E-Mail Hoaxes

"I am writing this article to request something for a terminally ill boy. Craig Shergold is a seven-year old boy who has terminal cancer. His ambition before he dies is to be included in the Guinness Book of World Records as having the largest collection of business cards. My request is that EVERYONE who reads this posting send at least one business card to him."

If you have an e-mail account, the chances are you have received either this message, or one very similar to it. But should you believe it? The experts say no.

Craig Shergold does exist, and did indeed request greeting cards while suffering from cancer in 1989, but he is now a healthy college student who has tried without success to stop the hoax. No one knows who originated the current message, but most people will agree that the message is unyielding.

Organizations, such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation are being overrun with business cards and the like from well-wishers who do not realize that they are merely contributing to the hoax.

As the number of people using e-mail has increased, so have the number of hoaxes, rumors, and "urban legends". A few more hoaxes to watch out for:

• Unwary travelers can be tranquilized and have their kidneys stolen.
• The government found the AIDS virus on needles planted in pay telephones.
• The "Good Times" computer virus.
• Neiman Marcus (Mrs. Field's) cookie recipe.
• Headlight flashing, "gang initiation rite".
• Free car from Honda.
• Unwary female shoppers are asked to sample perfume in a shopping mall parking lot, and awaken to find that they have been robbed.
• ATM envelope poisonings.

Each of these hoaxes has been proven untrue, in addition to many others, by various government agencies, including the National Kidney Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

When you receive an unconfirmed e-mail you should exercise caution because it will undoubtedly waste other's time, cause panic, and slow the Internet. It is relatively easy to spot a hoax. Most e-mail hoaxes include one of the following:

• A dire warning or very attractive offer that plays on your fear, greed, or sympathy.
• Credibility by reference to a government agency, a major institution, or a well-known individual.
• The use of technical language that most people probably will not completely understand.
• A request that you forward a copy of the e-mail, often to everyone you know.
• It will often contain no dates in the message itself and will name no individual to contact.
• You may find rows of ">>" before each message, which shows how many people have passed the message along.
• The return address is falsified