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E-Mail Scam |
Hello
SpringNet1 Internet Subscribers!
To see what's inside this issue, take a look at the index to the left and thanks for reading! - The SpringNet1 Internet Team
|
E-Mail Scam
- IRS "Refund Notice" E-mail Is A Fraud
Tax season is
now in full swing. That means that it is also the time of the year for
Internet scammers to attempt to trick wage earners out of their hard earned
money using the IRS as their front. A variety of fraudulent IRS-related
e-mail messages are currently circulating around the Internet. Here are how
a couple of them work:
| A recipient receives an e-mail message from
tax-returns@irs.gov. The subject line says "IRS Tax Refund." The
message claims that the recipient is eligible to receive a tax
refund of $571.94. A link is provided for the recipient to complete
a form in order to receive the refund. Although the link appears to
go to an IRS web page, the recipient is redirected to a scammer's
website where personal data is then captured. THIS E-MAIL IS A
SCAM! Another tax-related e-mail fraud message also arrives to recipients appearing to come from the IRS. The subject line refers to "Refund Notice" and the message asks the recipient to click on a link to check the status of the recipient's tax refund. The resulting page mirrors an IRS web page but is actually part of a website run by a scammer. The page asks that the user enter personal information onto a form (first and last name, social security number or IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, and credit card information) to verify the recipient's identity and to process the refund check. THIS E-MAIL IS ALSO A FRAUD! |
We urge our Internet customers to be cautious of e-mail messages that request private information for the purposes related to income tax processing or tax refunds. These e-mail messages may be phishing scams attempting to gather personal and financial information.
Ask The Help Desk - Why
Can't I See Graphics In My Incoming E-mail Messages?
Question: Why
can't I see graphics on incoming e-mail messages anymore? I used to be able
to see them. I use Microsoft's Windows XP and Outlook Express.
Answer: Microsoft Corp. developed and released software called
Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP users in the fall of 2004. Its purpose
was to "patch holes" in some of Microsoft's software programs to help reduce
the threat of e-mail viruses, e-mail worms, and hacker attacks. SP2 most
specifically eliminated many of the vulnerabilities within its Internet
Explorer browser and Outlook Express software programs. Most Windows XP
users have since downloaded SP2.
One of SP2's protective measures for Outlook Express is to block images from
being displayed within incoming e-mail messages as a default setting.
Microsoft had discovered that some virus/worm threats arose from malicious
code within the graphics of e-mail messages. Microsoft's solution was to
prevent users from seeing any graphics within e-mail messages. This is
probably the reason you are no longer able to see graphics within your
e-mail messages.
Luckily, Microsoft provides an easy option to allow images to appear within
messages, either on a per e-mail basis or for all e-mail messages. To see
graphics within messages on an e-mail-by-e-mail basis, with your Preview
Pane open, follow these steps:
- Click your cursor arrow on the gray bar located just below the
subject line of the message. It will say, "Some pictures have been
blocked to help prevent the sender from identifying your computer. Click
here to download pictures." If you click anywhere on this gray bar, the
pictures for that particular e-mail will appear for as long as you have
that e-mail open.
- If you go to a different e-mail and then come back to this message, you will need to click on that bar again to see the images within the message.
If you want to be able to see all pictures on all incoming e-mail messages that contain images, you can disable SP2's default blocking feature by following the steps below.
- Go to the Outlook Express "Tools" menu and drop down to "Options."
When the "Options" window appears, click on the "Security" tab. About
half way down the window you'll see an item titled "Download images."
You will see a checkbox next to the words "Block images and other
external content in HTML e-mail." If you uncheck this box, it will allow
images to be viewed again just as it was before your SP2 update.
- Click "Apply" and then "OK" to save your new settings and close the window.
Great Sites To Check Out This Month
Learn How
To Ballroom Dance At Home
http://ballroomdancers.com - The
popular television show Dancing With The Stars has created a renewed
interest in ballroom dancing. If you've never tried it before or are in need
of a refresher course, check out this site. It gives you a handy glossary of
terms plus tutorials on doing the Foxtrot, Waltz, Tango, Rumba, Cha Cha,
East Coast Swing, and more. The site also has great music to listen to while
you practice. Have fun!
