From: mbrt@fico.net   
      
   we recieved this letter and thought it was legal until i recieved this,   
   please forgive my stupidity.   
      
         this is a quick note to let you know that your post is about a pyramid   
   scam or a chainletter. it contains some links and posts by others  which   
   were made in response to posts similar to yours.it is the result of over   
   eleven years on the net. in some cases that is longer than the persons who   
   posted the scam are old. you should be aware that  chainletters are illegal   
   in almost every country in the world. pyramid scams are also usually   
   illegal. I know of no isp in the western world that allows  either one. in   
   most cases the(a.u.p.) t.o.s. of  all isp`s specifically forbid such posts.   
   the penalty varies from a warning for a first offense to instant termination   
   of an acct. after the complaints have been validated. in the case of the   
   paypal version  paypal will close the acct.  i know of no one who has   
   successfully convinced paypal not to freeze  the acct.  how many complaints   
   will your isp receive? that depends on how many posts you made and where you   
   posted them. in some newsgroups,bulletin boards and chatrooms the regulars   
   there are very serious about filing abuse reports. in others they are more   
   lax. therefore posting these scams  is a very serious risk of loss of   
   internet privileges with your present acct.  my suggestion is that you   
   contact your isp as soon as possible and let them know you now are aware of   
   the implications of your misdeed. if they are in a good mood they may just   
   warn you and place a note in your acct file. do not try to be inventive or   
   belligerent. with them. they  have been through this many times. they are no   
   longer amused . they have heard every story  conceivable.  the excuse that   
   someone else posted  using your acct is not valid. you are responsible for   
   your acct. if someone else used it they had to have your password. that   
   means  you gave it to them or to someone else who gave it to them. the   
   security of a password lies in its privacy. if you left your computer   
   logged on to the net while you were not  present and someone used, it that   
   too is not wise.  they could have done mischief much more serious than   
   posting to the net. also leaving it in such a state,especially if you are on   
   broadband, could allow a hacker  into your system  and he /she could   
   literally take over the system or at least acquire any financial info on   
   your system. if you dont have a firewall there are free ones  download one   
   and install it. also get a good spyware  program and antivirus  software and   
   do the same. keep them updated. there are free versions of them too. just do   
   searchs on the terms.  pyramid scams use many names to entice you to join.   
   they are called savings clubs, high risk investment clubs,  matrix,   
   downlines,lotteries, rotators and many others. i suggest that you do a   
   search on the term chainletter and one on pyramid scams. then you might want   
   to learn about phishing scams, nigerian scams,posting off topic,spam in   
   general and other variants. a search using the term make money fast should   
   be a real eye-opener as well as entertaining and humorous.   i dont know   
   your age or your level of education but many of these posts are made by   
   children and young adults who need to be better supervised.  it has also   
   been shown that many of these scams are actually run by inmates at rehab   
   centers where they have access to computers as a part of training them for   
   employment upon release from incarceration. also there is growing evidence   
   that organized crime is involved, especially in the former  soviet union   
   states. i can prove  both pragmatically and mathmatically that these scams   
   dont work as promised. if you want the proofs  email me with the word proof   
   in the subject line. in short common sense and clear thinking will usually   
   cause some doubt in your mind as to  the legality of these scams. remember,   
   " if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is." there is no santa claus   
   ,no easter bunny, no father christmas, no kris kringle, and no tooth fairy.   
   if you are a resident of canada  visit the r.c.m.p.website and   
   phonebusters.com for a rundown of the penalties  in posting  in that   
   country. a further note in the u.k. the serious crimes division has been   
   known to visit  offenders and check the computer hard drives of those  who   
   have had complaints filed. they have  found  kiddy porn on the hard drives   
   and have taken  people to trial so  posting this crap can result in much   
   worse problems. than simply violations of postal laws and the like. if you   
   want furthur evidence simply email the persons on the list you posted. i   
   usually do. a surprising number of the emails return(bounce) as illegal   
   alias,no such user, mailbox unavailable or something similar. these types of   
   responses from their isp usually mean they have lost the acct. please inform   
   any of the pople on your mail list  of the consequences of such posts. help   
   us educate people. you may wish to save this email and its attachments and   
   from time to time re-read it if you are tempted to make money fast. you also   
   have my permission to resend it to anyone you find is posting the scam.   
   please be aware that the attachments are not mine so  do not send them. just   
   the cover leter you are reading now. if there are children or young adults   
   in your household  please supervise their activities and have them read this   
   as well.one final note. the email addy you used  to post with is now   
   essentially useless for any meaningful communications. spammers and   
   scammers,the professionals, use software called harvesters. these harvesters   
   constantly scan the net for  new addys. they especially  use the chatrooms   
   ,newsgroups,and bulletin boards as sources. a good list of addys will sell   
   on the market for sums of ten cents to well over a dollar per name.   
   therefore it is a lucrative business for unscrupulous people. . in a short   
   time your  addy will be added to several of these lists and your mailbox   
   will be inundated with  lots of spam. i suggest you get a free email addy   
   and use it to post. when it starts to get abused with spam close it and get   
   another.  hotmail and yahoo are two. the spam filters on yahoo are   
   particularly effective.   
      
         I choose Polesoft Lockspam to fight spam, and you?   
         http://www.polesoft.com/referhtml   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)