Thank you for forwarding this important information.

Good advice...you may also wish to invest in a reputable internet security programme. Mine is just over $100 per year, is reliable, constantly updated (free) and deletes no end of rubbish/cookies. I wouldn't be without the internet, but you do have to exercise caution, there are some scammers out there.

after rereading this post I went to Snopes and looked at computer segment. It is something everyone should read, it is unbelievable the computer hoaxes going on. I am going to ask all my friends to stop sending jokes and chains.
Thanks again for the heads up

Don't even hit Reply to let the sender know it's a scam. I assume the email tracker program can use that as well as a forward.

And I've done that.

I get these spam emails from a certain friend every so often (maybe once a year), and she never actually sends them. Some tracker program got her email address and her address book and spoofs the spam mails so they look like they're from her.

The first time or two, I replied back telling her it was a scam. Oops.

Delete the bad email, then send a fresh new email back to your friend alerting him/her to the problem.