Hoaxes....
Some of these are based on some truth so please read carefully. Do your research before forwarding or passing any message on because chances are it's just a hoax.
August 2000
This one is also a joke.
Subject: FW: Cancer (do not delete)-just forward!
You must forward! Hi, my name is Amy Bruce.I am 7 years old, and I have severe lung cancer. I also have a large tumor in my brain, from repeated beatings. The doctors say I will die soon if this isn't fixed, and my family can't pay the bills. The Make AWish Foundation, has agreed to donate 7 cents for every name on this list. For those of you who send this along, I thank you so much, but for those who don't send it, what goes around comes around. Have a Heart, please send this. Please, if you are a kind person, send this on.
January 2003
This is a standard chain with a threat. Send it out or you die. I think Amy's Ghost needs to be buried so send it to the trash.
Subject: Oh my goodness!!!!!
A few years ago at a high school in Nevada Something really sad happened. There was this girl named Amy who loved this guy named Brian. They were both popular and they were going out. There was this other girl, Jessica. She Hated Amy and she also really liked Brian and Brian liked Jessica. One day, when Brian and Amy were going out Jessica asked Brian out to the movies behind Amy's back.
However, Amy heard about it and followed them. In the theaters and Brian weren't watching the moving, they were just "making out." Jesse asked Brian to go to her house about half way through the movie so that they could be alone. Amy followed them to Jesse's house and watched them "fool around." The next day, Amy didn't come to school and she didn't come to school the day after that.
After about a week, Amy's Mom was looking around Amy's room and found, in the closet the dead body of Amy and next to it was a suicide not that said:
Dear Brian:
I killed myself because of you. I want you to tell everyone you can about what you did to me or I will kill you and anyone who stands in my way of telling everyone about Jessica!
I love you,
Amanda
Now you have to send this to at least 15 people or the vengeful ghost of Amy will kill YOU! Amy has to tell everyone about what Jessica did! This is serious! One girl, a friend of mine deleted this because she thought it was junkman. The next day, her mother found her dead in her bed and the autopsy revealed no possible explanation for her death. You have 24 Hours to send this out.
April 2003
This is just your standard, dumb, chainletter.
Angel Tag I'll just take it as a hint if I don't get this back. How many people actually have 8 true friends? Hardly anyone I know! But some of us have all right friends and good friends!!! You have been tagged by the Friendship Angel Which means you are a great friend!! You will have good luck for Two Years if you send this to 8 people or more and if it is sent back to you then you know that you are a true friend..... You must send it in 5 minutes or your good luck will be broken!!!
June 1999
The following that Instant Messenger is going away is also a hoax.
Dear America Online and Instant Message users, Our America Online staff is planning to take away our Instant messages by July 14,1999. If you want to keep your Instant Messages free of charge,send this mail to everyone you know. It will be used as a petition. Each person you send this to, counts as one "signature." If this petition gets 100,000 "signatures," our Instant Messages will still be avaliable at no extra charge.
If America Online does not recieve 100,000 "signatures," Instant Messages will still be avaliable, but only to those who pay an extra 15.00 dollars a month. If you do not care about not getting any future Instant Messages, please send this for the sake of those who want to keep thier Instant Messages free of charge. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Robert McDoggan
America Online
Assistance Director
November 2000
The following Internet petition concerning the civil rights of Afghanistan women has been making the rounds and it is true. However, an Internet petition has no validity at all as no signature can be checked or validated. The other problem with this petition is that this is the latest way for Internet spammers to get huge lists of valid e-mail addresses. If you are concerned about this topic go to one of the websites that are concerned about this issue such as: RAWA.
This is an actual petition, and "signatures" will be lost if you drop the line.
Dear Friends, Please do not ignore this email. This is something that we as women and essentially as human beings need to support - I don't know if this is going to help but take 3 minutes out of your life to do your part.
Madhu, the government of Afghanistan, is waging a war upon women. Since the Taliban took power in 1996, women have had to wear burqua and have been beaten and stoned in public for not having the proper attire, even if this means simply not having the mesh covering in front of their eyes.
One woman was beaten to death by an angry mob of fundamentalists for accidentally exposing her arm(!) while she was driving. Another was stoned to death for trying to leave the country with a man that was not a relative.
Women are not allowed to work or even go out in public without a male relative; professional women such as professors, translators, doctors, lawyers, artists and writers have been forced from their jobs and stuffed into their homes.
Homes where a woman is present must have their windows painted so that she can never be seen by outsiders They must wear silent shoes so that they are never heard. Women live in fear of their lives for the slightest misbehavior. Because they cannot work, those without male relatives or husbands are either starving to death or begging on the street, even if they hold Ph.D.s.
Depression is becoming so widespread that it has reached emergency levels. There is no way in such an extreme Islamic society to know the suicide rate with certainty, but relief workers are estimating that the suicide rate among women must be extraordinarily high: those who cannot find proper medication and treatment for severe depression and would rather take their lives than live in such conditions.
At one of the rare hospitals for women, a reporter found still, nearly lifeless bodies lying motionless on top of beds, wrapped in their burqua, unwilling to speak, eat, or do anything, but slowly wasting away. Others have gone mad and were seen crouched in corners, perpetually rocking or crying, most of them in fear.
When what little medication that is left finally runs out, one doctor is considering leaving these women in front of the president's residence as a form of protest.
It is at the point where the term "human rights violations" has become an understatement. Husbands have the power of life and death over their women relatives, especially their wives, but an angry mob has just as much right to stone or beat a woman, often to death, for exposing an inch of flesh or offending them in the slightest way.
The rapidity of this transition is the main reason for the depression and suicide; Women who were once educators or doctors or simply used to basic human freedoms are now severely restricted and treated as subhuman in the name of right-wing fundamentalist Islam.
It is not their tradition or 'culture', but it is alien to them, and it is extreme even for those cultures where fundamentalism is the rule. Everyone has a right to a tolerable human existence, even if they are women in a Muslim country.
If we can threaten military force in Kosovo the name of human rights for the sake of ethnic Albanians, citizens of the world can certainly express peaceful outrage at the oppression, murder and injustice committed against women by the Taliban.
STATEMENT:
In signing this, we agree that the current treatment of women in Afghanistan is completely UNACCEPTABLE and deserves action by the United Nations and that the current situation overseas will not be tolerated. Women's Rights is not a small issue anywhere, and it is UNACCEPTABLE for women in 2000 to be treated as subhuman and as so much property. Equality and human decency is a fundamental RIGHT, not a freedom to be granted, whether one lives in Afghanistan or elsewhere.
DIRECTIONS:
PLEASE COPY this email onto a new message, sign the bottom and Forward it to everyone on your distribution lists. If you receive this list With more than 300 names on it, please e-mail a copy of it to:
Even if you decide not to sign, please be considerate and do not kill the petition.
Thank you!
October 2001
Now the bad guys are after our children. However, if you call the Costco in Wayne, NJ, they will tell you that this never happened. Don't pass it on and have a happy Halloween. Since I put up this warning, additional information has come available that appears to point to the source of the hoax message. According to an Associated Press story, a man did buy a lot of candy which worried a store manager. The FBI checked him out and found that he was a candy wholesaler, buying candy to resell to other stores. They are holding him, but that is because of unrelated immigration violations they discovered when checking out the candy purchase.
It's important to be wise & cautious during this time.... please share with everyone you know, especially those who have children.
LADIES, GENTLEMEN, PLEASE, PLEASE BE CARE AND MAKE SURE THIS MESSAGE GETS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND LOVE.
Yesterday, two Arabians went into the Costco in Wayne, NJ and bought five thousand $ worth of candy. So costco called the cops and told them. The FBI caught one of the Arabians and the other one got away with the candy. The Arabic that got caught was illegally in the country and the FBI thinks the candy is a way to spread the Anthrax virus. send this to 15 people to help protect the country and our kids who will be trick or treating on October 31st.
April 2003
This is so sad... but it never happened. Someone with a sick imagination made this up to get you to send on the chain.
WAS I A BAD BABY-SITTER?
