E-Mail Scam
Bogus Coca-Cola Sweepstakes Promises Car and Cash

Announcing
24/7 Technical Support!

Ask The Help Desk
Why Do I Receive Red X's Within Empty Boxes In Some E-mail Messages?

Sites Of The Month
Great Sites To Check Out In January!

Short Tutorial
Attaching Files (Attachments) To E-mail Messages

Dear Valued DakotaCom.Net Customer

Happy New Year to you! This January eNewsletter is designed to help you start 2007 with new ways to boost your Internet knowledge. You'll get a "heads up" about a phishing scam using a bogus Coca-Cola car and cash sweepstakes. You'll learn how to attach files to e-mail messages, and why you sometimes receive e-mail messages containing those little red X's in boxes. Plus, you'll get our picks for helpful sites including one to help you find your risk for major diseases, one to help you connect with charities, and one to help you catch a glimpse of your favorite stars.

The goal of each of our monthly eNewsletters is to keep our subscribers informed regarding their Internet connection and to improve their Internet experience. To meet this goal, each monthly newsletter will usually contain information related to:

Warnings on a recent virus, e-mail hoax or security issue that may affect you

An update on new services and other local interests

An answer to a frequently asked Internet related question

Some fun, seasonal websites to check out

A short, step-by-step tutorial on an e-mail or browser related task

We think you'll find the information contained in this newsletter to be a valuable tool for enhancing your Internet experience. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, click HERE.

To see what's inside this issue, take a look at the index to the left and thanks for reading!

- The DakotaCom.Net Team

E-Mail Scam - Bogus Coca-Cola Sweepstakes Promises Car and Cash

It may look like an e-mail from Coca-Cola but it's definitely not "The Real Thing." There's an e-mail in circulation, allegedly from a Hong Kong-based Coca-Cola sales and marketing manager, that promotes a sweepstakes to win a Mercedes-Benz ML Jeep convertible and $800,000 cash. The problem? There is no such sweepstakes and there is no such car as a Mercedes-Benz ML Jeep convertible. It's a phishing expedition, using the trusted Coca-Cola brand as bait, designed to obtain personal and financial information from victims.

It used to be that such hoaxes only hijacked the names of banking institutions or services like PayPal and eBay. But now non-financial consumer brands, such as the soft drink giant, are being used without permission by online scammers. On their website, the Coca-Cola Company states they are "... in no way associated with these e-mails or programs. We are not a sponsor and our name and trademarks are used here without permission."

If you receive an e-mail like the one described above, you have a couple of options. You can do nothing and simply delete the message. (Do not reply to it or unsubscribe.) Or you can report the suspicious e-mail to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at http://www.ftc.gov.

As always, you need to be aware of the telltale signs of phishing. According to PhishTank.com, a collaborative clearinghouse for data and information about phishing on the Internet, look for the following signs:

Generic greeting that doesn't use your name

Link to a website that doesn't start with "https" (The "s" stands for secure.)

Request for personal information like account numbers

Sense of urgency that pressures you to act quickly

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Announcing - 24/7 Technical Support!

DakotaCom.Net is pleased to announce the immediate availability of live, local technical support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year. We had previously provided live technical support daily from 7AM to 11PM and were closed on a few holidays.

We have seen an increase in the demand for around-the-clock technical support from our customers both in Tucson and elsewhere. The Internet has truly become a global communications network that crosses times zones, and of course, it never closes. As an internet services provider, we also provide various services used by Tucsonans and companies and individuals all over the world. We felt it was time to match our service level to the customer's needs - whenever they may be. We can now say that DakotaCom.Net is never closed - even on holidays.

We have also begun providing fully managed Internet solutions to large apartment complexes and well known hotels in Tucson. We recognized that these businesses have customers who have a particular need to be able to call and talk to a live person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week whenever they have a problem. We are the only provider able to provide managed internet services with 24/7 local support. That local support is a key requirement for many Tucson property managers.

Businesses are not just looking for an Internet connection these days. They are looking for complete solutions that address their need for not only high speed Internet, but also network security, managed services and enabling applications that allow their businesses to grow and take advantage of the efficiencies and productivity gains that Internet technology has to offer. DakotaCom.Net is here to deliver complete solutions from A to Z for our customers.

