LESSON: E-MAIL HOAXES AND CHAIN LETTERS

When it comes to forwarding, be very discriminate with messages like "Danger!" and "Virus Alert" or "A Little Girl Is Dying". These are old Internet chain letters created especially to waste people’s time and test our patience. If you send it around, chances are you will annoy majority of your recipients who received the same message already many times. They might not tell you about it from lack of time or to be polite - but don't assume that just because no one complains, these messages are really appreciated. Most likely the opposite is true!   Check out Urban Legends first.

Assume it is a Hoax!

There are many arguments as to why you should ignore virus warnings. Three of the top reasons for coaches to delete these messages are:

   You may unintentionally cause a panic for your friends.

  You are contributing to the proliferation of junk mail.

   You might be bugging people instead of saving the world or building relationships.

Are there any clues that this might be a hoax?

• A sense of extreme urgency
• Lots of exclamation marks, capitals and bold type
• Comments about dire consequences
• A reference to some technical person or organization
• states that it is a Federal Communication Commission (FCC) warning. According to the FCC, they have not and never will issue warnings on viruses. It is not part of their job
• A strong encouragement to send the e-mail to everyone in your address book and friends

What if I am still in doubt or think I may have a virus?

There are lots of great sites, MacAfee is a good example. Here you can:

• Get on a virus dispatch email list.
• Do a name search in the virus information library
• Obtain instructions on what to do if you do have a virus.