Scams | Hoaxes | Urban Legends | Virus Hoaxes | What to Do

Scams

Scams on the Internet are not that different from other types of scams. They usually involve an unreputable person or persons misrepresenting their product and overcharging the consumer for a substandard product. The most important thing to remember is if it seem to good to be true, it probably is. Whenever possible only deal with companies that are established and have a good track record. When it comes to email scams, never send money or give credit card or banking information to a number given on an email.

Hoaxes

Hoaxes consist of fictional information circulated almost always by email, especially through chain email. Most of the time the chain email will say "send this to everyone you know" or "send this message on to ten people." It may appeal to your compassionate side ("help fulfill a little boy's dying wish") or use some type of scare tactic (if you do not sent this to ten people something terrible will happen). The new chain emails state that if you send this promotional information you will receive a free coupon or money. The thing to know is that there is no way for anyone to count the number of copies of an email in circulation on the internet, nor to count the number of times something has been forwarded. In order to actually do this, not only would you have to run a program that would "open" and examine the contents of many millions of email messages all over the world, the program would have to trace the path of each message. If it were even possible to accomplish this incredible technological feat, do you think anyone would find it worth their time?

Why are hoaxes so terrible? One reason is that people who are aware that these emails are hoaxes will think less of you if you're perpetuating them, especially in the work place. Also, if you only think in terms of your own perpetuation of hoaxes they seem to be very little risk or cost. Probably the biggest risk for hoax messages is their ability to multiply. If you sent an email to ten people and they sent it to ten people and so on, the amount of email messages generated can run into the thousands and that just for one message. The time spent reading these messages is wasted time, often at work, and the amount of work it adds to the servers handling email can slow down your ability to receive worthwhile emails or even crash a server. There have also been report of spammers (bulk mailers of unsolicited mail) harvesting e-mail addresses from hoaxes and chain letters and using these addresses for junk mail distribution. Many of these letters contain hundreds of good addresses, which is just what the spammers want. There are also rumors that spammers are deliberately starting hoaxes and chain letters to gather e-mail addresses (of course, that could be a hoax). So now, all those nice people who were so worried about the poor little girl dying of cancer find themselves not only laughed at for passing on a hoax but also the recipients of tons of spam mail. Also many of these emails tell you to call, mail, or email a particular person. As a result some unwitting business or organization may waste many hours responding to a hoax.

Many chain emails do not come in the traditional chain email format. They make you feel as if you are helping your friends by passing on important information. These emails come in two forms, urban legends and virus hoaxes.

Urban Legends

Urban legends are usually emails that have traveled around for years that unproven rumors. Below are a few examples of the older but still circulating urban legends:

New Charges for Internet - These usually state that the government plans to or will allow phone companies to charge you a per minute or long distance rate for Internet. They urge you to complain to your congressman. There is no truth to them..

Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe - The original email stated a woman liked a cookie she ate in the cafe at a Neiman- Marcus in Dallas so much she inquired about buying the recipe. The waitress told her she could for two fifty. The woman thought she meant $2.50 but a month later realized they had charged her credit card $250.00. Now to get at them she is distributing the recipe for free on the web. The department store may vary or the dollar amount might change but the overall story line and recipe tend to stay the same. Though people say the cookie recipe is very good, the story is a hoax. There is no cafe in Neiman-Marcus.

Craig Shergold Get Well Card Wish - This email talks of a young man dying of a brain tumor whose dying wish is to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for receiving the most cards from well-wishers. Actually this email is true but very out-dated. There have been variations to the story asking for business cards giving deadlines, etc. Craig Shergold broke the world record in 1990 when he was ten. Since that time he has had a operation that successfully removed the majority of the tumor. He is alive and doing well and doesn't want any more cards. The Make-A-Wish foundation has had to divert staff to deal the the letters and call they have been inundated with.

These are just a few of the many urban legends that circulate the Internet. Other include the roach eggs on an envelope, the kidney harvestors, emails from Bill Gates, and free NIKEs.

Virus Hoaxes

Genuine virus alerts won't urge you to warn all your friends. Valid virus email alerts will come from a source known to you and provide a link to a well-known computer security website. Hoax virus alerts don't usually do any harm other than waste people's time and clog up the system.

What to do if you suspect an email is a hoax

Delete the email. If you really must pass on that great joke or inspirational saying to a friend, copy that bit of the message and paste it into a new email. Don't forward the whole email.