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Don't. Just don't. If you cannot give me the ORIGINAL author's
name and verifiable contact info (meaning you verified it personally) don't send
it to me.
If I get forwarded something from you that turns out to be an
urban legend, and especially if it could have been discovered with the links
below.. then the following filters get setup. (But how do I
tell Steve?)
- Strike #1 - You get a message flag setup that marks any
message from you as "suspect"
- Strike #2 - Messages now get filtered into "Probably
Junk" (I may go through it some night when I'm drunk)
- Strike #3 - All future messages from that e-mail address
get deleted automatically without appearing in my in box.
If the message purports to impart extremely important information that you've
never heard of before or read elsewhere in legitimate venues, be very
suspicious.
What is an urban legend? According to
Webster, an urban legend is "an often lurid story or anecdote that is
based on hearsay and widely circulated as true,"
Urban legends
perpetrate a type of
folklore,
endlessly circulated by
word
of mouth, repeated in news stories and distributed by
email. People
frequently recount such tales as having happened to a "friend of a friend". Some
of the stories have survived for a very long time, having evolved only slightly
over the years, as in the case of the story of a woman killed by spiders nesting
in her elaborate hairdo. Other, new stories reflect modern circumstances, like
the story of the man on a business trip being seduced by a woman and waking up
the next morning minus a kidney surgically removed for transplant. One of the
most famous is of alligators living in the sewer after being flushed down
toilets when they grow too big to be kept as pets. (Read
entire article)
Most of this is borrowed html code from the
various and sundry sites that work to debunk this stuff.
Google found X # of links for the search term:
3,810,000 for "Urban Legend"
707,000 for "email hoaxes"
1,370,000 for "Spam Scam"
You can find at least one. Or use one of
the links or Search engines below.
How to tell Here's How:
1. Note whether the text you've received was actually written by
the person who sent it. Did anyone sign their name to it? If not, be skeptical.
2. Look for the telltale phrase, 'Forward this to everyone you know!' The more
urgent the plea, the more suspect the message.
3. Look for statements like 'This is NOT a hoax' or 'This is NOT an urban
legend.' They typically mean the opposite of what they say.
4. Watch for overly emphatic language, as well as frequent use of UPPERCASE
LETTERS and multiple exclamation points!!!!!!!
5. If the text seems aimed more at persuading than informing the reader, be
suspicious. Like propagandists, hoaxers are more interested in pushing people's
emotional buttons than communicating accurate information.
6. If the message purports to impart extremely important information that you've
never heard of before or read elsewhere in legitimate venues, be very
suspicious.
7. Read carefully and think critically about what the message says, looking for
logical inconsistencies, violations of common sense and blatantly false claims.
8. Look for subtle or not-so-subtle jokes — indications that the author is
pulling your leg.
9. Check for references to outside sources of information. Hoaxes don't
typically cite verifiable evidence, nor link to Websites with corroborating
information.
10. Check to see if the message has been debunked by Websites that debunk urban
legends and Internet hoaxes (see Above).
11. Research any factual claims in the text to see if there is published
evidence to support them. If you find none, odds are you've been the recipient
of an email hoax.
Tips:
- Virtually any email chain letter you receive (i.e., any message
forwarded multiple times before it got to you) is more likely to be
false than true. You should automatically be skeptical of chain
letters.
- Hoaxers usually try every means available to make their lies
believable -- e.g., mimicking a journalistic style, attributing the
text to a 'legitimate' source, or implying that powerful corporate
or government interests have tried to keep the information from you.
- Be especially wary of health-related rumors. Most importantly,
never act on 'medical information' forwarded from unknown sources
without first verifying its accuracy with a doctor or other reliable
source
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