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Email Hoaxes
Email Hoaxes: The Lies That Keep on Coming
REPRINTED FROM: The Bismarck Tribune
JAN 6, 2002 ARTICLE ID: 1123
by Keith Darnay
CPsst.
Did you hear the federal government is looking to put a 5-cent tax on every email message you send?
How about the little girl dying of cancer who wants people to donate 3 cents to the American Cancer Society so other kids won't have to face what she has endured?
What about those Harry Potter books turning 6-year-olds into Satanists? An email has quotes from those poor kids, you know.
At some time in your online life, you may have received one or more emails detailing these stories.
None of them are true.
They are email hoaxes and, like a seasonal virus, they keep resurfacing from time to time to stir up unnecessary anxiety and generate unwarranted calls to action.
Because sending email is easy and fast, a hoax can spread for days on the Internet before it is finally exposed as a fraud.
However, it seems the truth is always chasing after the rumor in the online world. While the sensational fake speeds ahead to the next unwary email recipient, the real story is busy cleaning up the chaos and confusion left behind.
Email hoaxes are resilient. The majority of the ones circulating now have origins or variations going back three to five years. The email tax story? That one dates back to 1996. The little girl dying of cancer? Versions of that story go back to the early 1990s. Harry Potter? That's a relatively new one, going back to early 2000.
Fortunately, there are a number of Web sites dedicated to cataloging and exposing the phony email stories.
Whenever you receive an email that highlights a cause or concern and urges a quick response, check with the email hoax sites first before you send the story on to others.
If the story turns out to be a fake, say so to the person who sent you the email. And do not pass the message on -- let it die.
Email hoaxes never will be completely eliminated given the nature of email and the reach of the Internet.
However, we can all be smarter about what we read in our email and help keep phony email stories from spreading.
Here are some of the best Web sites to visit if you want to check the veracity of an email story:
HoaxBusters: A well maintained Web site that allows you to look for email hoaxes by category. A search function makes finding specific email hoaxes quite easy.
Current Netlore: A detailed compilation of email hoaxes, dying child appeals, medical 'warnings,' Internet urban legends and more. Check out the latest hoaxes making the rounds. Browse through an A-to-Z index of present and past hoaxes. Links to other email hoax sites ensures you'll be able to separate the real stories from the phony tales.
Electronic Ephemera: Previously known as 'The Hoax FAQ,' this site is dedicated to helping debunk Web-based hoaxes, scams, spoofs, urban legends, chain emails and more. A good, growing resource.
CDC Hoax Control: Maintained by the Centers for Disease Control, this site offers details on a variety of health-related email hoaxes and scams. A great place to check before buying into those stories about cheap Cipro being sold online, email warnings about anthrax from the CDC and reports that underarm deodorants cause breast cancer.
Vmyths.com: A Web site dedicated to exposing the phony computer virus alert emails that circulate throughout the Internet. Computer viruses are a concern, but go here first to see if the latest warning you receive via email is accurate or phony.
The Museum of Hoaxes: A great Website that covers all kinds of hoaxes throughout history. From the 17th century's Ghostly Drummer of Tedworth to the British Safeway email price increase hoax of 2000, this site has it all.
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