Merry Christmas From The Ftc A Decline In Spam Up To 9

Writen by Lance Winslow Georgia Hospital

If you were waiting for your Christmas Present from your government for all the taxes you pay every year; for all the fees, harassment and fear purported on your Television Set, well you have finally received it. Merry Christmas from the FTC, a decline in SPAM up to 9%; now aren't you so proud to know that your government is helping to make SPAM decline by up to but not including the nine percentile? What bunch of crap? Nine percent after how many millions of dollars; after over 60 lawsuits and how much government worker's time that we, the American Tax Payer paid for? Only nine percent; I want my money back that is a dismal and pathetic showing indeed. Only nine percent; are you people high? What on Earth are you smoking over there?

You cannot be serious at the FTC, which stand for; "Failed the Consumer" again! The Department of Justice needs a full investigation on all the people that work at the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Protection Division's Anti-SPAM; CAN SPAM Act group as they have once again failed the American People? Nine percent? Please, that is not good enough, what piss poor performance indeed. What we need to "CAN" is the Federal Trade Commission and their incompetent staff in the Consumer Protection Division. In their recent report to Congress who were they really protecting? Their own butts with a report filled with excuses. Bunch of BS in my opinion, can the FTC. Think on this.

Lance Winslow

Email Spam Whats The Big Deal

Writen by Dean Phillips Georgia Hospital

It absolutely amazes me how many people over-react to receiving e-mail SPAM.

What is this obsession...this preoccupation with SPAM?

Where are our priorities?

When it comes to SPAM, many of us are ready to support the severest anti-SPAM legislation. Yes, we want to lock up all the spammers and throw away the key! Haven't we learned by now that inviting the government to get involved with anything is a recipe for disaster?

I personally receive a couple hundred e-mails every single day. Approximately half of that is SPAM. Want to know how I deal with the problem? I hit the "delete" button and just like that, no more SPAM!

And since I have high-speed cable access, it literally only takes me a few minutes to make a hundred uninvited SPAM guests disappear. No problem!

I don't let SPAM annoy me or upset me. And I certainly don't let it ruin my day.

When you let SPAM annoy or upset you, all you're doing is letting the spammers win. However, when you use the delete button, you win! You've got the power to delete. Why not use it?

What's so hard about doing that? It's certainly a lot easier on your emotional well-being than getting upset over the situation.

Simply view SPAM as one of those minor annoyances of every day life--like reality television shows, and learn to treat it as such!

About The Author

Dean Phillips is an Internet marketing expert, writer, publisher and entrepreneur. Questions? Comments? Dean can be reached at mailto: dean@lets-make-money.net

Visit his website at: http://www.lets-make-money.net

Beware Of The Newest Activity Online Phishing

Writen by Tamara Baruhovich Georgia Hospital

No. I'm not talking here about the outdoor activity enjoyed by many. And no again; I did not misspell it. Phishing is the name given to the latest online scam where millions of unwary Americans are getting their identities stolen.

This fraudulent activity is considered the fastest growing crime of modern times. The favorite target groups of phishers seem to be very young children and senior citizens, as they do not often ask for credit reports, fill out credit card applications or solicit loans. This allows the thieves to go undetected for longer periods of time; but still, be careful. We all are potential targets.

Remember when throwing away unshredded documents with personal information in the trash bin was considered a big risk for identity theft? While this still happens, identity thieves have become more sophisticated in recent times, and this is how they do it…

Phishers create bogus e-mails that look as if they came from large, well-known institutions and banks, such as eBay, Paypal, Citibank, EarthLink, and Wells Fargo among others. These e-mails claim that you are due for an account update, or that the account number, password, social security number or other confidential information needs to be verified. Then they warn you, stating that if you do not do it within a certain period of time, that your account will be closed, terminated, the service discontinued, or something to that effect.

They even provide you with links to websites that look legitimate, because they hijack the real logos of these well known banks, and trusted institutions and companies. And that is the scary part… these e-mails look 100% legitimate, but they are not.

In some cases it goes even further… some of these phishers are installing spyware on your computer to monitor your online activities. So… should you leave the online world for good? Not necessarily.