I was sitting there watching TV baby-sitting my little brother he was sleeping I thought everything would be OK the phone rang I picked it up "Hello?" I said No answer "Hello?" I said again No answer I hung the phone up I sat back down.... It rang again "Hello?" I said No answer "Okay this isn't funny" I said again "I'm watching you" the other end said "Who is this?" I asked the voice was a man...deep and scary.... "You'll see...just wait" he said I hung the phone up I ran to the door and locked it I shut all of the windows and locked them too I shut the blinds my heart was racing who was that guy? the phone rang again I jumped...nearly falling I picked it up "Hello?" I said "Oh yea, by the way, you better check your little brother" "Who the hell is this?!" "I'm watching you" he said "Who is this!!!???" I yelled "Your brother is crying for you" he said I slammed the receiver down I ran upstairs I opened the door to my brothers room he lay there asleep okay, this is a prank I said to myself I went downstairs the door was wide open I nearly fainted I wanted to call 911 didn't I lock it? the phone rang again "Hello....?" I said "Was your brother okay?" "Who the f*** is this?!" I yelled "You tell me sweet cheeks" he said I picked up a piece of paper I started to write down what he was saying to tell the police later "What are you writing?" he asked "How did you know I'm writing something?" I asked "I told you...I'm watching you" he said he hung up I checked all closets I picked the phone up I pressed 9-1 I was pushed I fell to the ground I turned around a man with a ski mask on was standing over me "Why are you calling the police?" he said "That's not very nice! ...........okay.. I'll teach you a lesson" he said he grabbed my hair he pulled out a gun! he pointed it to my head he let go he said, "Come with me" I didn't move he pulled me up he forced me upstairs "Say goodbye to your little brother" he said I started crying he pushed me into the bathroom he pushed me into the bathtub he fired the gun I was hit in the head.... I'm in the hospital where's my brother? is he okay? I was hit in the head with the gun but not the bullet he made me black out I'm okay a hit to the head a few bruises my brother unfortunately was murdered he was only 6 years old I'm sorry for my bad baby-sitting Mom and dad I just want to die why didn't the man take me instead he murdered a little boy not being able to learn how to read better or get his first kiss I miss him already the man stole all of our stuff and left my family and I very sad I visit my little brothers grave everyday I put a rose each day on his tombstone I love you and I'm sorry...
SEND THIS TO 10 PEOPLE WITHIN 10 MINUTES OR SOMETHING LIKE THIS WILL HAPPEN TO YOU.. IT IS NO JOKE save someone's life.
October 2000
This one says a bad guy is hiding under your car or in the back seat and is just waiting to haul you away. Sounds like the plot of a slasher movie. As far as we can tell, this never happened (except in the movies). While the list of things to do when getting in your car are not unreasonable, sending this warning on is.
IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR SAFETY-PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ.
A friend stopped at a pay-at-the-pump gas station to get gas. Once she filled her gas tank after paying at the pump and started to leave the attendant inside came over the speaker. He told her that something happened with her card and that she needed to come inside to pay. The lady was confused because the transaction showed complete and approved. She told him that and was getting ready to leave but the attendant once again urged her to come in to pay or else. She proceeded to go inside and started arguing with the attendant about his threat. He told her to calm down and listen carefully: He told her that while she was pumping gas, a guy slipped into the back seat of her car on the other side and he had called the police. She immediately became scared and looked out there in time to see her car door open and the guy slip out.
The report is that the new gang initiation thing is to bring back a woman's body part. One way they are doing this is crawling under girls/women's cars while they're pumping gas or at grocery stores in the night time. Then they are cutting the lady's ankles to disable them in order to kidnap them, kill and dismember them. The other way is slipping into unattended cars and kidnapping the women to kill and dismember them.
Please pass this on to other women, young and old alike. Be extra careful going to and from your car at night. If at all possible,don't go alone!
This is real!! The message:
1. ALWAYS lock your car doors, even if you're gone for just a second.
2. Check underneath your car when approaching it for re-entry, and check in the back before getting in.
3. Always be aware of your surroundings and other individuals in your general vicinity, particularly at night!
Send this to as many as possible so your friend will not be the next one.
July 2002
Here is another variant of the Microsoft - AOL merger hoax but this time they are telling you that you have won and a check is in the mail. This mail contains a lot of goofy tax information that will likely push people to contact the person listed in the message. Unfortunately, the phone number goes to a telemarketing firm that sells supplements. The e-mail address goes to lycos.com instead of microsoft.com. The address in Washington DC does not exist. The only good advice in the message is to not start spending your winnings yet.
From: MSN Disbursement [mailto:msn-disbursement-011@lycos.com]
Sent: Friday, July 05, 2002 2:27 PM
To: MSN-List28608A@WebData.NET
Subject: E-Mail Beta Test Payment Notification
Importance: High
Attention E-Mail Beta Test Participants:
This is a preliminary notification that the "Bill Gates E-Mail Beta Test" has been completed. Compensation for participation of Beta Test Group 9563-K-17 is currently under review and analysis, and is estimated at $28,022 per person in your control group. Disbursement processing may take up to 8 weeks. Final payments, if made, shall be electronically transmitted via e-mail and shall include an encrypted payment voucher from WebCheck-USA LLP.
Please be advised that all unearned income is taxable. As required by U.S. law under SB-573Y-1999-GHR-45AQ, records of all disbursements greater than $0.49 shall be transmitted by our staff to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service via an electronic W2. There will be no taxes withheld. Responsibility for full payment of U.S. Federal and State income taxes for the 2002 calendar year rests solely with the participants.
NOTICE: Be also advised that the acceptance of unearned income from this Beta Test may result in tax liabilities significantly higher than the compensation actually received, since all members of the Beta Test Group will each be individually responsible for the unpaid tax liabilities, penalties, and interest of the entire Beta Test Group for seven calendar years (per McCain-Kennedy U.S. Senate Resolution 652R-22MA-02, approved at 2:39 AM EST on 16 April 2002). The total Beta Test tax liability for individual participants will be capped at $87,500 per calendar year, with a $575,000 lifetime limit. Failure to submit the mandated tax payment upon demand may result in the forfeiture of earned employment income (limited to 51%), and the seizure of all real property (including all residential and commercial real estate, all contents and materials located on said real estate, plus all vehicles, stocks, bonds, and bank accounts).
DO NOT INCREASE YOUR SPENDING OR ASSUME YOU WILL RECEIVE A CHECK. AUDIT VERIFICATIONS HAVE NOT BEEN COMPLETED AT THIS TIME. FINAL AUDITING MAY RESULT IN COMPLETE DENIAL OF COMPENSATION WITH OR WITHOUT CAUSE. IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE INTERNET TRACKING PROTOCOL STATUTE 01-0FGOEUR7563-OOKTRHF83 AS APPROVED BY THE UNITED NATIONS ON 21 FEBRUARY 2001 IN GENEVA, ITALY; MULTIPLE E-MAIL ADDRESSES DETERMINED TO BE LEGALLY REGISTERED TO THE SAME INDIVIDUAL OR DOUBLE TRANSMISSIONS ORIGINATING FROM A SINGLE ISP ADDRESS MAY RESULT IN COMPLETE DENIAL OF COMPENSATION TO THE ENTIRE BETA TEST GROUP.
If you have any questions, you may e-mail me by hitting "reply", or call my staff directly at this toll-free number: 1-888-568-7813.
Thank you.
J. Henry Lindell, Senior Analyst II
Disbursements Division - MSN
Internet Tracking Systems International
2645 E. 67th Street
Washington, DC 20012
Reference: ------------------------------------------------------- RE: This is for real. It was on the news last night: BILL GATES IS SHARING HIS FORTUNE.
Dear Friends,
Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill Gates is sharing his fortune. If you ignore this you will repent later. Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.
When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will track it (if you are a Microsoft Windows user) for a two week time period. For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $245.00, for every person that you sent it to that forwards it on, Microsoft will pay you $243.00 and for every third person that receives it, you will be paid $241.00. Within two weeks, Microsoft will contact you for your address and then send you a check.
September 2000
This one says a bad guy is selling purfume which is actually ether and they are going to haul you away when you pass out. Sounds like the plot of another slasher movie. The problems with it are that simply taking a sniff of ether or chloroform will not knock you out. That only happens in the movies. You must breath them through a saturated rag for several seconds before you start to go under. So, as long as you don't stick the perfume bottle up your nose and snort the liquid up into your sinuses, you are not going to be knocked out. Again, don't send this on.
Subject: Beware of someone asking you about perfume.
Some of you got this email (see below) some weeks ago like me. I just wanted to pass this along.
I was approached yesterday afternoon at around 3:30 pm in the Walmart (Mililani) parking lot by 2 males asking what kind of perfume I was wearing. I didn't stop to answer them and kept walking toward the store.
At the same time I remembered this email. The men continued to stand between parked cars-I guess to wait on someone else to hit on. I stopped a lady walking toward them, pointed at them, and told her what they might ask and NOT to let them get near her. When that happened, the men and a lady (I don't know where she came from!) started walking the other way toward their car parked in far corner of the parking lot.
I WAS SENT AN E-MAIL AT WORK ABOUT SOMEONE WALKING UP TO YOU IN A MALL OR PARKING LOT AND ASKING YOU TO SNIFF PERFUME THEY ARE SELLING AT A CHEAP PRICE. THIS ISN'T REALLY PERFUME BUT ETHER, AND YOU WILL PASS OUT AND THEY TAKE YOUR WALLET AND ALL YOUR VALUABLES. THIS IS NOT A PRANK E-MAIL, THIS IS TRUE BECAUSE I WAS STOPPED IN GOVERNORS SQUARE PARKING LOT TODAY.
