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Stop Hoax e-mail in its tracks! How to identify hoax e-mail S. A. Mick McClary How many times have you received e-mail messages from friends, family or unknowns who have urgent messages that MUST be forwarded to everyone in your address book? Either someone, usually a child, is dying of some dread disease or some startling national or world developement needs your immediate action! Who hasn't received the message promising that Bill Gates is going to give away thousands of dollars if you will only forward the message to a few bazillion other people? Remember the one about the guy who woke up in his bath-tub that was full of ice? He was stunned to find that his flank was sewed up and, lo-and-behold, it came to pass that someone had harvested one of his kidneys! C'mon, folks!! Another favorite of mine is a message advising that your computer is infected with a virus and instructs you to GO NOW and remove that dastardly file from your computer's hard drive. Come to find out you've been instructed to remove a file that BELONGS in your computer and without which certain functions will no longer operate! I fell for that one a few years ago. Tsk! Here, now, is a list of places to go to find out if the earth-shattering news you just got in your in-box is legitimate or not.
Please, check things out before you forward nuisance e-mail to everyone you know! If you have other hoax-identifying sites, let me know and I'll list them too. |