Email Spam, Spoofing, and Phishing

Many legitimate web sites are the victims of spammers who create fake email messages that appear to be coming from those sites, this has happened to some of our sites as well. These email messages are not actually coming from or through our web sites or servers, they are totally beyond our control, and we regret very much that we cannot stop them. These attacks tend to come from outside the United States, and we pursue each lead we get, so please let us know if you receive any email that appears to be from us that you consider spam. Here are some simple rules you should observe:

• WE NEVER SEND UNSOLICITED EMAIL from any of our web sites! So if you receive any email that appears to be from us, DO NOT BUY the advertised product, and DO NOT REPLY to the message. In some cases it is not even safe to open these messages, as they may contain viruses.
• If you get spam that is faked to look like it is from us, send us a copy of the email as described below, and we will do our best to report the problem to the proper authorities and get the offending server blacklisted or removed from the internet.
• Never respond to requests for personal information, passwords, or login IDs. Scammers send out email messages where they try to appear to be from a legitimate source like Ebay or PayPal, and they will direct you to click on their link which will take you to a fake web site that is designed to look like the real one. They are only trying to get you to use your login and password so they can capture that information and rob your accounts.
• If you do get a message from someone that you have an account with, do not use the link in the email to log into the account - NO MATTER HOW REALISTIC IT LOOKS. Type in the correct web address or use a bookmark/favorite saved link that you KNOW is correct.
  
  REMEMBER, even though links in an email message may look correct, spammers and spoofers always have hidden (fraudulent) links under the text and graphics in their email messages that are designed to take you to a site that looks correct but is set up to steal your private information. Unfortunately, this is too easy to do, and many people are fooled by links that look correct.
• Always be careful to know exactly who you are dealing with on the internet, when in doubt, do not use the links or the web sites you are directed to.

Help us to stamp out this annoying and destructive practice! Please read on to further understand more about this issue and how you can be a part of the solution.

Spoofing is a method of Forging Email addresses

Email Spoofing is the latest trend by those who send spam email. It is the practice used by spammers to falsify the header information in their email messages. By changing the header information, they can make the email appear to come from whoever they choose.

Spammers are now routinely stealing the web site identities of businesses on the web, and using them to send millions of pieces of junk advertising and offensive emails. They generally do this because they have previously been caught and blacklisted for their practices, so email from their sites is not accepted by many parts of the internet. They resort to identity theft to get their (unwanted) messages out.

The average person on the internet doesn't yet understand what's happening here, and many legitimate companies are being damaged, blacklisted, and victimized by spoofers.

If you have received any spam email, listing us as the sender, we want to emphasize that we had nothing to do with it and it is beyond our control. Such spam is coming to you from the lowest, most despicable life form lurking on the internet, and we ask that you do everything in your power to report the actual perpetrators of this activity.

What can you do to protect yourself and help stop this practice?

If you receive any spam emails that look like messages sent by us, please follow these steps:

• Using the email address on our "Contact Us" page, send us a copy of the email as an attachment; that will preserve as much of the header information as possible. If you cannot figure out how to do that, simply forward the email message to us. That will allow us to open the header, find the offending IP address, and try to get them shut down by reporting them to the network or web host where they reside.
• If you understand the process of opening the headers and examining them, please do so. That way, you will be able to satisfy yourself that the email is not coming from us. If you have the time and energy, please report the true offending entity.
• Never buy anything that comes in an unsolicited email message, no matter how great a deal seems to be. This will eventually convince spammers and spoofers that spam does not work, and it will die out. Remember that a number of spammers and spoofers are being paid by other businesses to spam and spoof, if we all stop buying from them, their source of income will dry up.