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BS: How did I get this email?

07 Nov 07 - 09:58 PM (#2188701)
Subject: BS: How did I get this email?
From: GUEST,Guest, Gan Ainm

I'm trying to figure out how an email arrived in my inbox today. I knew the sender, and it was a legitimate message, not spam, sent to a group of people.

The thing is, my email address wasn't anywhere on the address list. Usually my email program (I have AOL) states something like, "This message was sent to you and 5 others..." and shows my address first. This message just showed To: (2 email names) and CC: (3 email names), none of them mine. All my other messages show my email name in the To: line.

So, if my email address wasn't in this message, how did this get to me?

07 Nov 07 - 10:21 PM (#2188709)
Subject: RE: BS: How did I get this email?
From: JohnInKansas

Depending on the program used, a BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) can be sent to one who is NOT IDENTIFIED as an addressee.

When you send to a large number of people, everyone to whom you Copy (CC) the mail has their name and email address shown on the email received by every other person on the list.

It's a common, and in fact recommended, method, to send to ONE recipient, with all others on the list as "BCC" addressees, to avoid revealing recipeints' addresses to others.

In your case, the 3 addressees shown at the CC line may be other officers of the club, or others with "published addresses" for whom it's appropriate to have their addresses shown, while you got a BCC that doesn't show others who got the same message.

John

07 Nov 07 - 10:30 PM (#2188711)
Subject: RE: BS: How did I get this email?
From: The Fooles Troupe

Just beat me to this John.

A little further to your "to send to ONE recipient, with all others on the list as "BCC" "... Often you just send it to yourself and BCC all the others - this completely hides everybody else.

07 Nov 07 - 10:38 PM (#2188715)
Subject: RE: BS: How did I get this email?
From: GUEST,Guest, Gan Ainm

Thanks for your answers. I do know about using BCC, but I thought at least my own address would still show up in the To: line. But perhaps not.

I'll try to experiment a bit and send myself and some friends something from work tomorrow using this method (with my name in the BCC box) and see what happens.

08 Nov 07 - 12:49 AM (#2188744)
Subject: RE: BS: How did I get this email?
From: Stilly River Sage

Often times BCC is sent by senders to themselves--it clues the recipients into where it is coming from, and masks all other recipients. It isn't used nearly enough by a couple of my friends. They're the last few holdouts who haven't gotten the memo about not forwarding all of the junk that comes over the virtual transom.

SRS

08 Nov 07 - 03:26 AM (#2188771)
Subject: RE: BS: How did I get this email?
From: JohnInKansas

One minor problem with sending BCC copies is that even the original "Sent" mail may not show to whom BCC copies were sent. The BCC addresses, at least in my email program, are deleted as soon as it leaves the "Out" box and moves to "Sent" mail. Other programs may to better(?)

If you have reason(s) to archive records of email correspondence, any significant senders/recipients should be as open TO:, FROM:, CC: persons that you'll be able to blameidentify later.

Of course, if you use html mail, you can't archive them anyway; so this minor distinction is of no concern.

For "public companies" a set of new SEC rules1 makes it mandatory that some offices keep traceable records of all internal and external communications2. I have yet to see any of the mavens who're wringing their hands over the complexities of complicance smart enough to comment on the possiblity of "untraceable" correspondence via BCC distributions.

1 See "Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002" for details.

2 The principal "complexity" comes from the requirement that they have to be able to FIND and provide to the SEC "anything the SEC asks them for." - Are we all laughing now?

John