A MAROON CAR PULLED UP TO ME WITH TWO FEMALES. THE FEMALE ON THE PASSENGER SIDE ROLLED DOWN THE WINDOW AND ASKED ME IF I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN "SNIFFING" SOME PERFUME THEY WERE SELLING. I REMEMBERED THE E-MAIL I JUST RECEIVED YESTERDAY, AND SAID NO. SHE ASKED ME A SECOND TIME, I KEPT ON WALKING SAID NO ONCE AGAIN AND THEY PULLED OFF.
IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE E-MAIL, I VERY WELL MAY HAVE DONE IT. PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND TELL THEM TO BEWARE. THIS IS TRUE!! IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE E-MAIL I GOT YESTERDAY, I COULD VERY WELL MAY HAVE BEEN A VICTIM. REMEMBER TO PASS THIS ON!!!!!
Subject: please read this!!
I think this is pretty important to pass along. I was approached yesterday afternoon around 3:30pm in the Wal-Mart parking lot , by two males, asking what kind of perfume I was wearing. Then they asked if I'd like to sample some fabulous scent they were willing to sell me at a very reasonable rate. I probably would have agreed had I not received an email some weeks ago, warning of a "wanna smell this neat perfume?" scam. The men continued to stand between parked cars, I guess to wait for someone else to hit on. I stopped a lady going towards them, pointed at them, and told her about how I was sent an e-mail about someone walking up to you at the malls or in parking lots, and asking you to SNIFF PERFUME that they are selling at a cheap price.
THIS IS NOT PERFUME - IT IS ETHER!
When you sniff it, you'll pass out. And they'll take your wallet, your valuables, and heaven knows what else. If it were not for this e-mail, I probably would have sniffed the "perfume" But thanks to the generosity of an emailing friend, I was spared whatever might have happened to me. I wanted to do the same for you.
PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO ALL YOUR WOMEN FRIENDS, AND PLEASE BE ALERT, AND AWARE!! IF YOU ARE A MAN AND RECEIVE THIS PASS IT ON TO YOUR WOMEN FRIENDS!
Circulating the Internet since November 1997, is a chain letter hoax claiming to be from the office of the chief executive of Microsoft Corporation. Although there are special variants, they all claim to be from Bill Gates and merely ask the receiver to forward the letter to other people. If an attachment comes with this message, we recommend you delete it at once. DO NOT take any unnecessary chances with attachments from unknown sources.
FROM: GatesBeta@microsoft.com ATTACH: Tracklog@microsoft.com/Track883432/~TraceActive/On.html
Hello Everyone,
And thank you for signing up for my Beta Email Tracking Application or (BETA) for short. My name is Bill Gates. Here at Microsoft we have just compiled an e-mail tracing program that tracks everyone to whom this message is forwarded to. It does this through an unique IP (Internet Protocol) address log book database.
We are experimenting with this and need your help. Forward this to everyone you know and if it reaches 1000 people everyone on the list you will receive $1000 and a copy of Windows98 at my expense. Enjoy.
Note: Duplicate entries will not be counted. You will be notified by email with further instructions once this email has reached 1000 people. Windows98 will not be shipped unitl it has been released to the general public.
Your friend,
Bill Gates & The Microsoft Development Team.
June 2003
Come on people. No one is going to give you a free flight on an airline for forwarding an e-mail to 5 people.
Subject: FREE flight
I thought this was bollocks, but they got back to me within a week!!!!!!!!
I contacted the London BA office - THIS IS REAL!!!!!!
Due to the SARS and the recent war in Iraq, the number of passengers flying world-wide has fallen dramatically. We at British Airways have launched an international media campaign which aims to fill our aircraft once again. A part of this campaign is direct email advertising. This is where YOU come in!
British Airways, along with Microsoft are tracking this email, and for every 5 people you forward this to, you will receive a flight to London return from any destination in the world (if your in the UK, you can fly to any Asian destination return). Send this email to 10 people and you are eligible to fly ANYWHERE in the world return to your depature point! Simple as that!
However, that only catch is you MUST travel BEFORE 31st October 2003.
You will be contacted via email within 5 working days for your full contact and booking details.
Note: one flight per person only.
Regards,
Dolly Francis
BT GROUP
Corporate Finance
81 Newgate Street
London
EC1A 7AJ
Fax: +44 207 356 5475
Telephone: +44 20 73565494
September 2001
This Chain letter started circulating in various forms a week after the events of September 11. Note that it does not list a date, only a time so there is no way for you to know what day you are supposed to go outside. It might be an interesting experiment to see how much of an increase in background light would occur if everyone was holding a candle I doubt it would be much though. You are welcome to hold up a candle but don't expect to get your picture taken. This one started with a request from the writer that everyone step out and light a candle.
Friday Night at 7:00 p.m. EST step out your door, stop your car, or step out of your establishment and light a candle. We will show the world that Americans are strong and united together against terrorism. Please pass this to everyone on your e-mail list. We need to reach everyone across the United States quickly. It then changed to say that the US was making the request. Pretty impressive and another statement to be made if everyone participates..... 10:30 EASTERN TIME.... 9:30 Central, 8:30 Mountain, 7:30 Pacific.
The U.S. has asked that everyone step out on their lawns tonight at 10:30 and light a candle. They will be taking a satellite picture of the U.S. and posting it on the news tomorrow morning. Please pass this on to as many people as possible. And finally it changed to say that NASA was making the request and was going to take a picture. -Subject: Candle Memorial Tonight A formal request from NASA:
10:30 EASTERN TIME.... 9:30 Central, 8:30 Mountain, 7:30 Pacific
NASA has asked that everyone step out on their lawns tonight at 10:30 and light a candle. They will be taking a satellite picture of the US and posting it on the news tomorrow morning.
Please pass this on to as many people as possible.
Thank you.
July 2003
How about some free Champagne along with your free McDonald's salad??? --- Not!
Cc:
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 8:51 AM
Subject: FW: CHAMPAGNE LOVERS .... GIVEAWAY
To all you Champagne Lovers.... Send this on to 10 people and cc to champagne@veuve-clicquot.fr
Veuve Clicquot France who will contact you directly for your address and ship you a case of free champagne in 3 weeks. Obviously building up their databases, but who cares for this opportunity ! Happy bubbles!
Sue XXXXXX
Wine Industry Consultant
PO Box XXX
Margaret River
WA 6285
March 2003
I guess I should have expected it. There is some sick person out there who seems to think that faking pictures of the shuttle explosion is fun. These pictures were most likely swiped out of a recent movie. It does not take much to determine that these are fake as there are a lot of things wrong with the pictures.
1) The shuttle broke up in the atmosphere during reentry, these pictures are in space.
2) During reentry, there is a ball of ionization around the shuttle and the leading edges of the wings are very hot. There is no ionization in these pictures.
3) It is over the night side of the earth but the reentry occurred in the daytime.
4) It was traveling at 12,000 mph in the atmosphere. That kind of a breeze would significantly streamline the debris field which you don't see in the pictures.
Attached are pictures of the Shuttle Explosion from an Israeli Satellite in space. They are from the Department of Justice in Washington D.C.
November 1999
This chain letter claims that Columbia House will send you a CD for everyone you send this message to. It is curious that they ask you to send a copy of this message to Cyberpromotions@n2music.com a free e-mail site. I doubt that a company the size of Columbia House would have to use a free e-mail site for a promotion. They would use a columbiahouse.com address.
Hi. My name is Richard Douche. I am the president of the Cyber Promotions for Columbia House. We are in a fierce competition with companies such as Amazon.com and Music Blvd, among many others. Because of this, I have been authorized to offer 10+ free cd's of your choice to any person who participates in our promotion. We at Columbia House understand that your time is very important to you, and that you don't want to have to fill out a form and mail it to us. With this in mind, we have developed a simplistic way for anyone who receives this email to participate. All you have to do is send this message on to your friends! Yes, it is that simple. Now you are wondering how many CDs you get, and how to get them. It all depends on how many people you send this message to. You are required to send this email to the address below to receive your first 10 CDs. Cyberpromotions@n2music.com In addition, you get another CD for every person you forward this to. For example, if you send this to Cyber Promotions, along with 10 of your friends, you would receive a total of 20 CDs. Remember to send this to Cyber Promotions or you WON'T RECEIVE YOUR CDS!!
We will email you back promptly asking for your CD selections. Again, thank you for your participation!!
