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Dear Friends on the Parkinsn List, I am consciously not taking the time to check things out before writing this because I want to express my caution; and I am definitely not accusing anyone of a deception. BUT, I am urging caution to anyone thinking about responding to a recent posting titled "SENSITIVE ISSUE". The potential seems to exist for subtle or overt blackmail. I hope that this offer is genuine and above-board. However, I just finished watching a TV program (Donahue) on which experts talked about a variety of confidence schemes or scams. It was pointed out how fraud on the Internet is becoming serious, and how even the most intelligent and even cautious of us can be taken in. Call me paranoid, I don't care. You be the judge! The thing that bothers me is that if I get a code from them, and use it to write very personal stuff, THEY know who I really am. Will they, if not early on, then later, ask me to join something that requires a monthly charge to my credit card so they don't have to reveal my identity ? I'm inclined not to trust people who seem to be offering me a service for free out of the goodness of their hearts. I have been victimized enough and choose to be very cautious. I know the message at least appears to be written by one of us who has had a good experience with this service. But what would a good con-man say? "Psst., have I got a service for you!!" ?? If my suspicions are wrong, my intent is to protect also the person who writes to us. I would encourage all of us to ultimately accept the fact that what we write can be read by anyone around the world with the proper equipment. Furthermore, most on-line services I believe offer a way to be anonymous: by using a screen name or account number that we tell our service not to be traceable to our real names, and other personal information. (I am speaking of the large, international, well-known, and presumably reputable companies such as America On-Line and CompuServe.) I would advise contacting the technical support people at your service (NOT via a bulletin board) re. how to be anonymous. Enough said. Rich Morelli