ail have been circulating on the internet since 1977. Over that time, only the company names and dollar amounts have changed to make it more believable.

At first glance, participating in such pie-in-the-sky whim appears perfectly harmless doesn't it? But participation not only serves to clog up computer resources, it gives the idiots who cooked up these frauds a great big laugh at your expense.

Oh yes, it does one other thing: the people that receive this litt

There is no doubt that email is one of the greatest things that the computer revolution has done for personal productivity. I'm not going to list all the reasons email is good. If you're active in the Mortgage Business, reading this article online, or surfing the internet...you know them already.

You're probably an avid email user. But, used improperly, email can also be a killer for your mortgage business. This article discusses how that can happen and an example of how a simple email can go bad. My purpose is not to tell you that email is evil, because it isn't. The negative impact of email comes from the way you use it, and not the medium itself.

In the last couple of weeks I have received a hand-full of emails from mortgage people promoting chain letters. You probably have seen them yourself. The last one was a version of the following:

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Subject: PLEEEEEEASE READ!!!! It was on GOOD MORNING AMERICA

Dear Friends

Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill Gates is sharing his fortune. If you ignore this, you will repent later. Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in an effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.

When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will track it (If you are a Microsoft Windows user) for a two week time period.

For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $245.00 or every person that you sent it to that forwards it on, Microsoft will pay you $243.00 and for every third person that receives it, You will be paid $241.00. Within two weeks, Microsoft will contact you for your address and then send you a check." Etc, etc, etc.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Suffice it to say...this is a hoax and versions of this email have been circulating on the internet since 1977. Over that time, only the company names and dollar amounts have changed to make it more believable.

At first glance, participating in such pie-in-the-sky whim appears perfectly harmless doesn't it? But participation not only serves to clog up computer resources, it gives the idiots who cooked up these frauds a great big laugh at your expense.

Oh yes, it does one other thing: the people that receive this litt

of how a simple email can go bad. My purpose is not to tell you that email is evil, because it isn't. The negative impact of email comes from the way you use it, and not the medium itself.

In the last couple of weeks I have received a hand-full of emails from mortgage people promoting chain letters. You probably have seen them yourself. The last one was a version of the following:

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Subject: PLEEEEEEASE READ!!!! It was on GOOD MORNING AMERICA

Dear Friends

Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill Gates is sharing his fortune. If you ignore this, you will repent later. Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in an effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.

When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will track it (If you are a Microsoft Windows user) for a two week time period.

For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $245.00 or every person that you sent it to that forwards it on, Microsoft will pay you $243.00 and for every third person that receives it, You will be paid $241.00. Within two weeks, Microsoft will contact you for your address and then send you a check." Etc, etc, etc.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Suffice it to say...this is a hoax and versions of this email have been circulating on the internet since 1977. Over that time, only the company names and dollar amounts have changed to make it more believable.

At first glance, participating in such pie-in-the-sky whim appears perfectly harmless doesn't it? But participation not only serves to clog up computer resources, it gives the idiots who cooked up these frauds a great big laugh at your expense.

Oh yes, it does one other thing: the people that receive this litt

ORNING AMERICA

Dear Friends

Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill Gates is sharing his fortune. If you ignore this, you will repent later. Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in an effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.

When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will track it (If you are a Microsoft Windows user) for a two week time period.

For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $245.00 or every person that you sent it to that forwards it on, Microsoft will pay you $243.00 and for every third person that receives it, You will be paid $241.00. Within two weeks, Microsoft will contact you for your address and then send you a check." Etc, etc, etc.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Suffice it to say...this is a hoax and versions of this email have been circulating on the internet since 1977. Over that time, only the company names and dollar amounts have changed to make it more believable.

At first glance, participating in such pie-in-the-sky whim appears perfectly harmless doesn't it? But participation not only serves to clog up computer resources, it gives the idiots who cooked up these frauds a great big laugh at your expense.

Oh yes, it does one other thing: the people that receive this litt

for a two week time period.

For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $245.00 or every person that you sent it to that forwards it on, Microsoft will pay you $243.00 and for every third person that receives it, You will be paid $241.00. Within two weeks, Microsoft will contact you for your address and then send you a check." Etc, etc, etc.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Suffice it to say...this is a hoax and versions of this email have been circulating on the internet since 1977. Over that time, only the company names and dollar amounts have changed to make it more believable.

At first glance, participating in such pie-in-the-sky whim appears perfectly harmless doesn't it? But participation not only serves to clog up computer resources, it gives the idiots who cooked up these frauds a great big laugh at your expense.

Oh yes, it does one other thing: the people that receive this litt

ail have been circulating on the internet since 1977. Over that time, only the company names and dollar amounts have changed to make it more believable.

At first glance, participating in such pie-in-the-sky whim appears perfectly harmless doesn't it? But participation not only serves to clog up computer resources, it gives the idiots who cooked up these frauds a great big laugh at your expense.

Oh yes, it does one other thing: the people that receive this little goodie from you now have a different insight of you. Let's face it...this basic come-on remains the same: fool gullible people into endlessly forwarding junk messages to their friends and acquaintances with phony promises of cash and/or free merchandise. Is that the impression you want to leave with your contacts?

You know by now that there's absolutely no free lunch...big companies aren't going to hand out fabulous vacations, tons of cash, free trendy clothes, new computers, cases of candies, or new cars just because someone with a functioning internet connection does them the favor of forwarding an e-mail.

Most of your clients, customers, friends and contacts know that too. You need to stay informed, be informed, and use your common sense. Do a Google search on "email scams" or something similar, and then bookmark sites like snopes.com and truthorfiction.com to keep you up to date.

Just as a side note, the chain letter emails I received from loan officers included two additional blunders you should avoid. First, the emails showed the names and email addresses of the loan officer's entire contact list (I'm sure those contacts are happy to see their names and email addresses circulating the internet unabated forever...scary isn't it?).

And second, the loan officers used their mortgage business signature at the end of the emails further reinforcing a connection between a hoax email and their mortgage business. And we sometimes wonder why we aren't getting our fair share of mortgage business from our contact list?

In conclusion, set-up your own email guidelines and then continually review and evaluate how and when you use your email. Email is the best thing since 'sliced bread' and when used correctly can be a huge asset and not a deterrent to your mortgage business.