Richard Douche President, Cyber Promotions
September 1999
This one combines both the Little Girl Dying and Tamara Martin hoaxes into one letter supposedly coming from Dave Matthews of the Dave Matthews Band. As with the others of this type, there is no way Dave Matthews could know if you have sent an e-mail to anyone so how can he know to donate money.
HI! This is Dave Matthews from The Dave Matthews Band. I got America Online just a little while ago and my screenname will be sent to you if you pass this on. I get a list of the people who send this to at least another 5 people online and my secratary will send all of you my screenname. I go online at least once a week. The reason I am doing this is because this little girl needs our help and I thought that I could use my fame to help out this sick little girl. Ok Listen I Just Spent 13 hours Getting Screen Names Just So that I Could Help a Little Girl So Read The bottom This isn't a chain letter.
Ok you guys..... This isn't a chain letter, but a choice for all of us to save a little girl that's dying of a serious and fatal form of cancer. Please send this to everyone you know...or don't know at that. This little girl has 6 months left to live, and as her dying wish, she wanted to send a chain letter telling everyone to live their life to the fullest, since she never will. She'll never make it to prom, graduate from high school, or get married and have a family of her own. But by you sending this to as many people as possible, you can give her and her family a little hope, because with every name that this is sent to, the American cancer society will donate 3 cents per name to her treatment and recovery plan. One guy sent this to 500 people!!!! So, I know that we can send it to at least 5 or 6. Come on you guys.... And if you're too damn selfish to waste 10-15 minutes scrolling this and forwarding it to EVERYONE, (more than one person): you're one sick puppy, and two: just think it could be you one day.... and it's not even your $money$, just your time. I know that ya'll will impress me !!!! I love ya'll!!!!!
Another that I am putting money towards is: Tamara Martin and she has severe lung cancer due to second hand smoke. This chain was a final attempt to get her healthy again. Every letter sent gets 6 cents from me. Please send this to 10 people. (by the way for those who take 2 minutes to send this, what comes around goes around.)
I am putting a lot of money towards this and thanks to all my fans-I love ya'll!!
Love,
Dave Matthews
October 2001
I just love it when someone writes a good spoof of a hoax, not only because it is fun to read but that it is the most effective mechanism I have seen for really killing a hoax message. Thanks to whomever wrote this.
Subject: Caution
I know a lot of rumors have been going around about planned or possibly planned terrorist attacks. Most of these e-mails I read and pretty much go on about my day. This however sounds SERIOUS!
Don't go to the bathroom on October 28th. CIA intelligence reports that a major plot is planned for that day. Anyone who takes a poop on the 28th will be bitten on the butt by an alligator. Reports indicate that organized groups of alligators are planning to rise up into unsuspecting American's toilet bowls and bite them when they are doing their dirty business.
I usually don't send emails like this, but I got this information from a reliable source. It came from a friend of a friend whose cousin is dating this girl whose brother knows this guy whose wife knows this lady whose husband buys hotdogs from this guy who knows a shoeshine guy who shines the shoes of a mailroom worker who has a friend who's drug dealer sells drugs to another mailroom worker who works in the CIA building. He apparently overheard two guys talking in the bathroom about alligators and came to the conclusion that we are going to be attacked. So it must be true.
July 2002
This warning is often combined with the Static At The Gas Pump Warning . The rules for safe refueling from the Petroleum Equipment Institute's website are,
Turn Off Engine
Don't Smoke
Never Re-enter Your Vehicle
Note there is no mention of cell phones. In fact, the Institute explicitly says, "PEI has not documented any cases of cellular phones causing fires at gas stations". Older desk phones that ring with bells have an electromagnetic ringer that operates on about 100 volts and does make sparks. Modern cell phones do not have the power to spare on electromagnetic ringers and thus use low voltage (5V) buzzers that do not make sparks. The keypads also are low voltage and do not make sparks so there is nothing in a properly working cell phone that could light a fire. Most cell phones are also sealed to keep out moisture. These seals also keep out the gasoline fumes.
On the other hand, one of the newer cell phones with a backlit display has a 600 to 900 volt power supply for the cold cathode fluorescent used to light the display. If such a phone were damaged such that one of the high voltage wires were broken, it could produce sparks. Another possibility is that pulling the plastic phone out of a pocket charges up the phone with static electricity which could also discharge making a spark. Of course, this applies to any plastic objects that you might pull out of a pocket. Static charging such as this is the reason you should not re-enter your vehicle while refueling. The act of sliding across the plastic car seat can charge you and the vehicle with static electricity that could then be discharged in a spark as you reach for the refueling nozzle.
That said, we have found one documented instance where it appears that a cell phone was the ignition source for a fire. The U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Materials Management Service has documented a flash fire on an oil platform that ignited when an employee pulled out a cell phone and flipped it open. They do not indicate how the phone caused the fire, only that the fire ignited when the phone was opened. Keep in mind that this was on an oil platform where there are a lot more flammable fumes then there are near a car being refueled. While the risk of a cell phone causing a fire is extremely low, several companies, states, and even some countries have put up warning signs about using cell phones while refueling.
This ZDNet article does a pretty good job of putting things in perspective. Hopefully, most of you have heard that it's unsafe to smoke or use your CELL PHONE while pumping gas. Now there's another safety warning you should know about concerning static electricity. Below is an email from Pat Cabiling who works at ChevronTexaco's Richmond Refinery. To sum it up, here are the:
Four Rules for Safe Refueling
1) Turn off engine
2) Don't smoke
3) Don't use your cell phone - leave it inside the vehicle or turn it off
4) Don't re-enter your vehicle during fueling
September 2001
This one started making the rounds just after the tragedy of September 11. It is totally false. A reporter was in the indicated Dunkin Donuts store and saw none of the indicated actions.
Attention all Americans:
Boycott Dunkin Donuts!!
In Cedar Grove, NJ, a customer saw the owner of a Dunkin Donuts store burn the U.S. flag. In another Dunkin Donuts store in Little Falls, a customer saw a U.S. flag on the floor with Arabic writing all over it.
We are starting a nationwide boycott of all Dunkin Donuts. Please make sure this gets passed on to all fellow Americans during this time of tragedy. We Americans need to stick together and make these horrible people understand what country they are living in and how good they used to have it when we supported them. Numerous fastfood companies are at Ground Zero, giving away free food to volunteers. Where is Dunkin Donuts in all of this?
Boycott Dunkin Donuts!!!!!! Pass it on....
May 2002
This official looking site is supposed to look up your records at the FBI. Go ahead, try it, put in any name or number and you get the following page: FBI Records Search
Subject: This real! I checked with our Police before doing it!
You can check to see if the FBI has ever had a file on you. I was shocked to see that there was a file on me!!! Just double-click on the site and put in the state in which you were born and your name, You don't have to use your Social Security Number, just check "All States." If more than one match is found they will ask for a year of birth to narrow the search. You will get the case number, date of investigation and any photos on file. It's a free site, but I'm told it will be closed soon due to a federal court order. Here's the site:
September 1999
This chain letter claims that Honda will give you a new car if it gets forwarded to enough people. Honda had a notice at their website indicating that this is totally false.
Subject: Fw: New Wheels! Please forward this ... (fwd)
First off, I just want everyone to know that this is the real thing. I forwarded this message to everyone I know about 6 months ago and last week a Honda employee showed up at my house with my brand new 1999 Civic EX!!! It is so funny because I never believed these things worked and actually I sent this one as a joke to all my friends. But they forwarded the message too and now I have received a new car!!!
My best friend actually hasn't gotten his car just yet but he checked the balance of his Honda Account and it has reached nearly $11,000!!! If you like Honda's or you just want a new car, please forward this message it is the real thing.
Bob Stanley, Denver Colorado
Friends,
Look I know this sounds too good to be true, and that's what I thought too. But I called Honda's headquarters in Japan and spoke to an American representative myself and it really is true! They assured me that this the real thing! I still wasn't convinced but I called three weeks later and my Honda account balance has reached the unbelievable sum of $12,500!!! So even if you don't believe this, forward it anyway so my account will continue to grow until I get my brand new Prelude!!!
Steve Kelly, Minneapolis Minnessota
Dear valued potential customers:
Here at Honda we have been well known for over 20 years for providing the best in reliabillity, comfort, and style. Over the years we have risen to be one of the top auto industries here in Japan. But that isn't enough. We want to be number one in the US. Now our twentieth anniversary for making cars is here!!! This is the perfect opportunity for you and us here at Honda to celebrate our 20 years of excellent service. We have been trying to think of ideas to get more people to know about our cars. And with technology and e-mail being the wave of the future, we want to jump on this opportunity. So we have set up a rewards system to repay those who help us spread the word about Honda. Our marketing staff has designed a special program that traces this message as it travels across the US. Anyone who forwards this e-mail, will immediately have an account at their local Honda dealer opened in their name. This account will initially be opened with a credit of $1,000 toward any new or used vehicle at their participating dealership. For each person you forward this e-mail to, the amount of $200 will be added to your account. If the recipients of this e-mail forward it you will be rewarded an additional $100 for each person it reaches and if they also forward it your account continues to grow in $100 increments. You can log onto our website at http://www.Honda.com to check the balance of your account. If things go well and everyone participates you should see your account grow quite quickly. Follow the on screen instructions to order the specific make and model of Honda you want to buy with your account. We hope that this is a rewarding experience for you and us. Our goal is to reach over 1 million computers by the year 2000.