These are a few things you can do to protect yourself from these scammers:

1. Do not respond to any e-mail that asks for personal information from you, such as account number, credit card number, user names, passwords, etc. If you suspect that the e-mail, indeed, be legitimate, contact your bank or institution to verify this.

2. When in doubt, visit the Anti-Phishing Working Group for an update of the latest scams, and tips to avoid becoming a victim. The website's URL is www.antiphishing.org

3. Websites like www.Paypal.com, www.citibank.com, and www.ebay.com, offer security tips and tell you what information they'd never ask for in an e-mail.

4. Get anti-virus software and keep it up-to-date.

5. If you suspect you have received a fraudulent e-mail, do not click on any links within it, and forward it to the FTC at uce@FTC.gov

Finally, if you suspect you've been a victim of this fraud, get a copy of your credit report immediately to check for unusual activity. If you discover that you've been a victim of identity theft, close your account at once and…

- Call the Credit Bureau.

- File a police report.

- Call the FTC ID theft hotline at (877)IDTHEFT.

- Alert other financial institutions where you have accounts.

According to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, phishers send millions of e-mails a day, getting about 5% response. Even with this low response, it is estimated that about 150,000 Americans have fallen prey to these scams since May of 2004. Get informed. Do not become a victim yourself.

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You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

E-mail: marketingplanet1@aol.com
November, 2004.

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Tamara Baruhovich is the author of "Straight Talk about Network Marketing" A no hype, no B.S. e-course that shouldn't be missed if you are serious about starting a successful career in Network Marketing! Get your complimentary copy here… e-course04@aweber.com

Block Ads Defeat Popups And Stop Quotpage Hijackingquot

Writen by Jim Edwards Georgia Hospital

You're not alone!

Who hasn't surfed the web looking for information only to have their session interrupted by those annoying pop-up windows displaying everything from banner ads to newsletter sign-up's?

Though pop-up windows and other methods of influencing a user's online experiences originally had positive intentions, they now seem only to annoy and manipulate users at every turn.

For anyone who ever felt extremely irritated by online advertising, the following advice should help.

** Pop-Up Ads **

Pop-up windows open new pages in your browser without your permission and, sometimes, without your knowledge.

They slow down your surfing and cause confusion, even for the most experienced surfer.

If you don't want to see pop-up windows in your browser, you should get a free pop-up blocker like the ones that come with the Google tool bar (http://toolbar.google.com) or the Alexa tool bar (http://download.alexa.com).

Either of these free tools "plug in" to your web browser and will stop the majority of pop-ups, including the situations where 5 or 10 pop-up windows fly up on your screen and "attack" you all at once!

** Page Hijacking **

Have you ever surfed along peacefully when all of a sudden you hit your back button and nothing happened?

Click-click-click - no matter how many times you hit the button, it seemed your web browser had been "wheel locked" to a certain site and no amount of effort allowed you to back track.

This nasty little trick, otherwise know as "page hijacking" involves inserting a small bit of code into a web page that disables your browser's "back" button.

To defeat this little nasty just click and hold the down arrow next to your browser's "back" button (on both Internet Explorer and Netscape) to see a list of the last few pages you've browsed.

Click on a link in the history list to free yourself and resume surfing.

Careful though, you may not have been hijacked, you may have been the victim of the next dirty trick.

** Fast Meta Refresh **

A predecessor of the pop-up window, the fast meta refresh trick involves opening one page and almost instantly having your browser redirected to another page.

This tactic, often used by search engine promoters, often leads to wasted time on pages that have little relevance to your search.

It may also entail opening five to ten additional windows, frequently displaying offensive material such as pornography.

Closing all your browser windows and starting over seems the only sure-fire way to defeat this tactic. Hitting your back button to retreat from the problem will usually just cause more windows to appear.

Quick Tip: If you find yourself attacked by multiple pop-up ads, hold down the key and hit the key repeatedly, all the web browser windows on your screen will disappear faster than new ones can pop open.

If you feel a website operator appears to openly abuse visitors with annoying or unscrupulous tactics, feel free to complain to their hosting company or the search engines.

By doing so you might save the next person a whole lot of inconvenience.

(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved - http://www.thenetreporter.com

About The Author:

Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to use fr-e articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate links...

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