Spam and unsolicited e-mails

It is amazing how people manage to turn something useful and practical into a nightmare. And here I am referring to the e-mailing facility and the awful way it is turned into a basketful of trash, thanks to the all too-often unsolicited mail being sent.

I have dozens of friends who have my postal address, but they do not send me 10 letters a day with stupid jokes, chain letters or implausible stories of "miracles" and of people in a sorry state, or scores of other inconsequential subjects, thank goodness.

But, give your e-mail address to an acquaintance, just to keep in touch, and all of a sudden your inbox becomes full of messages. Worst of all, you are often "copied" or "forwarded" messages which are also being sent to dozens of people - both in Malta and around the world, so in a few seconds, something personal like your e-mail address is now in the possession of many who are unknown to you, and you suddenly find that you start being copied with all sorts of nonsense.

Quite often, careless users end up with their PC being infested by spyware, resulting in your address being accessed by even more hackers, and all this setting off a vicious circle of spam mail and viruses. Ironically enough, you then end up receiving an e-mail warning you of some destructive, hidden virus that's been circulating... only thanks to the same people you just gave your e-mail address to, thinking they're doing you a favour!

Readers and computer users would do well to treat this issue with earnestness - an e-mail address is not something you share loosely, while anyone giving you his/her e-mail address does not mean that you can dump him/her with whatever you deem fit.