Chain Letter

What is a chain letter?

A chain letter is a letter sent to several persons with a request that each send copies of the letter to an equal number of persons.
-- (c) 1997 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

Examples of chain letters include:

• A letter offering good luck if forwarded to several friends (and bad luck if you don't);
• A letter asking you to add your favorite recipe to the letter and pass it on;
• A letter claiming you can make thousands of dollars if you send each address on a list $1 and then forward the letter to several friends with your name added;
• A letter claiming that the national lung and cancer association will donate, if you forward the letter to 10 people.

Some common chain letters are: PENPAL GREETINGS!, Make Money Fast, America Online Upgrade, Bud Frogs Screen Saver, A Little Girl Dying, Jessica Mydek, Anthony Parkin, Tickle Me Elmo, Kidney Harvest, PBS and NPR - Petition.

If you would like to learn how to recognize chain letters and to see examples of chain letters, please visit the CIAC (Computer Incident Advisory Capability) web page on chain letters

What should I do if I get a chain letter?

Chain letters of any sort are violations of federal law, whether or not they ask for money. Chain mail of any sort must not be responded to or forwarded. Chain mail uses vital computing resources, and increases the load on the servers. OIT takes chain mail very seriously, as it is a violation of the Indiana State University Computing Policies and Procedures. Under NO circumstances should you reply to the chain letter or pass it along.

If you receive a chain letter from an ISU email account, we would appreciate it if you would report it to OIT. Warning notices will be sent to accounts belonging to ISU community users to remind them of our policies. "Please note that we do not typically get involved in sending warning notices about chain mail to users outside Indiana State University unless circumstances are extreme. "Please do not delete the email message from your account until after you have reported it to OIT. In order for us to obtain the maximum amount of information about the email message, please forward the message to us.

Under no circumstances should you reply to the chain letter.

You should not forward the chain letter to anyone other than to report it to an OIT staff member.

Here is what we recommend that you can do if you receive a chain letter from a NON-ISU account. Send mail to "postmaster@annoying.chain.mail.site.com" and explain to them that you do not wish to receive mail from that user anymore. In the case that the user is also "postmaster," you can send mail to them and ask to be taken off their list. You can also do some research and find out who their Internet Service provider is and write to them.

If you are still bothered by a certain user sending you chain mail, you may want to consider setting up a filter, which will weed out and delete any mail from that particular user.

In extreme situations, please contact OIT and we will see if we can assist you further.

Thanks for your help in preventing annoying chain mail.

For more information, please contact the OIT Help Desk