We can be reached for technical support, 24/7 at our normal numbers, (520) 745-3900 or (866) 666-0425 or support@DakotaCom.Net.

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Ask The Help Desk - Why Do I Receive Red X's Within Empty Boxes In Some E-mail Messages?

Question: Why do I sometimes receive e-mail messages that contain an empty box with a red "X" within the message pane rather than a picture? My friends are having the same problem.

Answer: Graphics and photos contained within an e-mail message are often not "stored" within the e-mail message itself but rather on a remote Web server (computer). If the message you receive is in an HTML format (supposed to have graphics or photos as part of the message) and a little box with a red "X" shows up instead of the image, there may be a broken connection somewhere between the image link within the e-mail message and the remote Web server where the image is actually stored.

What causes a broken connection? There could be a number of reasons including:

A typo by the person who keyed in the Web address of the image's server. When this occurs, the request for the image goes to a server location where no image exists. It is similar to looking for a home at 1500 Peach Street when the correct address is 1500 Peach Avenue.

Something on the Web server changed before you downloaded the e-mail. The graphic was eliminated, its name changed, or it was stored in a different folder, which changed its path.

A power outage occurred somewhere between your computer and the location of the image's Web server.

You've downloaded your e-mail and then closed your Internet connection to review your messages. If images within any of your incoming e-mail messages are stored at a remote server location, your computer will not be able to access them since you are no longer connected to the Internet.

Newer versions of Microsoft e-mail client software (i.e. Outlook Express, Outlook, and Entourage) block graphics from appearing automatically in HTML e-mail messages and, of course, the red boxes show up in their place. (Click on "Download Pictures" at the top of the e-mail and the pictures will appear.) Note: Different e-mail clients and Web browsers use different symbols for a broken graphic link. For instance, Apple's Safari Web browser uses a blue box with a question mark symbol.

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Great Sites To Check Out This Month

What's Your Health Risk?
http://www.yourdiseaserisk.harvard.edu - One way to take better care of your health in 2007 is to educate yourself about your disease risks. This site, developed over the past ten years by the Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention, can help you discover your risk of developing five important diseases — cancer, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and stroke. Simply answer questions about your health, background, and lifestyle with easy-to-use interactive tools and get personalized tips for preventing disease. Knowledge is power and Your Disease Risk gives you the knowledge you need to make smarter, healthier choices.

Track The Travels Of $10s And $20s
http://WheresGeorge.com - Ever wondered where your paper money goes after it leaves your wallet at the checkout counter? Well a guy by the name of Hank Eskin was so curious that he started a website in 1998 called WheresGeorge.com so he and others could track the travels of U.S. currency. All you need to do is enter the denomination, series, and serial number of any U.S. dollar bill, as well as your current zip code. The site will then follow the movement of that bill, giving you the average speed in miles per day and the actual travel time between exchanges of the currency.

Stargazing
http://seeing-stars.com/Awards/ - Hollywood's numerous awards ceremonies are in full swing with the Grammy Awards and Academy Awards in February and the excitement continuing until the Emmy's in June. If you've always dreamed of seeing your favorite stars in person, seeing-stars.com is your insider's guide to making it happen. Here you can find out how to catch a glimpse of the stars as they arrive in their limos, sit in the audience of the American Music Awards, or even watch an actor get his star on the Walk of Fame. If you're really starstruck, check out this site's pages on where the stars live, shop, play, and dine — and even where they're buried.

Give It A Try
http://justgive.org - If one of your New Year's resolutions is to expand your charitable giving, give this unique site a try. JustGive is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to connect people with the charities and causes they care about and to increase overall giving. They'll help you find the charities most meaningful to you from more than 1,000,000 nonprofits. You can also buy a charity gift certificate, start a charity wedding registry, track your donations, and get a tax summary at the end of the year.

Resolutions Resource
http://firstgov.gov/Citizen/Topics/New_Years_Resolutions.shtml - Let's face it — most of us make similar New Year's resolutions year after year, from the ever-popular health goals of losing weight or quitting smoking to the financially motivated ones like paying off debt or getting a better job. This Web portal provides handy information to help you succeed this year with 13 of the most common resolutions. All the information and ideas you need to develop your self-improvement plans are right here. (The hard part is simply following through on the work.) Good luck!

