Published December 01, 1999
Email is many thing to many people. Businesses, universities and governments use it for serious work. A few others author deception. Distributing unsolicited materials is considered discourteous; dispensing false information is worse.
Responsible people, in this day, must hone an ear for truth, dispel myths, and dismiss content insufficiencies. Verify the source, the beneficiary’s name, address, phone number and cross-validate the accuracy through many sources online.
Here are some tell-tale signs of an email hoax:
“Do not open the attachment file. Doing so will destroy your hard drive”: Opening a document file cannot harm anything. However, an application file that runs or executes a program may carry with it harmful instructions to your computer’s data.
Trashing unopened email, out of fear, is recklessly unscrupulous and counter-productive. Instead, protect valuable files with virus scanning software before you elect to run/launch any unknown program.
“This information was announced from IBM. AOL states that this is a very dangerous virus”: Oh? Where is the reference web address (URL) and other information to substantiate it? No where to be found.
“This is a new, very malicious virus, and not many people know about it”: That’s laughable; then how pervasive is it?
“Pass this along to _everyone_ you know”: The fundamental objective of a prankster is the popular acceptance of his/her lie. The “tell everyone” urging is the most glaring of all red flags warning of an Email’s invalid information, particularly if the message’s return address is missing or fallacious.
“This petition will be sent to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission…”: There is no electronic mechanism that will do that. The message is forwarded only by you to your people, not to the governmental entities.
“Do not use “Forward” in your mail program. Instead, cut and paste this message into a new E-mail, add your name to the bottom of the list, and send it out.” Doing this causes the identity of the sender and receiver to be severed in subsequent forwarded Emails.
Besides anxiety, another ploy of the mischievous rogue is a firm tug on your sympathy. “This is an Internet petition. Sign your name at the bottom and pass it on to everyone. The government of Afghanistan is waging war upon women.”:
The unidentified writer paints a dreary picture of atrocities and oppression in that country. If the reader obediently disseminates it to all their friends, good luck is promised to appear in your life, wrongs will be righted, and you will have done your good deed. Is this called a leap of faith?
First, there is no such thing as an Email petition. The numerous warning signs of tom-foolery ooze from the descriptive content to alert the reader. The call to action, unfortunately, does nothing to alleviate suffering, promote human decency, or establish peace in the world. Wouldn’t something this important be prominent on the nightly news?
In every lie is a speck of truth; and no doubt women in foreign countries are ill-treated. Good hearted and sincere people want to believe. This so-called petition is not recognized in foreign or domestic jurisdictions and results in nothing positive. The stated purpose is a ruse, a vain disguise to propagate an endless chain-letter.
When you attempt to reply to a suspected hoax Email, chances are it will bounce back, undeliverable. That means the sender doesn’t want your communication. Press the delete key, and move on to productive things.
Saddest of all, perhaps, evokes the emotion of helpless children. “Please find my missing child,” (with cute picture attached). And, “The last wish of a special little girl who is dying of cancer… Save her by sending this poem to everyone you know. American Cancer Society will pay 3¢ to her treatment for every Email sent. All forwarded Emails are tracked to obtain the total count.”
Hold it! First of all, Emails cannot be tracked or tabulated as the message claims. The real American Cancer Society, when contacted, was unaware of any such situation. And the source of the Email is vacant.
Needless to say, assistance’s are available, and the spirit of giving is alive in America. Relief organizations, church groups, and generous individuals are eager to respond to genuine need. Valid programs for the aid of children, or any worthwhile project, can be easily identified by their openness. However, what parent would publish a cry for help and not identify themselves, or give a phone number to call?
Not all unsolicited Email from unknown senders is false or misleading, but the frequency of well-intentioned people blindly passing it on is nearly pandemic. The immediate cessation of this mischief is for each of us to refrain being a party to the ploy, to reasonably question and investigate, or choose to let it evaporate from existence.
Inescapably, we are all responsible for our actions that serve to demonstrate our character. May we always be inquiring and courteous.