Yesterday there was a question regarding Authentic AOL mail. : **I have a question about mail that you get with the AOL envelope and stripes on it. I always thought that this was only used for "Official" AOL mail. I opened one the other day that was on a newsletter which I get from BBC America telling of new shows. Today one was on a letter from a Democratic web site telling about Obama and Joe Biden. Although I'm subscribed to the BBC Newsletter, I consider the Democratic one spam. anyone know what is going on with this and why these things have the AOL "thingy" on them? ** This type of email is known as 'Certified AOL Mail' "Authenticated for your Protection." This means that they have paid AOL a set fee for the number of emails they will send to AOL subscribers and that AOL has determined this email is not a hoax and does not contain malware or a virus and is not a phishing scam. Here are a couple of Q & A's regarding this AOL program: Q: What if I don't want to receive Certified Mail? A: Though you cannot block the Certified Mail program, you can unsubscribe from the sender's mailing list or block the domain from which they are sending you mail. AOL members always have control over their email inboxes. Visit AOL Keyword: Spam for more information. ------ Q: What if I receive Certified Mail that I didn't sign up for and shouldn't be getting? A: Use the 'Report Spam' button on your email in-box to report this to AOL. Certified mailers have been screened and proved that they do not send spam -- but our members are the ones who decide whether they want to get mail from any sender. Mailers that generate too many spam complaints will be kicked out of the program. ---------- You can see the *certified* symbol/icon that will appear on mail in your mailbox & read more about this program here: http://daol.aol.com/articles/certifiedmail This is not to be confused with Official AOL Mail. You can go to Keyword: Official AOL Mail and see the little blue envelope that is reserved for official mail from AOL. Official mail also has a dark blue border around it when you open the mail and it has the official AOL seal. Official AOL mail MUST have all 3 attributes to be official. A limited number of screen names are entitled to use Official Mail and they are found below: AOLAccessInfo AOLAccountHelp AOLAccountUpdate AOLAllAboutYou AOLAMBER Alerts AOLAnnouncement AOLAnuncia AOLAtSchool AOLAwardCenter AOLBBGuarantee AOLBenefits AOLBeta AOLBienvenidos AOLBroadband AOLBroadbandInfo AOLBroadBandSvcs AOLbyPhone AOLbyPhoneInfo AOLCallAlert AOLCallAlertTeam AOLCommunicator AOLExecutiveHelp AOLFamilyLibrary AOLFeedback AOLFileBackup AOLFileBkupInfo AOLforBroadband AOLforSmallBiz AOLForYou AOLGuardian AOLLink2PC AOLMail AOLMathTeam AOLMbrSecurity AOLMbrServices AOLMediaAccount AOLMemberBenefit AOLMemberHelp AOLMemberInfo AOLMemberUpdate AOLMobileTeam AOLMusicNetTeam AOLMyEAddress AOLnet AOLNewAccount AOLNewMbrWelcome AOLNewProduct AOLNotice AOLOfferTerms AOLOfficialMail AOLPasscode AOLPassCodeInfo AOLPaymentInfo AOLPCOptimizer AOLPCSecurity AOLPhoneBillDept AOLPhoneTech AOLPresenta AOLPrivacyWall AOLReadySetRead AOLSafety AOLSmallBusiness AOLSoportetec AOLSpamFighter AOLTechHelp AOLTotalTalk AOLUpdates AOLVirusScan AOLVoicemailTeam AOLWalletSupport AOLWelcome AOLWritingWizard AOLYouveGotPics BetaLite Mail CourrierOfficiel Jon Miller SClientele TOS I hope this clears up any confusion about the difference between Official AOL Mail and AOL Certified Mail. I'd like to remind everyone that you can *still* mark AOL Certified Mail as spam. Sharon **************It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here. (http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047)