As far as I know, all of the events are random.. I'm not sure what the odds are of getting that event, but someone once suggested that if you want to avoid the loss from it you can..

Click to reveal..
Exit the game before pressing anything on the e-mail, restart the game and it takes the event away.


I haven't ever tried this myself, but I'll give it a shot next time I get a bad e-mail message.
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