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Are you part of the Spam problem or
Things to understand about Email Hoax
Junk Email comes in many forms.
Click on the subject your looking for, but read it all for a full educations.
How to Recognize a HOAX.
Get Rich Quick Chain Mail
Virus Hoax; False warning of doom that make you look stupid!
Fear and Anger Email Hoax;
Hate Mail & Slander.
Links to other "Hoax" Pages. |
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This article was written by Chuck Zendner, Owner of ZWN Internet Services, in November 1999. Things change with time, but the general concept of the below information will always remain the same. We receive email from our friends, relatives and strangers warning us of the terrible danger out there on the internet. We are all concerned about virus problems. Being the good people that we are, we want to also warn our family and friends to protect them. BUT many of these emails are just hoax email and design to scare you and tempt you into scaring your friends. They are written to see how many people are gullible enough to send them on to everyone they know. Before sending an email that is just going to give your friends one more worthless email to read, and scare them needlessly, Check first to see if it is real. There are links at the bottom of this page to help you check if what you are about to pass on to your friends is real or a hoax. Probably the first thing you should notice about a warning is the request to "send this to everyone you know" or some variant of that statement. This should raise a red flag that the warning is probably a hoax. No real warning message from a credible source will tell you to send this to everyone you know. Next, look at what makes a successful hoax. There are two known factors that make a successful hoax, they are:
If the warning uses the proper technical jargon, most individuals, including technologically savvy individuals, tend to believe the warning is real. This web page is ZWN's attempt to help sort out some of the Hoax email you get everyday. There are a LOT of "Get Rich Quick - Chain E-Mail" going around right now. They look something like the below.
Now the above is just one Example. There are others that claim to be from "The Gap", "The Old Navy " and other well known companies. I receive one or two of these "get rich quick" emails from "Friends and Relatives" every day. They forward these emails on in the hopes it will make them rich in a few weeks. I also receive one or two emails from customers every day asking if this is true. So, to save everyone some time and email space, I have researched the topic and am passing this on to our ZWN customers. Remember what your father always told you, "If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is". Well, On that advice, he was correct. So, do you really believe that a Company like GAP, "The Old Navy" or EVEN MICROSOFT can tell who you forward email to, How many times you forward it, and all of that CIA - Spy stuff. The answer is NO!! They cannot track how many times you forward something. These Hoax Emails are normally made up by someone who has a LOT of time on their hands and wants to play an "Internet Joke" and see how many people fall for this, "Forward this mail and receive a bunch of money in the US Mail next week." Even though the originator cannot tell who forwards it to whom, the way the game is played is, they hope that enough people will forward it to enough people so that someday, it gets forwarded back to them. Then they brag to all their other "Computer Geek" friends about it. You Say "BUT THIS EMAIL WAS SENT FROM A FRIEND who knew someone that really made a Lot of Money from this." Really? Who is this person that made all that money? Spend some time asking your friend. You will find that it is NOT someone he knows personally, it is normally a "friend of a friend who's neighbor knows this guy at work, who has a second-cousin that knows a lady who goes to his church, who has a friend, that received a bunch of money from a email chain letter." Or another way of saying it is..... "It's bullshit". Over the last few weeks, I have sent email to my family and friend that have a LONG History of sending me this crap and asked them "Hey, you have been sending these "Get Rich Chains Email" to me for a year. You must be rich by now. So how much money have you made?" They never seem to reply back, those that are not TOO embarrassed to answer always have the same answer, which goes something like, "We have seen no money yet, but hope it will start rolling in soon". Ya, right! Again you say "BUT THEY LOOKS SO REAL! They even have real people from important companies who start the email." Yes, they have very real looking address. Have you ever tried sending email to these people who the email claims were the original senders of this wonderful offer? Well I have. Normally the email bounces back as a bad email address. Also, if you are the kind that fall for these "Get Rich Chain Mail" Then you are also probably the types that falls for the "Virus Warning Tricks" and to be a loving, helpful person that you are, forward these on to all of your Internet friends. There are a lot of kids out there having fun sending out fake virus warnings, Here is my favorite.
Before scaring all your friends, check to see if it is real. Checking to see if the Hoax is real does not take any more time than it took you to add ALL THOSE email address to your email you are forwarding to everyone once you learn how to check it. If you don't have time to check and see if it is a Hoax. DON'T SEND IT!! There are a lot of places on the Internet that track the REAL and the Hoax Virus. See the bottom of this web page for a list of some favorite Links I use to check for Hoaxes. No, the " BUGS LIFE SCREEN SAVER VIRUS" is not a real virus! Thank you to the 127 friends that have forward this warning to me and I know you meant well, but it just isn’t so. No, the "Monica Lewinski Virus" will not really "suck all the power out of your computer's processor chip".
Senate Bill 602p - 5 cent e-mail While we are on the subject of False Alarms, Let’s move onto the email Hoax that is designed to make you angry enough to send the Hoax Email on to your friends. You know, those emails forward to you that really upset you because someone is doing something that really pisses you off. Here is another hoax created just to stir up your anger. It's the one about Congress going to start charging 5 cents for each email you send, The email starts out like the Below
Once again, it just another one of those Joke emails design to fill up everyone's mail box and give a little Anger Boost. For more details on this little aggravator, go to http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/postal.service.email.charge.hoax.html Then there is the "Hate Mail" that can really get your blood flowing. Hate Mail, written about some famous person, that is false information with the goal of doing damage to the person reputation. Then you get it, you believe it, and you send these lies onto your friends becoming part of the problem instead of being part of the solution. Examples are Hanoi Jane' Rumors Blend Fact
and Fiction Being a Viet Nam Vet myself, and finding this story very upsetting, I researched it to see if it was true or if it was a hoax. To see what Senator John McCain and Mike McGrath, President of NAM/POWs has to say about this email, visit Jane Fonda Spam
Find out more about Hoax Emails
Well, We hope this information helps a little to cut down on the "Extra Email" we all receive. |
