Posted: 10:54 hours (GMT+8) 

I received the following email recently.

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Subject: Somebody has blocked you at MSN Messenger‏
From: noreply@youareblocked.com on behalf of <deleted for privacy>@hotmail.com
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 7:53:24 PM
To: <chocolatefan’s hotmail acct>@hotmail.com

You’re Blocked!

A contact has recommended you to enter in www.youareblocked.com.
The site allows you to find out who has blocked or deleted you from the MSN Messenger

This e-mail comes to your inbox, since you have been recommended by one of your contacts

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What did I say about not clicking on strange sites?

I guess they’re changing their strategy now. Instead of spamming people through MSN where people can easily figure things out, why not send a harmless-looking email? Most people don’t think twice before forwarding chain-letters, much less clicking a mysterious link.

Links that are sent to you “on behalf” of someone else are hardly worth your time. They are usually sent by websites that your friend joins then for some reason or other decides allow them to access their entire address book by providing their login details. While most websites are harmless and simply want members, hackers and viruses take advantage of this fact to disguise their emails that way.

Easter is coming soon; Be sure that link sent by a greeting card websites really leads to it! When in doubt, check out the website’s reputation through a search-engine before clicking it.