Similar tricks have been circulating as advice for years.  And while they
may have had a little effect against a few of the earliest email viruses,
the latest crop will look not just at the start of your address book, but
randomly through it, through saved emails, and even through document files,
looking for email addresses to abuse.
  So whatever sklight usefulness this sort of trick had 4-5 years ago, it's
completely worthless now.  Please don't spread it around.

David Gillett


On 6 Aug 2004 at 15:58, Temple Davis wrote:

> I received the following email and would like to know if you think this would work and that it would be safe to do.  I just want to be sure it's not a "scam" to actually get into my address book.  Thanks for all your help in the past.
>
> Temple
>
>            HOW TO PROTECT YOUR ADDRESS BOOK!!!!!!!!!
> >
> > Here's a trick that's really ingenious in its
> > simplicity. As you may know, when/if a worm virus
> > gets into your computer it heads straight for your
> > email address book, and sends itself to everyone in
> > there, thus infecting all your friends and
> > associates.
> >
> > This trick won't keep the virus from getting into
> > your computer, but it will stop it from using your
> > address book to spread further, and it will alert
> > you to the fact that the worm has gotten into your
> > system.
> >
> > Here's what you do:
> >
> > First, open your address book and click on "new
> > contact," just as you would do if you were adding a
> > new friend to your list of email addresses.
> >
> > In the window where you would type your friend's
> > first name, type in "A".
> >
> > For the screen name or email address, type
> >       "[log in to unmask]".
> >
> > Now, here's what you've done and why it works:
> >
> > The "name" "A"  will be placed at the top of your
> > address book as entry#1.
> >
> > This will be where the worm will start in an effort
> > to send itself to all your friends.
> >
> > But, when it tries to send itself to
> > [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>, it will be
> > because of the phony email address you
> > entered. If the first attempt fails (which it will
> > because of the phony address), the worm goes no
> > further and your friends will not be infected.
> >
> > Here's the second great advantage of this method:
> >
> > If an email cannot be delivered, you will be
> > notified of this in your In Box almost immediately.
> > Hence, if you ever get an email telling you that an
> > email addressed to
> > [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> could not
> > be delivered, you know right away that you have the
> > worm virus in your system. You can then take steps
> > to get rid of it!
>
>                The NOSPIN Group Promotions is now offering
>               Mandrake Linux or Red Hat Linux CD sets along
>              with the OpenOffice CD...  at a great price!!!
>              http://freepctech.com/goodies/promotions.shtml

               The NOSPIN Group Promotions is now offering
              Mandrake Linux or Red Hat Linux CD sets along
             with the OpenOffice CD...  at a great price!!!
             http://freepctech.com/goodies/promotions.shtml