System maintenance, Please Reactivate your eBay Online Access Released by: E-Office Professionals Web Site: http://www.eofficeprofessionals.com Novice internet users are easy targets of email hoaxes Keywords: spam, hoax, email, fraud, websites, hosting, computers, microsoft, yahoo, security, message boards Update Date: 11/30/2005 1:15:13 PM Hits: 885 Descrption:  “Colonial Bank - Security and Privacy Notification !,” “System maintenance, Please Reactivate your eBay Online Access,” “Paypal Service Update.” These are just three emails that were sent to an email account on the eofficeprofessionals.com domain. Our first clue that these emails were hoaxes and scams is that we don’t have accounts with either of these companies. Even if we did, every E-Office Professionals employee has received training on email security, and thus would have taken precautions to ensure that they did not expose the company to the risk of receiving more spam. Everyone hates receiving spam, especially for a newly opened account. But, once you receive spam, all is not lost. You can combat spam even after receiving it. The key to doing so is not confirming that 1) your email address is valid and 2) that the account is still active, because someone checks the inbox. These two tips will help you reduce receiving more spam. 1. DO NOT click on links within suspicious email. We understand that sometimes it is hard to differentiate spam from an automated response or newsletter from a company that you have done business with. In the event that you open an email of this type and the email contains links, don’t click on the links. In general we are referring to links that contain tracking ids. For example, a link resembling http://www.eofficeprofessionals.com/emailcampaign.asp?emailid=123 is more than likely being used to track an email campaign. Upon clicking the link, the company will know that the email sent to the email address with the id ‘123’ has been opened. The company now knows that your email address is valid and active. 2. If you accidentally open spam, DO NOT reply or use the ‘unsubscribe' option as this will confirm your address. It is unlikely that the company will remove you from their mailing list. In the event that they do, they have probably already shared your email address with other companies. It is important that you not confirm that your email account is valid and/or active. Once the sender has confirmed that your email address is valid and/or active, he usually sells it to companies purchasing mailing lists. You will then receive an enormous amount of spam from that point on from companies that have purchased the mailing lists. E-Office Professionals provides free programming and design support to webmasters through its message boards and chat rooms. Support is offered to and from fellow webmasters. As a consultancy, E-Office Professionals specializes in website design, web hosting, staffing, marketing, and management for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company differentiates itself from competitors by offering the same high-quality services as them, but at sensible prices. Free Webmaster Support www.eofficeprofessionals.com/forums Official Site For Services www.eofficeprofessionals.com