I thank you for your time and business.
Sincerely,
Kageyama Hironobu
Senior Honda Marketing Advisor
March 2002
Hotmail have been receiving this message for about a year, warning them that their account will be removed if they don't pass this on to 15 other people. Someone went to a lot of trouble to draw up this image to look like a MSN announcement. None of this is true, of course.
Just recently, a second warning has been going around indicating that this is your last chance to save your Hotmail account.
June 2002
Send this mail in the next 30 minutes or lose your account.
You have been caught by MSN. You have 30 minutes to send this to as many people as u can including the person that sent it to you. You have to do this or else have your account shut down for GOOD we are warning you to do this. It's for your own good. If somebody does not get this within the 30 days, there account will be shut down. MSN needs to find out who is using there account.
Robert Nelson
MSN Director
October 2000
This warning is basically true. We originally felt that the likelihood of this happening was very low but enough people have managed to make this happen for ABC News to do a segment
**W A R N I N G: W A T E R I N M I C R O W A V E**
I guess I didn't know this. I heat water in a mug often in the microwave. I never thought of it as being too dangerous. I feel that the following is information that anyone who uses a microwave oven to heat water should be made aware of. About five days ago my twenty-six-year old son decided to have a cup of instant coffee. He took a cup of water and put it in the microwave to heat it up (something that he had done numerous times before). I am not sure how long he set the timer for but he told me he wanted to bring the water to a boil. When the timer shut the oven off, he removed the cup from the oven. As he looked into the cup he noted that the water was not boiling, but instantly the water in the cup "blew up" into his face. The cup remained intact until he threw it out of his hand but all the water had flew out into his face due to the build up of energy. His whole face is blistered and he has first and second degree burns to his face that may leave scarring. He also may have lost partial sight in his left eye. While at the hospital, the doctor who was attending to him stated that this is a fairly common occurrence and water (alone) should never be heated in a microwave oven. If water is heated in this manner, something should be placed in the cup to diffuse the energy such as a wooden stirrer stick / spoon, tea bag, etc. It is however a much safer choice to boil the water in a kettle. NOTE: Subsequently on reviewing the above I have consulted a set of Microwave Operation Instructions and under the heading Liquids it states: Liquids that have been heated by Microwave can suddenly erupt. This is due to layers heated to higher temperatures being trapped under the surface. To avoid this happening to any liquid, e.g. coffee, custard, gravy etc.:
1. Stir the liquid thoroughly before heating in the microwave.
2. Stir the liquid at least twice during the heating time.
3. Stir the liquid again at the end. NEVER OVERHEAT LIQUIDS.
4. Always use a suitable sized container, at least one third larger, than the volume of liquid to be heated. If in doubt use conventional methods, kettle, etc. Please pass this information on to friends and family
June 1999
In this variant of the Bill Gates hoax, IBM is giving away computers. If you look at the wording, this one is almost identical to the GAP giveaway hoax above.
Subject: Free Computer Equipment!!!
Date: Monday, June 28, 1999 6:35 PM
Hey, I just wanted to let you guys know about this great new PC I just got from IBM!
Hewlett-Packard and Gateway have just merged to form the biggest computer supplier in the world! Bigger than Dell, bigger than IBM, bigger than them all! In response to this amazing merger, IBM has set aside 250,000 free computers to reward and keep it's most loyal and trusted customers! I've already got mine, read on to see how you can get yours!!!
This email has a special encoding which will let IBM know every time you send it to one of your friends or relatives. The first 250,000 people who send this to at least 15 of their friends will receive a brand new IBM computer! After you send this to your friends, and qualify, IBM will contact you via email, and get your shipping address. Send them your address, and in a couple of days, a brand new computer, complete with printer, and 19" monitor is sitting on your doorstep! You must hurry, because this offer ends July 31 of this year!
Here's the catch, though. Each of your friends must send this to at least 5 people or you won't be eligible, so choose your friends wisely! Remember, a true friend will send this along for you! That's all it takes,no strings attached! No purchase necessary!!! You don't even have to have previously purchased a computer from IBM! They want to earn or keep your future business, and they're willing to pay for it!!!
June 2003
No one is tracking e-mails and giving away money. Forget it! If you check this one closely, you will note that the picture was swiped off of babypics and is actually a photo of Megan Cronce, not someone named Natalie.
Subject: If you delete this u r truly mean!
Hello, My name is Krista Marie and I have a new born baby named Natalie. She means the world to me, and just resently, the doctors have discovered that my little Natalie has Brain Cancer. Unfortunatly my husband and I don't have the money to pay for the bill. But my husband and I have worked out a deal with AOL and they have agreed to give us 5cents to each person that recived this e-mail. So please, forward this to everyone you know, and help out my little Natalie and I.
December 2001
Every couple of years the "Little Girl Dying" hoax comes back again and this year is no different. The following hoax and picture are making the rounds of the Internet. The picture shows the youngest looking 10 year old I have ever seen. Maybe this should be called the fountain of youth hoax??? Please note that AOL and ZDNET cannot track e-mail and are not in the business of giving away money for chainletters.
Subject: Leukaemia - Please read then Forward
If you delete this ... you seriously don't have a heart.
Hi, I am a 29 year old father. My wife and I have had a wonderful life together. God blessed us with a child too. Our daughter's name is Rachel, and she is 10 years old.
Not long ago the doctors detected brain cancer and in her little body. There is only one way to save her...an operation. Sadly, we don't have enough money to pay the price. AOL and ZDNET have agreed to help us. The only way they can help us is this way, I send this email to you and you send it to other people. AOL will track this email and count how many people get it.
Every person who opens this email and sends it to at least 3 people will give us 32 cents.
Please help us.
Sincerely,
George Arlington
And here is a variant with the words put on the picture. If you look closely, you will see that they changed the age to 10 months instead of 10 years though this baby still looks a little young for 10 months.
A recent variant adds the following poetry to the hoax.
TO MY CHILD:
Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face and laugh when I feel like crying. Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and say how perfect it is. Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play. Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together. Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles. Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he comes by. Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned. Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them. Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys. Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you. Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry. Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars. Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows. Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given. I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore. And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing, except one more day....
January 2002
The ß®øöô¥ £.¼ Hackers list??? I can't spell it let alone pronounce it. No one has even heard of these guys and they are going to harm you in more than 10 ways if you don't pass this mail on. Sounds like some bozos with delusions of grandeur. They will instantly get a copy of every letter you mail out. Just how are they going to do this? If you don't address mail to them, they don't get a copy. It is just that simple. There is no magic way they get copies of every mail you send.
Your Screen Name has Been Added to the ß®øöô¥ £.¼ Hackers List! Here is how we work. Because we master MSN, everytime this letter is sent out a copy is also instantly send to us. We then scan out all the names, and place them on our hackers list. Once you send out this letter 10 times your name again is instantly removed from our list. If this letter is not sent out exactly 45 minutes after you have opened it your name will not be able to be removed from our hacking list. Here is what happened when your name is stuck on the ß®øöô¥ £.¼ hackers list.
-Your MSN Instant messenger password is pulled out of MSN'S files. Stupidly MSN stores your password on a password access website. We have cracked the password needed and have access to every account except for MSN guides (cat guides). We gain your credit card number, social security number, and home address.
-Your credit card information and home address is stored at the MSN site and with that we can gain your social security number. Everytime you sign on HOTMAIL, OR MSN INSTANT MESSENGER your account will be messed around with and much, much more with the power of ß®øöô¥ £.¼ hackers.
-Don't believe this? We don't care at all because not following the directions given will harm you in over 10 ways. All you have to do is send this out to 10 people and you will never have to worry about this again. If you receive this letter again after sending it out you don't need to send it out again, because your name is not able to be put back on.
-Why are we doing this? It is to get back at MSN, and we are taking action.
If you are just sending a text e-mail message to someone, there is no way that we've seen that it can be tracked. You could send your message with the "Return Receipt" request but that would only notify you that those persons that you sent the letter to have received it.
