idiot emails

[Nacho]

i'm sick and tired of getting emails at work from colleagues who send me some guff that promises them a free laptop/state of the art mobile phone if they send the 'chain' email to 10 people ...

i work with some intelligent people, but when i get one of these emails ... what's the correct reply ?

- 'reply to all' and call them an idiot ? (therefore exposing their desperate spazzyness to everyone)

- delete it and think 'what an idiot'

- delete it and have a quiet word ....'you're an idiot if you think you'll receive a £400 laptop for forwarding an email to 10 people ...

- is there a reply smiley that has the tongue pushed into the lower lip while going ..'mmmuuhhhh' ....

- join the idiot legion and be done with it ......who knows ....

- 'mmmmmuuhhh'

[Metalattakk]

To be on the safe side, just c&p the subject line and send an email straight back to the sender stating what an idiot he is, and why.

[Invisible]

Send them an electronic invoice for you having to read the email.

[Phill]

i work with some intelligent people

I think your first step is to consider just exactly what your basing intelligent on with regards to your colleagues, i.e. trained / untrained monkeys.
:eek:

You could always forward the email to senior management and the IT bods and explain how it is affecting your work.
Then sit back in the smug satisfaction that a new draconian internet policy will be kneejerked into place followed by the IT guys locking down every internet site that isn't (and sometimes is) work related and blocking thousands of email domains.

Or, print out said email, tie it to a suitable heavy object like a sellotape dispenser or good sized deskphone, or even an oldey worldy monitor if your feeling so aggrieved, and then launch it at the offending colleague whilst screaming at them that you are an individual free thinker and will not succumbe to being part of a chain, I am not a number, I am a free man etc. etc. etc.

[bekisman]

Grandson, aged 6, says (to paraphrase) "granddad, is that a million emails after 6 contacts?" The little git was playing chess with me at 4 and a bit..

[jimbews]

i'm sick and tired of getting emails at work from colleagues who send me some guff that promises them a free laptop/state of the art mobile phone if they send the 'chain' email to 10 people ...

That's bad enough.
The ones that really make my blood boil are those that promise bad luck on people who don't pass on the message.
I remember at one time it got so bad that at the Uni we publicised an email address to which these message could be passed on ;-)

And, as bekisman's grandson implied, if the instructions were followed a sufficient number of times there would be no email.

I tend to emphasise that side of things and then tell senders that they are performing the equivalent of a "denial of service" attack. Followed by mutterings about the Computer Misuse Act, criminal offences, etc.

JimBews

[RecQuery]

You could look at the e-mail find some key phrases and set up some filters to auto delete or move them somewhere.

Depending on the setup the IT guys may get auto CC'd so might know about it already.