You asked for it!
Why do I get so much “junk” mail in my inbox?
By Bobby Sample

A few notes on fighting spam, email scams, and chain-email nuisances in your inbox:

Never respond to email requests for personal information.
That includes banking information, social security numbers, school IDs, etc. Identity thieves fake their return addresses (posing as banks, schools, etc.) to rob you. Real banks avoid these direct requests.

Personal chain email is NOT a primary news source.
Never forward chain email to everyone you know, especially when the email urges you to do so. You will always hear about real emergencies, top news and amazing offers from other more reliable sources first.

What if my latest email is the only exception?
The web site www.snopes.com (and others) catalogs email hoaxes. If it's important enough for your response, it's important enough to look it up and verify it first. No exceptions!

How is taking a chance on an unbelievable offer different from playing the lottery?
Sometimes it seems harmless to forward or respond to suspicious emails "just in case," but it is not. You might not win the Powerball, but at least you can verify it is real. Plus, you would never go door-to-door collecting lottery dollars from everyone in your network. That would waste time and resources. Even when outright theft is not involved, chain emails and spam waste real time and resources.

Our college spam filters catch most of the unwanted email sent to our accounts. Please do not contribute to the clutter by passing on unsolicited emails.

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