Because SO many people who use or have used Lists have recently had their E-mail accounts taken over and used to send sp*m, I wanted to make sure to say the following about sending me PERSONAL mail: 1. If it is really *you* sending me E-mail, you MUST write something telling me how you know me; example, a specific topic we've previously discussed, or anything that identifies you as really being *you*. You can write more than 1 sentence (wink) but I need to be able to judge whether the mail is authentic. ** I'm not a List Owner, but it could help even on the Lists to describe why you are sending a specific link; what is on that webpage; what is the genealogical value of what you are sending? REMINDER: Really look at a link before you click it! Even if you know the sender, really consider whether it's worth it to click an unknown link or a link to an unknown website! 2. If an E-mail from *your* account (as a PERSONAL mail to ME) ONLY has a LINK, without some personal or personalized message, I'm trashing that E-mail. I like you guys, I'm not putting my computer at risk. 3. If the email has NO Subject AND contains only a LINK, I'm trashing the E-mail. When I get a link-only mail, I check my old contacts. So far, I think the following people from PAWash **might** not have control of their E-mail accounts: 1. Lou Meterio -- haven't seen the real Lou on the List in months. Sad-- I miss his real messages. 2. Gail Meeks - maybe -- just got a link-mail today. On Fayette List: 1. James O'Neil - maybe not the real sender this week? NOTE - Recent bad links seem to have the word "theme" or "themes" somewhere in the link. Bad links before often contained a surname or full name somewhere in the link. I'd also like to suggest that ALL of us go through our Contacts Lists. Email programs often auto-add addresses. If you used to be on xxx RW List and unsubbed, it might be a good time to delete names of people you don't have reason or interest anymore to contact or they only got added because they were on the same RW List you were on. THEN, if one of our accounts is taken over, fewer people will get trash mails. ALSO, some E-mail programs are better than other ones at catching spam. Google Mail (gmail) is free and seems to catch *most* of the garbage OR gmail adds a statement to indicate this mail may not be from who it seems to be from. The program is pretty easy to use and saves *everything* until you want to delete it. If you suspect you're Email has been hacked, contact your E-mail provider. Get the account closed or restricted if there's nothing else you can do. Every time a trashy email is sent from *your* name, your online identity becomes less trustworthy to others on the same Lists. So try to take some action to resume control OR to close the account. As a side note, if you ever suspect MY account(s) are sending bad mails, Ruth Sprowls or Carol Mounts know how to reach me off-line. Thanks for reading, Judy