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Short Tutorial - Attaching Files (Attachments) To E-mail Messages

Not sure how to attach files to e-mail messages? Follow the steps below and you'll be a pro in no time!

Adding Attachments Using Outlook Express 6 On Windows XP SP2

With Outlook Express open, create a new e-mail message. Prepare it for sending by filling in the recipient's address, the subject, and the body of your message.

Click your cursor arrow on the "Attach" button in the toolbar. (It looks like a paper clip.) The "Insert Attachment" dialog box will appear. (Alternately, you can click on "Insert" in the menu bar and select "File Attachment" from the drop-down menu to open the "Insert Attachment" dialog box.)

Click on the drop-down arrow next to the "Look-in" field and select the directory where the file you want to attach is located.

Once the file you want to attach shows up in the main part of the window, click on it to highlight it. (Hold the shift key down while clicking to highlight multiple files.) Then click the "Attach" button.

The file you selected to attach should now show up in an "Attach" field below the "Subject" line field. If you want to attach additional files to the same e-mail, begin with Step 1 again. Click on the "Send" button to mail the message with the attachment(s).

Adding Attachments Using Thunderbird 1.5 On Windows XP SP2 And Mac OS X 10.4

With Thunderbird open, create a new e-mail message. Prepare it for sending by filling in the recipient's address, the subject, and the body of your message.
Click your cursor arrow on the "Attach" button in the toolbar. (It looks like a paper clip.) The "Attach File(s)" dialog box will appear.
Browse to the file you would like to attach by clicking on the drop-down arrow next to the "Look-in" field. Select the directory where the file you want to attach is located.
Once you find the file you want to attach, click on it to highlight it. (Hold the shift key down while clicking to highlight multiple files.) Then click the "Open" button.
The file you selected to attach should now show up in the "Attachments" field to the right of your message's address info and subject line. If you want to attach additional files to the same e-mail, begin with Step 1 again. Click on the "Send" button to mail the message with the attachment(s).

Adding Attachments Using Netscape 7.2 Mail On Windows XP SP2 And Mac OS X 10.4

With Netscape Mail open, create a new e-mail message. Prepare it for sending by filling in the recipient's address, the subject, and the body of your message.
Click your cursor arrow on the "Attach" button in the toolbar. (It looks like a paper clip.) The "Attach File(s)" dialog box will appear.
Browse to the file you would like to attach by clicking on the drop-down arrow next to the "Look-in" field. Select the directory where the file you want to attach is located. Note: On the Macintosh, you get what looks like a standard Macintosh "Open" dialog box. There is no "Look-in" field.
Once you find the file you want to attach, click on it to highlight it. (Hold the shift key down while clicking to highlight multiple files.) Then click the "Open" button.
The file you selected to attach should now show up in the "Attachments" field to the right of your message's address info and subject line. If you want to attach additional files to the same e-mail, begin with Step 1 again. Click on the "Send" button to mail the message with the attachment(s).

Adding Attachments Using Mail 2.1.1 On Mac OS X 10.4

With Mail open, create a new e-mail message. Prepare it for sending by filling in the recipient's address, the subject, and the body of your message.
Click your cursor arrow on the "Attach" button in the toolbar. (It looks like a paper clip.) A standard "Open" dialog box will appear.
Browse to the file you would like to attach.
Once you find the file you want to attach, click on it to highlight it. (Hold the shift key down while clicking to highlight multiple files.) If you are sending the file to a Windows user, click in the check box next to "Send Windows Friendly Attachments." Then click the "Choose File" button.
The file you selected to attach should now show up in the body of your message. If you want to attach additional files to the same e-mail, begin with Step 1 again. Click on the "Send" button to mail the message with the attachment(s).

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We hope you found this newsletter to be informative. It's our way of keeping you posted on the happenings here. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, click HERE.

Thanks for your business!

Best regards,

The DakotaCom.net Team

DakotaCom.Net, 2006 BBB Ethics Award winner
4003 E. Speedway, Suite 111
Tucson, Arizona 85712
520-745-3900
800-498-1050

(We have used our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.)

©2007 Cornerstone Publishing Group Inc.

Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in this eNewsletter are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.