For literally about the 25th time, I got another email in my inbox this morning from a well-meaning person forwarding me a desperate plea to go vote for some silly internet poll at a site called something like 'Israel v Palestine.' I'm not linking it. You're supposed to go to the site and click which side you support.

The email says that "CNN is pushing" this poll, but oddly enough, the multiply-forwarded email neither contains a quote from CNN, nor any link to CNN itself. The silly poll site linked in the email is NOT hosted by CNN. It does, however, contain lots of advertising. That is typical of scam email.

I will stand corrected if someone can show me somewhere on CNN.com where this thing is actually being "pushed." Until then, read this: Spam poses as CNN story about Israel-Hamas conflict. It describes similar scams.

These scams are not only useless (by definition, there is almost no such thing as an "important" internet poll), and possibly dangerous because you are enriching, through your clicks, someone you do not know, and who may also be spreading viruses or other malware.

Never, ever, ever, forward this type of email unless you personally wrote it, can verify the original author, or have carefully checked it out. (this also goes for the weekly "Oh noes! There is a terrible virus on the way! Please forward this to everyone you know!"-type emails as well.) If it doesn't contain verifiable info for every claim made, and tries to send you to some oddball URL, your alarm bells should be sounding loud and clear. No, it is not OK to send it out anyway, "Just in case."

The scum who start this stuff are taking advantage of you and your desire to do good -- just like every grifter in history. Do the words Bernard Madoff mean anything to you? If you really want to help, circulate an email telling people to hit the tip-jar, or click the ad links, on their favorite BLOG. That would actually do some good.

To conclude with some good general advice: Whenever you receive an email that contains the words "Forward this to everyone you know!" or similar, STOP...THINK...keep brain and fingers connected...take your time. Never trust. Always verify.