Pictures Of Men Wearing Socks With Sandals
http://www.sandalandsoxer.co.uk -
If seeing pictures of men wearing socks with their sandals offends you, do
not enter this site. It contains over 300 pictures of men (and some women,
too) who are wearing socks with their sandals. Dark socks, white socks,
watermelon socks -- you name it. Do you have a dad, brother, or friend who
wears socks with his sandals? Then why not take his picture and submit it to
this site?
Ice Age 2 - The Meltdown Released Later This Month
http://www.iceagemovie.com/ - The
sub-zero heroes from the hit CGI film, Ice Age, are back. Manny the
woolly mammoth, Sid the sloth, Diego the saber-toothed tiger, and Scrat the
hapless squirrel return. Voiceovers include Ray Romano, John Leguizamo,
Dennis Leary, and Queen Latifah. For a sneak preview, head to this site.
Ice Age 2 - The Meltdown is rated G for general audiences.
You Share A Birthday With Famous People
http://worldalmanacforkids.com/explore/birthdays.html - Have you ever
wondered what famous people share your birthday? You can find out by heading
to this site and selecting the month and date of your birthday. A listing of
famous people born on your birthday will appear. For instance, if your
birthday is on March 26th, you share birthdays with Tennessee Williams,
James Caan, Diana Ross, Marcus Allen, and Martin Short.
Get On The Cover Of A Wheaties Cereal Box
http://wheaties.com - Over the past 70
years, Wheaties has recognized hundreds of outstanding amateur and
professional athletes for their achievements by placing pictures of them on
Wheaties boxes. Dozens of interesting pictures of these commemorative
packages can be found at this site. Did you know that Lou Gehrig was the
first athlete to appear on a Wheaties box? Do you also know that you can get
your own picture on the front of a Wheaties box? Check out this site to find
out how.
Short Tutorial - Printing
Web Pages Using The Landscape Option
If you've ever
tried to print an order form or a receipt from a web page, you've probably
found that sometimes web pages are not optimized for printing. When you pull
your paper out of the printer, you may discover that the right side of the
page has been cut off or pages have been split vertically down the middle.
By default, some browsers will attempt to scale web pages down to fit when
printing onto standard size paper. However, this may leave the type size on
the printed page too small to read.
A handy solution is to change the orientation of the page you are printing
from "Portrait" (up and down) to "Landscape" (side to side). This allows you
to print the text that would normally be cut off the printed page. Follow
these steps to print web pages in a landscape format.
Printing Web Pages in Landscape When Using Internet Explorer 6.0 Browser
and Windows XP Home Edition:
- With Internet Explorer open, click your cursor arrow on the "File" menu and drop down to and select "Page Setup." The "Page Setup" window will appear.
- Under "Orientation," select "Landscape."
- Click "OK" and then proceed to print the desired page.
- With Internet Explorer open, click your cursor arrow on the "File" menu and drop down to and select "Print." The "Print" window will appear.
- Click on the "Preferences" button.
- Under "Orientation," click "Landscape," click "OK," and then click "Print."
- With Firefox open, click your cursor arrow on the "File" menu and drop down to and select "Page Setup." The "Page Setup" window will appear.
- Click on the "Format & Options" tab.
- Under "Format," select "Landscape" for your Orientation.
- Click "OK" and then proceed to print the desired page.
- With Safari open, click your cursor arrow on the "File" menu and drop down to and select "Page Setup."
- When the dialog box appears, look for "Orientation" and select one of the icons that indicates a landscape view.
- Click "OK" and then proceed to print the desired page.
- With Netscape Navigator open, click your cursor arrow on the "File" menu and drop down to and select "Page Setup." The "Page Setup" window will appear.
- Click on the "Format & Options" tab.
- Under "Format," select "Landscape" for your Orientation.
- Click "OK" and then proceed to print the desired page.
We hope you
found this newsletter to be informative. It's our way of keeping you posted
on the happenings here. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive these
bulletins on a monthly basis, click HERE.
Thanks for your business!
Best regards,
Neal E. Miller
Springnet1, Inc.
Springnet1, Inc.
6900 Preston Dr.
Springfield, IL 62711
800-261-6006
217-241-6000
(We have used our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.)
©2005
Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc.
Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in this eNewsletter are
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