Several of our members have received emails purportedly sent by our President or our Webmaster. These emails have relatively strange subject lines and contained attachments. DO NOT OPEN THE ATTACHMENTS. DELETE THE EMAILS IMMEDIATELY WITHOUT CLICKING ON THE ATTACHMENTS. THEY CONTAIN VIRUSES. The attachments have .bat, .exe., .pif, .scr, or several other extensions and usually have a companion file attached with it.

If you get an email that is suspicious, delete it. The sender, if legitimate, will send it again if it is important. Of course, so will the bogus emailer. The best way to determine the validity of the email is to determine the true sender. For those of you using Outlook Express, just right click on the email itself in the (usually) top right window that contains the from, subject, and received columns. Then, left click on properties, left click on details, left click on message source, and look at the very first line. With these bogus emails you will notice that the sender is really not the President or the Webmaster or anyone associated with CCRA.

What can be done about it?? Well, truthfully, nothing. It's just like getting trash mail in your US Postal Service mailbox. Sure, you can have your name put on the "Don't You Dare Send Me Junk Mail" list, but that won't stop those who could care less about your rights. Same goes for these idiots that are sending viruses via the emails. It's like the old saying, "Red lights don't stop cars, brakes do. And someone has to apply them."

Bottom line is this: If you don't know the sender, DELETE! If you do know the sender, but the email seems suspicious, DELETE. If you think the email might be legitimate but you are still somewhat wary, then call the sender and determine the legitimacy of the email. And, especially if the email contains an attachment, be absolutely positive that the sender is legitimate. I know it's a hassle, but most of these emails grab files at random from your hard drive and attach them to various people gleaned from your address book in your email program. The recipient sees the email from 'you' and naturally clicks on it as well as the attachment and the virus has succeeded in propagating itself.

Anti-virus programs are absolutely necessary for most of us. Those that never get online have little to worry about unless they get floppies or CD's from others. If you have an anti-virus program, make certain that you keep it updated. If you don't have one, get one. And until you do, you can go to McAfee's website and do a free scan of your hard drive. I know it sounds scary letting others look at your contents, and it probably is, but both McAfee and Symantec are very reputable companies. Check out their websites to learn more about how viruses work and how they are spread. 

If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please email me.

Thanks,

Jeniffer Aloysius

Colorado Court Reporters Association
Joyce E. Martin RPR, CSR, President
Judi Ericson, Executive Director
6751 South Independence Street
Littleton, Colorado 80128-4047
Telephone:  303.933.0577
Facsimile:  303.933.0588

Jeniffer Aloysius, CCRA Webmaster

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