I have corresponded with Brian Hill about an email which I received. He would like me to share this information with you. Unfortunately, I deleted the exact message after receiving it.

The email subject was

I asked katrina to put up this warning. We have never had a problem with unsolicited emails at OCF, but this may not be a coincidence. Our boards are set up to prevent people from "mining" them for email addresses. They would have to go into each profile one by one and locate the email adddress and then mail to you. One at a time. Spam companies will not spend the time to do this when there are so many easier ways to get bulk email address off of the web. But I want to hear about any irregularities that anyone has. I, like all of you, get way too much spam each day...no my penis is big enough thank you, and no I don't want to buy Viagra, and no I don't need a new mortgage.....but they keep coming. We have even had spammers bounce bogus emails off of our info @OCF address, and it traces back through more than twenty other addresses and you never can figure out the original source. This is the nature of the WWW these days. Let me know if anyone is getting anything strange that may have oral cancer associated with it in anyway. And of course as mentioned above do not give out any personal information to anyone that you have not developed a relationship with and trust, and you know they have a need for that info such as your phone number etc.

It never ceases to amaze me how many hucksters there are out there seeking to take advantage of people with cancer! Between phony claims, testimonials, alternative cures, bogus medical devices, supplements, etc. It would take a week or more just to scratch the surface at Quackwatch just in the cancer area alone.

This is a new wrinkle but one that is employed in other areas of internet fraud. Sounds like a new spin on the Nigerian 419 scam.

Here's a link to Hoaxbusters on a search for "cancer":
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/cgi-bin...amp;age=&maxfiles=50&maxlines=30

I hope that God has prepared a special place in hell for these evil people.

That is quite a site, Gary. It is hard enough to get good, accurate up to date information on the web without these people spreading outright falsifications and misinformation.
As a general rule, if anyone asks you for your social security number, date of birth, mother's maiden name over the internet via email or over the telephone, you better be very sure who you're communicating with or else you are providing confidential information to God knows who. - Sheldon

Hi Sheldon,
before I forward ANYTHING (and I rarely forward stuff anyway - it better be really funny -sappy stuff goes directly into the bit bucket), I check it with Hoaxbusters first. 95% of the forwards I get are hoaxes. I always copy everyone on the forward list with the Hoaxbuster information, with a (gentle) rebuke about checking this out first BEFORE forwarding it and most people take me off their forward list for good. Some people refuse to believe that the story is a hoax - go figure. Nevertheless I think that I have singlehandedly increased the bandwidth on the internet through sheer embarassment!

The scammers are getting quite good about making phony webpages that are dead ringers for sites like Paypal, eBay and Bank of America. There are some samples of their work on Hoaxbusters as well.

You can never be too careful. My wifes identity was stolen several years ago and it is still causing us problems. My security is so tight that I shread anything with my name or address on it - even junk mail.

Thank you Katrina, your points are well taken!

I have been here for almost three years and have NOT received any spam nor solicitations as a result. Woe is to any one that takes advantage of this site or the fine people whom are members.

I have a full color target of the type that would do that and that target is missing most of the important parts!

As an afterthought, some folks are reluctant to post their birth date here. I would like those people to know that some reference to their age is helpful for those that respond. I personally take note when people come here whom are the same age as me. It isn't necessary to have your birthdate 100% accurate, just put something in that is close.

Thanks again Katrina.

Mark,
I didn't post my birthdate just for that reason. Perhaps there is a way that Brian can have it changed so that only the year of birth shows or something similar. I'm not opposed to anyone knowing my age, just didn't want to give my birthdate out.
Best of health and hugs to everyone.

katrina, since your full name does not appear in anything, your birthday woud be of academic value to someone. It is only one piece of a puzzle of parts that someone needs to steal your identity. No one including me knows your real name including the board monitors of the OCF board. For all we know you are not even katrina but an Alice or a Betty. You can choose not to have your birthdate displayed in your profile if you like. It's the simple removal of a checkmark in a box which you can do at any time.