Nov 24, 2008 - 04:05:23 CST
The holiday season and the poor economy are bringing out all kinds of e-mail spam scams. Here are the latest you may receive or will soon receive - don't respond to them:Survey and Gift Scam: An e-mail comes from a financial institution stating, "You've been selected to take part in our quick and easy eight-question survey. In return, we will credit $80 to your account." You're directed to an online survey page where you're asked innocuous questions and then asked for your bank account information. Don't do it - these scammers will simply use that information to drain your account of cash.
Investment Proposal Scam: The e-mail writer urgently needs your help in getting a person's money out of a country by using your bank account as a place to electronically deposit the money. They'll need your account access information, of course, to set up the transfer. And there will, indeed, be a transfer: All your money transferred from your account to the scammer.
Get Quick Cash Scam: Money's tight, and these scammers know it. They entice you with seemingly quick and easy loans, transferred immediately into your account. "All applications accepted. No credit check," the e-mail promises. Click the application link or call and, once you're approved (you always are), give them your account info. Don't fall for this scheme.
Remember: As a rule of thumb, unsolicited e-mail schemes are never legit. Free offers that are made to look like they come from legitimate businesses and institutions you've never dealt with are almost always scams.
Times are tough - don't let e-mail scammers make them harder for you.
Don't forget the lesson of the good-natured woman who simply wanted to help someone in need and responded to an e-mail plea for help. She lost $400,000 to heartless thieves.
These scammers didn't care that they cleaned out the family's retirement account or that the woman mortgaged the house and took out a lien on her car to send money. These con artists don't care about you - just your money. Read the story and learn from it:
www.sweethomenews.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=8801
www.maximumpc.com/article/news/proof_email_scams_still_work_woman_loses_400k
50 years of
music charts
If you haven't yet, you may want to visit Billboard magazine's "Hot 100 50th Anniversary" Web site (www.billboard.com/bbcom/specials/hot100/index.shtml).
On Aug. 4, 1958, Billboard started publishing a chart that ranked songs according to sales and air play. It has since become the de facto standard by which most popular music is measured.
To celebrate the chart's 50th birthday, Billboard has put together a site that lets you browse the charts from 1958 to today in just about any music genre you can imagine. What was the No. 1 country song in 1984? It's here. What topped the pop charts in 1996? It's here.
In addition to numerous chart rankings and top lists, you also can watch music clips of Hot 100 artists from over the years, from Johnny Horton singing "Battle of New Orleans" to Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World" and more.
If you like music, you'll enjoy this special site. Check it out.
100 years of
Life photos
Google and the Time-Life company have teamed up to offer something amazing online: access to millions of photographs from the Life magazine photo archive. According to the site, "most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of Life and Google."
It is, indeed, an impressive collection. Groups by decades going back to the 1860s, these photos are impressive. You can browse through thumbnails and view larger, watermarked versions. You also can order prints of your favorites.
There's so much in this collection: People like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Louis Armstrong, Marilyn Monroe, Jacqueline Kennedy, Pablo Picasso. Places like St. Peter's Square, Times Square, the Himalayas, Taj Mahal, the Yangtze River. Historic events from the Civil War to the Vietnam War; from the invention of planes, trains and automobiles to the Apollo moon missions.
If you're old enough to remember subscribing to and reading Life, you'll recognize many of these photos.
If you were born long after Life ceased to be a weekly publication, you'll be awed by the images presented.
Go to http://images. google.com/hosted/life to see this premier photo archive.
Thanksgiving sites
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, the Internet is a great resource for finding historical information, food recipes, games and projects to help celebrate the day.
Simply go to your favorite search engine and type in "Thanksgiving sites" with quotes. The first dozen or so will take care of just about everything you need.
For dinner ideas, type "Thanksgiving recipes" and you'll have more cooking options than you'll ever use in a lifetime.
Scholastic Magazine has a nice collection of links to various sites that make up a Thanksgiving "Internet Field Trip." Go to www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=2764 for details.
(Keith Darnay is the webmaster and designer for bismarcktribune.com. His Web site, featuring this column going back to 1995, is at www.darnay.com.iec.)
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