As an individual I often get messages in my personal mailbox from well-meaning people along the lines of the following, starting with....

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IF A PERSON CALLED xxxx yyyy
( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) CONTACTS YOU THROUGH EMAIL DON'T OPEN THE MESSAGE. DELETE IT BECAUSE HE IS A HACKER!!

TELL EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST BECAUSE IF SOMEBODY ON YOUR LIST ADDS HIM THEN YOU WI LL GET HIM ON YOUR LIST. HE WILL FIGURE OUT YOUR ID COMPUTER ADDRESS, SO COPY AND PASTE THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE EVEN IF YOU DONT CARE FOR THEM AND FAST BECAUSE IF HE HACKS THEIR EMAIL HE HACKS YOUR MAIL TOO!!!!!....

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and ending with...

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This is a new virus which started to circulate on Saturday afternoon. AOL has already confirmed the severity, and the  anti virus software's are not capable of destroying it .

The virus has been created by a hacker who calls himself  'life owner'..

PLEASE SEND A COPY OF THIS E-MAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS, And ask them to

PASS IT ON IMMEDIATELY!

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DO NOT FORWARD IT TO ANYBODY

IF in doubt, check up on http://www.hoax-slayer.com/

The chances are that it is a scam.. In a recent example the email I received had 92 other addresses and 92 other people now also have those 92 addresses to which they are not entitled. This is not what people intend but it is a form of stupidity. My personal contacts know that I will block them if they do it.

Most people forward these emails to all the  friends in their address books. By the time this has happened a few times somebody can pick it up and read all those addresses that have been kindly sent to them.

If you want to send a copy of something to a few people do it as follows:

Send it to yourself
Add a Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) address for every other person.

If your program does not handle BCC messaging use one that does.
Anyone receiving it will only see your address and theirs if they use certail software.

Why do you think we have a mail system that does not tell you who the person receiving your email is? Because it makes it difficult for scam merchants to start sending junk mail to them.

This is written by me as webmaster to save you from yourselves. Contact me if you want further advice.