snippet1 Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 I recieved this message from a news list (of all things :rolleyes:) today. It seemed pretty important - and logical, so here it is. Ever wondered what 'BCC' stads for?... Please Read This All The Way ThroughLate 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. I eventually, after a week or so of knowing him, 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 offline 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. ***This is where you all need to pay attention:*** He told me that he spotted my screen name on a "Forward" that one of my friends had sent to some one 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. People, let me tell you something, 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). This is not a joke and not a hoax. Please Remember: It is Important to remove all personal email when forwarding items from this, or any other list to individuals or other discussion groups (unless the message asks readers to contact them via email or phone). Remember, a lot of us have a great deal of information in our sig's (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 email addresses from forwards when forwarding the message on. I know I have received unsolicited emails from individuals who have gotten my address via a forwarded message from this group. Although more annoying than serious, it could have been worse. IT'S TRUE- IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS, CHANGE HOW YOU SEND E-MAIL - This is a true concern of some people - Pay attention, read to the end. Many times friends on e-mail ask me about me using the BCC addressing on e-mails and commenting about my e-mails not having long lists of other e-mail addresses where the e-mail had been sent prior to me receiving it. Please read all of this and you will understand why I do things the way I do. Also this is not a fake or ridiculous idea from a crank. 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 got 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 poor sap to get a virus and his computer can send that virus to every e-mail address that has come across his computer. Or, someone can 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. That's right, delete them. Highlight them and delete them, 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:" columns for adding email addresses. Use the "BCC:" or "Blind Carbon Copy" column for sending the message. This way the people that you send to only see their own email address. If you don't see your "BCC:" option, click on where it says "To:" and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and click "BCC:". When you "select recipients" you can put the recipients in the "BCC" box instead of the "TO" box. - it's that easy- This should be forwarded (minus my email address!) to everyone on your e-mail list who does not use "BCC:" and this should also confirm why you should "clean-up" your e-mails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KC Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 omg I am now stupider from reading that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BxBoy Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 too much to read.. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhangm Supervisor Posted September 23, 2003 Supervisor Share Posted September 23, 2003 Why all that, when the title gives the same message...in 3 words? Use BCC! :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Veteran Posted September 23, 2003 Veteran Share Posted September 23, 2003 it's amazing what kind of info you can find on someone on the internet... btw, i always delete the list of email addresses from the body of any messages i forward. it's just tacky to leave them there :p i wish everyone else would do this too :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberKewl Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 Maybe email programs like outlook should be made to hide the CC field by default and replace it with BCC :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EzeWong Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 Wow, thank god i can speed read, Dudes bloody crazy, I thought BBC mean the news site... Anyways I do do chain letter crap so im alright, but this dude soudns nuts... maybe too much shrooms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshMan Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 (edited) I can't understand why some people don't use BCC and send out mails to large number of people using CC. It really p*sses me off. It's these people who should be banned from the internet. Edited September 23, 2003 by AshMan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Dorr Veteran Posted September 23, 2003 Veteran Share Posted September 23, 2003 Dupe threads merged - timdorr fro moderating industries :fro: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshMan Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 Maybe email programs like outlook should be made to hide the CC field by default and replace it with BCC :) now that is a GTREAT idea. Someone, please forward this to MS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Dorr Veteran Posted September 23, 2003 Veteran Share Posted September 23, 2003 Um, that's retarded. He would have never gotten her personal info if she hadn't given it to him. You can't get anythign significant from an AOL Screen Name... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Veteran Posted September 23, 2003 Veteran Share Posted September 23, 2003 i don't put that much personal info about me online :whistle: typing my name (first and last) into google yields 12 results... 7 from school related things, and 1 about someone i don't even know with my same name :unsure: and 4 other things i probably shouldn't have posted... :ermm: but it's just my name :p nothing more than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Dorr Veteran Posted September 23, 2003 Veteran Share Posted September 23, 2003 I get 20,000 :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+StevoFC MVC Posted September 23, 2003 MVC Share Posted September 23, 2003 I get 20,000 :D my name: ...of about 3,050,000. Search took 0.08 seconds :whistle: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManXcalibur Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 Here is another way to avoid that kind of situation, don't give the guy your first name and phone number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougkinzinger Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 LOL, yeah really ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhangm Supervisor Posted September 23, 2003 Supervisor Share Posted September 23, 2003 I'm chinese, no one can possibly find me... Its like 2 billion people, sharing 100 names... Good luck trying. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snippet1 Posted September 23, 2003 Author Share Posted September 23, 2003 I'm chinese, no one can possibly find me...Its like 2 billion people, sharing 100 names... Good luck trying. :p Yes - I have always wondered why that is the case :huh:. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snocked Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 *lists personal info in AIM profile* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poind Posted September 23, 2003 Share Posted September 23, 2003 http://www.snopes.com/horrors/mayhem/bcc.htm Duh, if you meet someone on the street, in a bar, online, wherever and they claim to know your friends, confirm with your friends before you start trusting them with all sorts of stuff you otherwise wouldn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaise Veteran Posted September 23, 2003 Veteran Share Posted September 23, 2003 Moved To Internet Network & Security Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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