IM SORRY GUYS>>I REALLY DONT BELIEVE IT BUT SENDING IT TO YALL JUST IN CASE!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is not a joke...if you do not forward this e-mail to 20 other people............. your computer will be a living hell thanks to one of our very own little ingenus viruses. I repeat this is not a joke this virus will come to you only a week after you open this piece of mail in a very undiscreet e-mail If you open this e-mail after opening others, it just might come as a letter from your "buddy" Watch out! You have one week.. starting now. If this virus gets in it won't come back out. It will slowly delete 1 file a day from system IRQ files, startup files and win 95 kernels for registery address {1593338-489h985}
Thank you for your time.......#:) hahahahaha SCREW YOU!!!
November 1999
This chain letter claims that Old Navy will give you a gift certificate if you pass this message on to 10 people.
Fw: OLD NAVY GIFT CARD
DEAR OLD NAVY SHOPPER,
I AM LAURA THIMIS, THE FOUNDER OF OLD NAVY. AS YOU KNOW, THERE HAS BEEN SOME PRMOTION THINGS GOING ON WITH ABERCROMBIE AND FITCH AND THE GAP. NOW I WANT TO BE PART OF THE INTERNET PRMOTION "GIG"
FOR EVERY 10 PEOPLE THAT YOU SEND THIS TO, YOU GET A FREE $25.00 GIFT CARD FOR ANY OLD NAVY STORE, IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD, FROM THE U S A TO CHINA, FROM ICELAND TO PARIS!! MAKE SURE THAT YOU SEND THIS TO LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF PEOPLE!!!!
AFTER YOU SEND THIS TO AT LEAST 10 PEOPLE, YOU WILL RECIVE YOUR FREE OLD NAVY GIFT CARD IN 2-4 WEEKS!!!! WATCH THE MAIL!
June 1999
Paget's Disease of the nipple is a real, but extremely rare (less than 1% of all breast cancers according to the American Cancer Society) disease that is associated with breast cancer. While we sympathize with the writer this disease does not rank really high with diseases that we think everyone should be told about right now. If you are really interested in this disease, you are more likely to get accurate information by connecting to one of the more credible oncology sites on the net such as The University of Pennsylvania.
Paget's Disease
This is a rare form of breast cancer, and is on the outside of the breast, on the nipple and aureola. It appeared as a rash, which later became a lesion with a crusty outer edge. I would not have ever suspected it to be breast cancer but it was.
My nipple never seemed any different to me, but the rash bothered me, so I went to the doctor for that. Sometimes, it itched and was sore, but other than that it didn't bother me. It was just ugly and a nuisance, and could not be cleared up with all the creams prescribed by my doctor and dermatologist for the dermatitis on my eyes just prior to this outbreak.
They seemed a little concerned but did not warn me it could be cancerous. Now I suspect there are not many women out there who know a lesion or rash on the nipple or aureola can be breast cancer.
Mine started out as a single red pimple on the aureola. One of the biggest problems with Paget's disease of the nipple is that the symptoms appear to be harmless. It is frequently thought to be a skin inflammation or infection, leading to unfortunate delays in detection and care.
What are the symptoms? The symptoms include:
1. A persistent redness, oozing, and crusting of your nipple causing it to itch and burn. (As I stated, mine did not itch or burn much, and had no oozing I was aware of, but it did have a crust along the outer edge on one side).
2. A sore on your nipple that will not heal. (Mine was on the aureola area with a whitish thick looking area in center of nipple).
3. Usually only one nipple is affected.
How is it diagnosed?
Your doctor will do a physical exam and should suggest having a mammogram of both breasts, done immediately. Even though the redness, oozing and crusting closely resemble dermatitis (inflammation of the skin), your doctor should suspect cancer if the sore is only on one breast. Your doctor should order a biopsy of your sore to confirm what is going on.
They will take a sample of your breast tissue in that area to test for cancer.
If the cancer is only in the nipple and not in the breast, your doctor may recommend just removing the nipple and surrounding tissue or suggest radiation treatments. Had my doctor caught mine right away, instead of flaking it off as dermatitis, perhaps they could have saved my breast, and it wouldn't have gone to my lymph nodes.
This message should be taken seriously and passed on to as many of your friends as possible; it could save someone's life. My breast cancer has spread and metastasized to my bones after receiving mega doses of chemotherapy, 28 treatments of radiation and taking tamaxofin. If this had been diagnosed as breast cancer in the beginning, perhaps it would not have spread...
TO ALL READERS-
This is sad as women are not aware of Paget's disease. If, by passing this around on the e-mail, we can make others aware of it, and its potential danger, we are helping women everywhere. Please, if you can, take a moment to forward this message to as many people as possible, especially to your family and friends.
It only takes a moment, yet the results could save a life!
October 2001
The Penny Brown hoax claims to have come from a Monzine Jang in Calgary but if you call the phone number, you get a recording that says:
"If you are calling about an e-mail about a missing girl, please do not forward it. She is not the daughter of Monzine Jang. Monzine has contacted the Calgary police and missing children organizations and she believes this is a hoax."
So if you get this message or any of the dozen variants of it, please don't pass it on. Also, lay off Ms. Jang as she does not need everyone calling her.
PLEASE LOOK AT PICTURE THEN FORWARD
I am asking you all, begging you to please, forward this email on to anyone and everyone you know, PLEASE. My 9 year old girl, Penny Brown, is missing. She has been missing for now two weeks. It is still not too late, Please help us.
If anyone anywhere knows anything, sees anything, please contact me at zicozicozico@hotmail.com I am including a picture of her. All prayers are appreciated!! It only takes 2 seconds to forward this on, if it was your child, you would want all the help you could get.
Thank you for your kindness, hopefully you can help us.
Monzine Jang
Office Administrator
G208, Health Sciences Centre
Faculty of Medicine
University of Calgary
403- xxx-xxxx
403- xxx-xxxx (fax)
Here is a walmart version of the hoax
Subject: Please Look at picture and forward
Please pass this to everyone in your address book. To All: We have a store manager (Wal-Mart) from Longs, S C who has a 9 year old daughter that has been missing for 2 weeks. Keep the picture moving on. With luck on her side she will be found. I am asking you all, begging you to please forward this email on to anyone and everyone you know, PLEASE. My 9 year old girl, Penny Brown, is missing. She has been missing for now two weeks. It is still not too late. Please help us. If anyone anywhere knows anything, please contact me at: zicozicozico@hotmail.com I am including a picture of her. All prayers are appreciated!! It only takes 2 seconds to forward this on. If it was your child, you would want all the help you could get. Thank you for your kindness. Hopefully you can help us.
April 2003
The last line of this message is an AOL buddylist link. Having it work has nothing to do with sending out this chain letter. The link can't do what the message says and who knows who you have just given access to your screen name.
Hey everyone! This is the coolest thing! This is sooooo kewl! All that you have to do is send this to 10 people and a new type of buddy list will appear after you send it! Mine can tell you exactly where someone is, who they're talking to, and if they have more than 1 s/n, it tells you what it is. This is soooooo neat!! It's colorful too. After you send it, click on the line. You can try to click on it now, but it won't work. You have to send it to 10 people first. It worked for me! Right now, I can see my friend's other screen name! And she is talking to someone we both know! It was also approved by AOL. This is not a joke. Beleive me. It took me a couple of days to make the new buddy list, but I have a Buddy List 2000 If you click on it before, all you will see is your own buddy list, so if you send it to 10 people and then click on the blue writing, you will have a new buddylist in seconds
Someone sent this to me so i just sent it to u
Febuary 2002
Someone must be tired of all the free samples you get in the mail. Some copies of this hoax contain a name and contact information for a person at the Harris County Attorney's office. We have contacted that office and they say it is a hoax. We suspect that the person either forwarded the warning and got her signature attached to it or someone simply put her name on the message to make it appear legitimate. Another variant has the message coming from the "JHU Office of Communications & Public Affairs" (JHU = Johns Hopkins University). We have heard from the executive director of communications and public affairs at The Johns Hopkins University and he said, "This message was not issued by my office nor has my office in any way authorized it or any message like it." We can find no evidence of anyone dieing or even getting sick after sniffing a free sample of perfume. Since September 11, the government has been careful to warn people whenever they have a credible threat and I can't see any advantage in hiding a threat like this so as to not panic people. The government has issued statements about how to detect and handle suspicious packages and you should always be careful when you receive unexpected gifts in the mail. We believe this warning is just another variant of the Bad Guy Selling Perfume hoax.
Seven women have died after inhaling a free perfume sample that was mailed to them. The product was poisonous. If you receive free samples in the mail such as lotions, perfumes, diapers etc. throw them away.
The government is afraid that this might be another terrorist act. They will not announce it on the news because they do not want to create panic or give the terrorists new ideas.
Send this to all your friends and family members.
