built on the same chassis as the four-door Model S, the Model X is a hybrid — a cross between an SUV and minivan…