Another Problem, Beyond The Spam

> Now...about the "instant traffic."
> You e-mail funny videos with banners. The problem here is, it relies on
> people "forwarding" your funny video with your banner attached
> to others, and setting them up to forward their friend's e-meil addys for
> you to use in future mailings.

> That's known as unsolicited mail...or spam. You can get your ISP banned,
> lose your website, and possibly get in serious legal trouble.

> I wouldn't touch this with one of Maa-Maw's rock-hard 1 year old stale
> brownies.

> Beware.

Beyond the spam problem is the problem with crapware that is being distributed via e-mail. Current spyware and phishing trends are moving away from bulk e-mail spam to custom tailored messages that specifically target individuals. These e-mails, unlike the bulk messages, can use social engineering techniques to gain the recipient's confidence so that they will click on a link, install an attachment, etc. At that point, your computer has most likely been turned into a zombie, simply waiting for the command to start spewing more spam or to be used as a launching point for a cyber attack. Even worse, you probably now have some type of recording software installed on your computer that "phones home" with your account numbers, user names, and passwords. Ouch.

So beyond the mere spam aspect, sending unexpected graphics and attachments is also a bad idea. Anyone concerned at all about their computer security does not open an unexpected attachment, nor do they automatically display graphics in their e-mail. And sending such graphics is "a bad idea" if you want to establish trust with your customers.

And although it's not my forum, I'd remove the "optional image URL" from the "Post Response" page and not allow HTML formatting in posts, simply because of the garbage that can be thrown onto unsecured computers via images and other nasty HTML tricks.

So please -- don't send graphics to your customers.