July 2002
I've seen this one alone and combined with the cell phone warning. There really is a Petroleum Equipment Institute and it really is working on a safety campaign about static electricity at gas pumps. Static electric sparks and gas fumes are a known problem. This is why the nozzles of gas pumps are grounded, to remove any static charge from a car while it is being refueled. This is a very successful setup as evidenced by the statistics presented by the Petroleum Equipment Institute. According to their report, Americans fill their cars 16 to 18 billion times a year and they have evidence of about 150 ignitions due to static a year. That's a risk of 150/16,000,000,000 = 0.000000009 per fill up or one fire per 107,000,000 fill ups per year. Most of the facts and figures stated in the warning appear to have been made up by the writer to make the warning appear more important. For example, the warning about cell phones is not included in the Institute report. In fact the institute says "PEI has not documented any cases of cellular phones causing fires at gas stations". The Petroleum Equipment Institute has the following safety rules for refueling a car,
Turn Off Engine
Don't Smoke
Never Re-enter Your Vehicle
If you are concerned, simply touch the metal part of your car away from the gas filler hole before pulling the nozzle out of the filler hole. That will discharge you through the car away from any gas fumes. There is a risk when siphoning gas because siphons are not grounded. If you are filling a gas can for your lawnmower or other gas appliance by siphoning the gas out of your gas tank, keep in mind that the plastic pipe you are using is not grounded. Touching the car away from the filler hole and the ground (with your hand, not through your rubber soled shoes) at the same time will discharge the car and reduce the risk of making a spark.
Bob Renkes of Petroleum Equipment Institute is working on a campaign to try and make people aware of fires as a result of "static electricity" at gas pumps. His company has researched 150 cases of these fires. His results were very surprising:
1) Out of 150 cases, almost all of them were women.
2) Almost all cases involved the person getting back in their vehicle while the nozzle was still pumping gas, when finished and they went back to pull the nozzle out the fire started, as a result of static.
3) Most had on rubber-soled shoes.
4) Most men never get back in their vehicle until completely finished. This is why they are seldom involved in these types of fires.
5) Don't ever use cell phones when pumping gas
6) It is the vapors that come out of the gas that cause the fire, when connected with static charges.
7) There were 29 fires where the vehicle was reentered and the nozzle was touched during refueling from a variety of makes and models. Some resulting in extensive damage to the vehicle, to the station, and to the customer.
8) Seventeen fires that occurred before, during or immediately after the gas cap was removed and before fueling began.
Mr. Renkes stresses to NEVER get back into your vehicle while filling it with gas. If you absolutely HAVE to get in your vehicle while the gas is pumping, make sure you get out, close the door TOUCHING THE METAL, before you ever pull the nozzle out. This way the static from your body will be discharged before you ever remove the nozzle.
As I mentioned earlier, The Petroleum Equipment Institute, along with several other companies now, are really trying to make the public aware of this danger. You can find out more information by going to . Once here, click in the center of the screen where it says "Stop Static".
I ask you to please send this information to ALL your family and friends, especially those who have kids in the car with them while pumping gas. If this were to happen to them, they may not be able to get the children out in time.
Thanks for passing this along.
Cora Velasco, Analyst
ChevronTexaco
Credit Card Enterprises, Risk Management and Portfolio Optimization
2003 Diamond Blvd. #31026, Concord, CA 94520
Tel 925 827-xxxx
Fax 925 827-xxxx
October 2001
The Slavemaster warning has been around for a couple of years though with different screen names for the bad guy. This warning was based partly in fact on a Kansas man who was linked to the murder of women he met over the Internet. However, he has been in jail since June of 2000 so these warnings are totally out of date and of no value. A common rule for dealing with unknown people online is that you don't give out personal information such as your address. If a bad guy does not know where you live, it is unlikely that he can find you.
State Police Warning!!!!!! Serious
This is something I received from the MD State Police Please read this "very carefully"...then send it out to all the people online that you know. Something like this is nothing to take casually; this is something you DO want to pay attention to. Think of it as a bit of advice too.
If a person with the screen-name of Slavemaster contacts you, do not reply. Do not talk to this person; do not answer any of his/her instant Messages or e-mail. Whoever this person may be, he/she is a suspect for murder in the death of 56 women (so far) contacted through the Internet.
Please send this to all the women on your buddy list and ask them to pass this on, as well.
This screen-name was seen on Yahoo, AOL, and Excite, so far.
This is not a joke! Please send this to men too...they can tell their loved ones, just in case! Send to every one you know! Ladies, this is serious. Cut and paste this from its long forward list. Please check and make sure to forward. Here is another with a lot of different screen names. PLEASE YOU GUYS, READ THIS "VERY CAREFULLY"....... THEN SEND IT OUT TO ALL THE PEOPLE ONLINE THAT YOU KNOW. SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS NOTHING TO TAKE CASUALLY;THIS IS SOMETHING YOU "DO" WANT TO PAY ATTENTION TO. THINK OF IT AS "BIG BROTHER" SENDING YOU A WARNING....
If a guy with the screen-name of ...
SlaveMaster
Slavemaster7
slavesasstter
slavemasters4454
slavemaster551
slavemaster7234
slavemaster7235
slavemaster7236
slavemaster89
slavemaster9182
OR
slavemasters957
----- contacts you.........do not answer. DO NOT TALK TO THIS PERSON, DO NOT ANSWER ANY OF HIS/HER INSTANT MESSAGES/E-MAIL. He has killed 56 women (so far) that he has talked to on the Internet. PLEASE SEND OUT TO ALL THE WOMEN ON YOUR BUDDY LIST! . ALSO ASK THEM TO PASS THIS ON. He has been on Yahoo and AOL and Excite so far. This is no JOKE.!!! PLEASE SEND THIS TO MEN TOO.......JUST IN CASE!!! Send to EVERY ONE YOU KNOW!! LADIES, THIS IS SERIOUS. CUT AND PASTE THIS FROM IT'S LONG FORWARD LIST. PLEASE CHECK CAREFULLY AND MAKE SURE TO FORWARD TO ANYONE I HAVE NOT INCLUDED ON MY LIST.
October 2001
Talk about an hystericane (a term invented by Rob Rosenberger on the VMyths website), on October 11, this particular hoax went completely out of control. My inbox was so full I couldn't download any more mail. However, our security department checked with the FBI and they said they had investigated this message and found it was a hoax. It never happened so please stop sending it around! This hoax uses one of the more classic tricks to make it appear authentic. It claims to predict two events, the first of which has happened. The trick is that since the first event has happened, you will believe that the second is going to happen also. Of course, the hoax was written after the first event occurred, making it very simple to make an accurate "prediction." Don't send it on, put it in the trash. Better yet, go to the mall, or don't go to the mall and then my kids and I will have the whole place to ourselves on Halloween.
Hi All -
I think you all know that I don't send out hoaxes and don't do the reactionary thing and send out just anything that crosses my path. This one, however, is a friend of a friend and I've given it enough credibility in my mind that I'm writing it up and sending it out to all of you. My friend's friend was dating a guy from Afghanistan up until a month ago. She had a date with him around 9/6 and was stood up. She was understandably upset and went to his home to find it completely emptied. On 9/10, she received a letter from her boyfriend explaining that he wished he could tell her why he had left and that he was sorry it had to be like that. The part worth mentioning is that he BEGGED her not to get on any commercial airlines on 9/11 and to not to go to any malls on Halloween. As soon as everything happened on the 11th, she called the FBI and has since turned over the letter.
This is not an email that I've received and decided to pass on. This came from a phone conversation with a long-time friend of mine last night. I may be wrong, and I hope I am. However, with one of his warnings being correct and devastating, I'm not willing to take the chance on the second and wanted to make sure that people I cared about had the same information that I did.
Laura Katsis
Implementation Specialist
714/921-5424
lkatsis@volt.com
OpsVolt_Track@volt.com
September 1999
Hello. My name is Tamara Martin and I have severe lung and throat cancer due to second hand smoke. This chain was a final attempt to help solve my problem. For every one person that this letter is sent to, the national lung and cancer association will donate 6 cents to help me and other people like me become healthy again. If you do not pass this letter on, my life and memory will soon both be gone. So please, try to send this to at least 10 people. It is for a good cause. (By the way, be sure one of the people you send it to is "Cool12@AOL.COM" as he keeps track of the names that have passed this along.) I give my blessing to those who pass this along.
To those too selfish to take 2 minutes to do this, what goes around comes around.
Thank you.
April 2002/June 2003
There are now two jdbmgr messagess; a hoax and a real worm. Some miscreant has decided to make a hoax real so you need to be careful what you do. The jdbgmgr.exe program is a real part of the Windows operating system. It should normally not be removed though doing so will not inconvenience most people. The miscreant has created a computer worm called Recory that overwrites the jdbgmgr.exe program with the worm code. In either case, do not run the jdbgmgr.exe program if it is sent to you in an e-mail. In most cases, you do not need to run the real jdbgmgr.exe program. The easiest way to recognize the difference between the hoax and the real version of jdbgmgr.exe is to look at the icon. The program with the bear icon is the good one and the one with the tools icon is the bad one.
