What Is Chain Mail?

Date First Published: 26th June 2022

Topic: Cybersecurity

Subtopic: Threats To Systems, Data & Information

Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 3/10

Learn more about what chain mail is in this article.

Chain mail is a type of unsolicited email that is designed to convince the recipient into forwarding the email to other people and making as many copies as possible of the email message. Originally, chain mail was sent by physical letters on paper, but it is now more commonly sent electronically, such as by email, text messages, and social media sites.

Note:

It is called chain mail as the messages are designed to be sent from one person to another and form a 'chain'.

Why Do People Send Chain Mail?

Usually, the purpose of chain mail is to collect all email addresses of recipients and to spread viruses and malware. If a recipient forwards the email message to another recipient, it will usually show the email addresses of everyone they have sent it to. In addition, chain emails can trick users into doing something that will harm their computer.

The risk is that it is unknown what the sender of the chain letter will do with the list of all the email addresses. Chain mail is often considered to be a form of spam and has privacy and security risks. Therefore, if you receive a chain letter, do not forward it to any other recipients and delete it from your inbox.

Types Of Chain Mail

• Hoaxes – These attempt to trick or deceive users and are often malicious. An example of a hoax is a chain email that guides users to download and run a program that they claim to be useful and safe when it is actually malware. They may then ask recipients to forward the email to other people or send personal information. Phishing scams are examples of hoaxes.
• Urban legends – These chain emails are designed to be spread and notify users with a sense of urgency. An example would be a chain email that promises users money for forwarding the message to as many recipients as possible. Urban legends are not as malicious as hoaxes and the only negative effect that they have is wasted time.

Examples Of Chain Mail

Hoax

In this example of chain mail, the email is trying to trick the recipient into downloading and running an unsafe program and is disguising it as an antivirus. It is also asking the recipient to forward it to other people so that their computer can also get infected with malware. This is because the main goal of the creator is to spread as many copies as possible.

Urban Legend

In this example of chain mail, what the email promises sounds too good to be true. It is unlikely that someone would give a recipient money because they forwarded an email. This type of chain mail is designed to collect all email addresses of recipients, probably so that they can send even more spam.