Tips for Dealing With Email Jokes, Rumors and Spam

Email Jokes
We can all appreciate the occasional email joke from a friend, family member or coworker-especially one that is sent with you in mind and has been previewed for actual humor. However, for some reason, we all seem to have a relationship with at least one chronic Email Joker. You know who I'm talking about, right? It's that person, often someone with whom you exchange no personal emails at all, but who has you on their list and sends you every...single...Internet joke he or she comes across. Some of these people even send you several jokes a day. And frankly, who wants to spend their time deleting them all-let alone reading them all?

If politely asking to opt off your Email Joker's list is out of the question, you can use the Rules tool in Outlook (and most other mainstream email programs; Internet email services like Gmail and Yahoo! Mail use the term "Filters"). The Rules tool allows you to apply a customized action to all your incoming email. For instance, you can set a Rule that will automatically file any email from "The Client" into "The Client" folder as soon as it's received.

To use Rules to deal with your personal Email Joker, you can:

• Create a Rule that applies to all incoming mail from your Email Joker. Set the Rule to automatically file any mail from that individual, so you can peruse or delete it later.
• Create a Rule that pinpoints messages with keywords that often go along with Jokes, such as "Fwd" or "This is funny." Set a Rule that automatically files or deletes all these messages.

Here are a few articles from Microsoft to help you further with the Rules tool:

• About managing messages with rules
• Create a rule 

The Etiquette of BCC:

If you simply must forward one of those  Internet jokes or chain emails to your contacts, make sure put all the recipients in the BCC (blind carbon copy) address field. That way, you don't put all your friends, family and coworkers' email addresses on display through countless forwards around the Internet and at risk of falling into the hands of spammers. It's the polite thing to do!

Chain Emails and Email Rumors
I'm sure by now you know that you will not fall ill...or lose your house...or become destitute just because you don't send some cutesy chain email off to ten people in your address book. Your wish still might come true. You might still make millions of dollars. Anything can happen actually-and none of it will have anything to do with that chain email. And also, in case you were wondering, that guy who keeps emailing from Nigeria, pulling at your heartstrings and asking you to set up a joint bank account with him "because you seem like a really nice, trustworthy person" is probably not a really nice, trustworthy person. Oh, and odds are you didn't win the Canadian lottery either-since you've never even been to Canada.

Also, it is not technically possible for anyone (Microsoft, MySpace or any other legitimate-sounding organization) to "track" the number of forwards on an email. So even if the email tells you a simple forward to all of your friends will earn oodles of dough for you, your friends and/or your favorite charity, it's too good to be true. Even if Bill Gates himself signs the email, it's not true. Unfortunately, these email forwards are not earning anyone anything.

Such chain emails and email rumors are not only false but they really clog up your inbox and going through them can really chip away at your precious time. We suggest you deal with them just like you do the Jokes. If a polite request to the sender isn't possible or you don't personally know the sender, then use the Rules tool in Outlook. This will at least save you from having to weed through these types of emails. Besides, if you don't read the chain letters in the first place, I'm pretty sure that protects you (knock wood) from any of those hocus pocus threats to your happiness too.

Need help spotting an email rumor or hoax?:

• If It Smells Like a Hoax, It's Probably a Hoax

Email Spam
If you use Outlook or most any mainstream email program, including Internet email like Gmail and Yahoo! Mail, I hope you're taking advantage of the built-in spam blocker (on Outlook, the Junk Email filter is set to low by default). Most Internet service providers (ISPs) even have spam blockers built in. If you're not, then run, don't walk, to your computer and enable this tool as if every minute of your precious life depends on it. Because frankly, it does.

Spam blockers are designed to intercept obvious spam, based on keywords, the number of links within the email and other key spam elements. With minimal management, you can also fine tune your spam blocker to work even better for you over time. For instance, by marking any spam that slips through as "Junk" or "Spam," you make your filter work smarter. Or, if you're getting a slew of spam from a particular domain, you can set your filter to block all messages from all the users under that domain. When it provides a more tactical option, bring in the Rules or Filters tools (see above). You may opt to create a Rule or Filter that pinpoints messages with specific spam keywords, such as "Viagra," "Replica Rolex Watches," etc., and automatically deletes them.

For extra spam protection, you may want to utilize an add-on utility. One that I use and appreciate is Cloudmark Desktop. For more on Cloudmark and other spam blockers, read our article "Choosing a Spam Blocker."

Here are a few articles to help you further with the Outlook Junk Email Filter and Spam:

• Audio Course: Junk Email Filter
• About the Junk Email Filter
• Attack of the Spambots!

At Cybertary, we are always looking for ways to help you protect your precious time. We hope some of these tips for deflecting email jokes, rumors and spam help you. As for Uncle Milton's long list of jokes, we're sorry to say, there is nothing we can do. Just do whatever you can to keep him off the Internet, okay?

Another article you might enjoy:

• Email Netiquette