The real jdbgmgr program
The recory worm
Subject: IMPORTANT-VIRUS ALERT!!!
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 04:01:21 +0000
Hi everybody, I just wanted to let you know you should check your computers by following the procedure that's next....I don't remember getting an email with that file attachment, but I found it in my system. Since I found the dumb little bear in my computer, I'm sending you the info.
The virus is called jdbgmgr.exe and it transfers automatically through Messenger and also through your address book and since I have all of you in my address book I have to send everyone this info. I'm sorry if this causes any problems. It certainly wasn't intentional.
The virus isn't detected by McAfee or Norton and it remains in the folder for 14 days before activating and harming the system. It can be erased before it eliminates the files in your computer. To do so, follow these steps:
1.- Click on "Start"
2.- Go to find "files and folders" and write the name of jdbgmgr.exe
3.- Make sure it's looking in "C" drive.
4.- Click on "Find now"
5.- If the virus appears (the icon is a little bear that has the name of (jdbgmgr.exe) DO NOT OPEN IT FOR ANY REASON
6.- Right click on it and delete it (it will go to the recycle bin)
7.- Go to the recycle bin and either delete everything in the folder, or right click on the little bear and delete.
If you find this virus in your computer, please send this message to all the people in your address book before it causes any damage.
The Recory (Jdbgmgr) Worm
The Recory worm primarily travels in file sharing programs such as IRC, Kazaa, and Morpheous. The message that comes with it looks a lot like the hoax message but tells you exactly the wrong thing to do. Descriptions of the worm are available at antivirus websites such as,
F-secure
Symantec
Hello readers,
I have just cleaned my computer from a highly damaging computer virus Which is spreading rapidly through computer networks worldwide.
There is one way to check to see if your computer is infected with this virus.
Click the "Start" menu at the bottom left of your screen.
Click the "Find" or "Search" button.
Click the "Files or folders..." option.
Then once the search application starts, type "Jdbgmgr.exe"
If you have found this file, right-click on it and click the "Properties" tab. If the Properties menu has a picture of a bear on it, your computer is infected with this virus. (Note that the non-infected file picture has a hammer and a screwdriver shown in it)
You may delete this file, but this is not the only file that the virus infects, To remove this virus, I have included a virus removal tool in the attachments that will scan all system files and remove any infectious code from them. This virus removal tool is very easy to use. If you have any trouble with this tool, read the help menu that the removal tool supplies.
If your computer is infected with this virus, It is strongly recommended that you send this removal tool to as many people as you can to help remove the traces of this virus worldwide.
April 2003
Similar to the missing U-Haul Trucks hoax, this one attempts to scare people into stopping deliveries to their homes. A Washington Post article debunks this hoax.
Subject: UPS Warning
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 06:52:20 -0400
FYI
Please take this seriously and exercise caution. Warning from U.S. Government regarding purchase of UPS uniforms: BE ALERT!!!! There has been a huge purchase, $32,000 worth, of United Parcel Service (UPS) uniforms on eBay over the last 30 days. This could represent a serious threat as bogus drivers can drop off anything to anyone with deadly consequences! If you have ANY questions when a UPS driver appears at your door, they should be able to furnish VALID I.D.. Additionally, if someone in a UPS uniform comes to make a drop off or pick up, make absolutely sure they are driving a UPS truck. UPS doesn't make deliveries or pickups in anything except a company vehicle. If you have a problem, IMMEDIATELY call your local law enforcement agency right away! TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY! Tell everyone in your office, family, friends, etc. Make people aware so that we can prepare and/or avoid terrorist attacks on our people! Thank you for your time in reviewing this and PLEASE send to EVERYONE on your list, even if they are friend or foe. We should all be aware!
November 1999
This chain letter claims was probably done by the same person who did the Bath & Body Works chain. It makes nearly the same offer and Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works are both part of the same company.
Subject: Fw: Victoria Secret Gift Certificate
My name is Victoria Johnson, founder of Victoria's Secret. In an attempt to get our name out to more people in the rural communities where we are not currently located we are offering a $50 gift certificate to anyone who forwards this email to 9 of their friends. Just send this email to them and you will recieve a an email back with a confirmation number to claim your gift certificate.
Sincerely
Victoria Johnson
Founder of Victoria's Secret
Hey guys, DONT DELETE THIS EMAIL It really works, I tried it and got my Gift certificate confirmation number in 3 minutes.
September 2001
This virus warning is real, but don't get your virus warnings from mail messages like this and don't pass them on, get them from a bonafide antivirus site.
URGENT VIRUS ALERT ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The TROJ_VOTE.A e-mail virus has been identified currently spreading in-the-wild.
This email is being sent to raise your awareness of the TROJ_VOTE.A virus, which is spreading. It contains the following:
Subject: Fwd:Peace BeTween AmeriCa And IsLam!
Message Body: Hi!
iS iT A waR Against AmeriCa Or IsLam!
Let's Vote To Live in Peace!
Attachment: WTC.EXE
If you receive an email with an attachment of "WTC.EXE", or the subject line of Fwd:Peace BeTween AmeriCa And IsLam ! DO NOT EXECUTE THE ATTACHMENT. DELETE THIS MESSAGE IMMEDIATELY AND EMPTY YOUR TRASH ON YOUR E-MAIL ACCOUNT.
November 2002
And, here is a Yahoo version of the Instant Messanger Hoax.
Dear YAHOO User,
Because of the sudden rush of people signing up to YAHOO, it has come to our attention that we are vastly running out of resources. So, within a month's time,anyone who does not receive this email with the exact subject heading,will be deleted off our server. Please forward this email so that we know you are still using this account.
WARNING WARNING
We want to find out which users are actually using their YAHOO accounts. So if you are using your account, please pass this e-mail to every YAHOO user that you can and IF YOU DO NOT PASS this letter to anyone we will delete your account.
From Mr. ALLEN SMITH
YAHOO Admin. Dept.
Our YAHOO system is getting to crowded!! We need you to forward this to at least 20 people. I know this seems like a large number, but we need to find out who is really using their account. If you do not send this to at least 10 YAHOO members, we will delete your account. Sorry for this inconvenience.
Sincerely, Director of YAHOO Services
BOB LOPEZ
Please do this! Some of my friends have already gotten deleted and you aren't allowed to send it back to the person who sent this email to you!!
September 2001
The picture of the burning World Trade Center with a face in the smoke has been making the rounds of the Internet after the tragedy on September 11. Many people have tried to read things into it, calling it the face of the Devil or Christ crying in anguish. However, you should keep in mind that it is just smoke that seems to look like a face in the same way that clouds often look like people, fish, boats, etc. What you make of it is up to you. As best I can tell, the photo is authentic. It was photographed by Mark Phillips and sold to Associated Press. You can see the photo on Mark Phillips website, along with his statements. The image was also captured on video by CNN. 9 News in Denver has a copy of the photo plus a discussion with Mark Phillips about the photo.
June 2003
I guess someone got tired of the "little Girl Dying" hoax and recreated it with the mother dying. As with all the others, no charity is going to give you 10 cents for forwarding an e-mail.
I'm 11 years old. My mommy worked on the 20th floor in the World Trade Tower. On Sept. 11 2001 my daddy drove my mom to work. She was running late so she left her purse in the car. My daddy seen it so he parked the car and went to give her the purse. That day after school my daddy didnt come to pick me up. Instead a police man came and took me to foster care.
Finally I found out why my daddy never came.. I really loved him.... They never found his body.. My mom is in the the Hospital since then.. She is losing lots of blood.. She needs to go through surgery.. But since my daddy is gone and no one is working.. We have no money .. And her surgery cost lots of money.. So the Red Cross said that.. for every time this email is fwd we Will get 10 cent for my mom's surgery. So please have a heart and fwd this to everyone you know I really miss my daddy and now I dont want to lose my mommy too.. R.I.P. Daddy..
December 2001
To: friends
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2001 9:11 PM
Subject: Troubles with Virus WTC Survivor
HOPE THIS GETS TO YOU IN TIME BIG TROUBLE !!!! DO NOT OPEN "WTC Survivor" It is a virus that will erase your whole "C" drive. It will come to you in the form of an E-Mail from a familiar person. I repeat a friend sent it to me, but called and warned me before I opened it. He was not so lucky and now he can't even start his computer! Forward this to everyone in your address book. I would rather receive this 25 times than not at all. If you receive an email called "WTC Survivor" do not open it. Delete it right away! This virus removes all dynamic link libraries (.dll files) from your computer. This is a serious one.
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